Mosaic Class

This weekend my friend Hannah and I took a class on how to make mosaics. I was inspired by a piece that I saw in the Fine Arts Building at the State Fair and went home and looked up to see if there were any classes in Minneapolis for learning the techniques. We signed up for a class taught by a local artist who is very talented and really nice and fun too. Her name is Sharra Frank, here is her website. I recommend her for classes, but she only does them once in a while. She also does commissioned pieces and public art. In our class it was just 5 of us ladies and we learned all about the tools, materials, and techniques for mosaic art. The first day of the class we worked on cutting glass and tile and gluing our materials to either a mirror frame or window. I chose to do the mirror so I was gluing my pieces to wood. Hannah did the window so she was gluing right onto the glass. Here is mine at the end of the first day:

Today at the second part of the class we learned how to mix and add grout to the cracks to fill in the spaces. I'm really glad I took this class because I wouldn't have wanted to mess with that stuff figuring it out on my own and Sharra gave a lot of good tips on how to make the process cleaner and easier. Here is me with my baggie of grout!

I wasn't a big fan of the messy part even with gloves on. I don't like touching gooey things and my glass pieces were sharp so I was afraid I was going to cut my fingers. If you know me, I don't do well with blood on my hands for obvious reasons. So after you get all the grout in you have to clean off the glass and tiles and then polish them to make them shine. Here are our finished products:

I am pretty happy with the way mine turned out. I think it looks a little childish because of the colors I chose and because I didn't know what to do with the sun since I couldn't quite cut the pieces the way I wanted to. I will learn how to do that better in time. I am excited to do more and experiment on my own. I always have the impulse to buy or grab old windows and things when I find them, and a light bulb went off in my head and I realized I could do mosaics on them and turn them into art! I have a large mirror that I found in the trash and I plan on using that after I get a little more practice on smaller projects. After class I went to Michaels and wandered around and found some beads and things to use. Next weekend I will take a trip to the mosaic store in St. Paul (Mosaic On a Stick, I love the name!) and get some tools and other materials. This is going to be a fun new thing to do and a way to use my creativity and it will keep me busy!

I also went for a long walk today. It was a perfect fall day in MN, 65 and sunny with the leaves starting to change colors. I found some new trails and wandered, not knowing really where I was going (which is what I love to do). Walking in the woods by myself and not really knowing or caring where I am going is me in my happy place. Unfortunately, I didn't wear the best shoes so I got a blister. I also almost stepped on a little bitty snake while slowing down to assess said blister. I think I walked at least 4 miles. So today I had art, nature, exercise, and I got an email from my husband. Today was a good day.