Monday, February 25, 2013

Mosaic Monday / Threads of Inspiration

Nick Cave
http://amoa-arthouse.org
Last weekend I traveled to Austin for a workshop on art marketing ( will post more on that later), and I was so delighted to discover the work of performance artist Nick Cave. This artist creates what he calls "sound suits" out of a wide variety of materials from twigs, buttons, and hair to sequins. The suits make different noises when worn. When he made his first suit he really did not even know that he would be using them in performance. Of course the suits we saw were not moving, but they looked as though they might come to life at any moment. His technical execution is without flaw. I suppose if you had to try and label these by medium and technique you might want to say that Cave is working in fiber arts, however as a mosaic artist they look like "fiber mosaics" to me. I guess sometimes the three letter word "art" is really enough.


I asked, and no photos inside ... so of course we had to shoot a couple through the glass.The show closed on the 24th so we felt very lucky to have stumbled on to it.

..........................................
If this is not enough mosaic inspiration for you then head over to Mosaic Art Now  and check out the Dolce & Gabbana Winter 2014 "Tailored Mosaic" collection. Nancie has written a great post with video on some pretty amazing fashions. 


mosaicartnow.com

Monday, February 18, 2013

Mosaic Monday / WIP

Yesterday I worked up at the Creative Arts Center with my students and I got a lot done on my own project.  They seemed to enjoy having the extra lab time and I enjoyed getting out of my regular work space.  I also was able to get a Teal color study done last week  ... pics below.

ATC Mosaic 2.5 x 3.5 inches
Teal Color Study
© rebecca collins
Spare Part Robot Totem
WIP Detail
© rebecca collins

As you can see in the above shot of my current robot project I am at the fun stage of adding bling to the surface that will not get grouted. I love working in stained glass and collage, however all stained glass mosaic work has a physical flatness to it that is impossible to escape unless you mix it up with other materials. My goal this year is to discover ways to work with the glass I love and introduce chunkier elements so that my layers start coming forward.
I am really having fun with this fellow!

Spare Part Robot Totem
WIP Detail
© rebecca collins
Spare Part Robot Totem
WIP Detail
© rebecca collins


Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentines Day!

© rebecca collins / artpaw.com
Happy Valentines Day everyone! My valentines day is going to be a good one. I get to work on mosaics today and tonight I teach class. Dan and I celebrated last night with dinner out. Maybe I will pick him up some chocolates later.

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Huesday- Tuesday / Tickled Teal

Robin Dodd Photography
Found on  Etsy

This month I am looking at Teal. I once had a living room painted in a dark teal and it was so dramatic at night.

What is Teal ... Teal is a low-saturated colour, a bluish-green to dark medium, similar to medium blue-green and dark cyan. It can be created by mixing green with blue into a white base, or deepened as needed with a little bit of black or gray colour. The complementary colour of teal is coral. It is also one of the initial group of 16 HTML/CSS web colours formulated in 1987. Its name is derived from the Middle English tele, a word akin to the Dutch taling and the Middle Low German telink. As a color, its name is believed to have been taken from the small freshwater Common Teal, a member of the duck family whose eyes are surrounded by this color.

 Teal is one of those shades that many people can confuse. I am often surprised to find people calling baby blue teal sometimes. I like to think of Teal as Aqua's dark brooding cousin. Where as Aqua and Turquoise are always ready for a party, Teal is much more likely to hit the streets late at night after the party is over. Teal is dark, rich and smoldering. Teal will not ask you questions that you can not answer and Teal is totally indifferent to your problems.
 Teal rhymes with steal and that is just what this hue will do when you combine it with warm golds, oranges or reds ... it will steal the show.

Later this month I will be creating some new teal backgrounds here at Art Paw and will post some new dog portraits that take advantage of Teal's drama.

I started a board over at Pinterest for teal that you can follow.


Monday, February 04, 2013

Mosaic Monday/ Spare Parts Robot Totem

A"Spare Parts Robot Totem"
© rebecca collins
Last August I started on this project. It got set aside when I got really swamped in the fall with portrait commissions.  I am really happy to be back on him. I wrote extensively on my plans for this fellow last August.

He has come a long way since then.  You can see the prepped board without any tess below....
Once I get the base board glassed in I will grout and then work on top of that base with chunky tess that will not be grouted.  You can see where I have laid out some black & silver bits ... those have not been glued yet.  I will also be making some paper collage tessera on thin balsa that will get varnished and placed on top so that more of the digital collage work shows above on a top layer.
This project is an experiment where I am trying to move forward with my layers and get chunky and build the work out and above the glassy collage work. You may  not can tell from this shot but the spare parts sit on top of a thin board that gets bolted on.  Even the ceramic robot head will get bolted on top ... see image below for the mechanics.
I love the long size on this mosaic. This project is 12 x 36 x 2, and I would love to do 3 of these guys in different color combinations.

Friday, February 01, 2013

Miss Bailey The Yorkie!

"Miss Bailey Hides from the Puparazzi"
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com
(see all proofs
)
 
This is one of 4 projects that will ship out today. I really enjoyed working on this sweet Yorkie in glasses. When an unusual shot like this comes in I really get a kick out of doing something different.

Over the years we have done just a very small handful of pups in shades.

© rebecca collins / artpaw.com
"My own Ajax"
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com