If you’re looking for some instructional mosaic time, we can put together a class or a group event or party with as few as 4 people (adults or kids). Contact me and we can discuss your needs and what dates and times will work. This is great for “Girls Nite Out” type events, birthday parties, clubs, etc.  Or, if you and 3 or more friends or family members want your own, private class in one of my ongoing areas or another, we can customize it to your desires.

The Supply Shop will be open during Mosaic Studio Time hours, Mosaic Classes, and by appt. The comprehensive selection will include: glass vitreous tiles, metallic veined tiles, deep color “crystal” glass tiles, glitter tiles, smalto tiles, glass gems and shapes, stained glass tiles, ceramic and Mexican tiles, Van Gogh tiles, millefiori, china, beads, mosaic jewelry supplies, mirror tiles, and misc. found objects and toys. Mosaic bases, adhesives, grouts, tools, colorants, and sealers round out the selection. Prices are very good; much better than ordering online, having to meet order minimums, and paying shipping! Several package sizes of each item will be available so that you don’t have to commit to large quantities of one item.  At the TMG Supply Shop, you can get the materials you want in the sizes you need at an exellent price! Starting date is Thursday, Feb. 24th, after I get back from the natl. mosaic conference with all kinds of new supplies and expertise!

Mosaic Studio Time is open-ended time for you* to work on mosaics in a space besides your home, where all the supplies and materials you need are on hand and you don’t have to worrry about getting your house ‘mucked up’. All basic tesserae (tiles, etc.) included, as well as adhesives, grout, sealer, tools, supplies, etc. Everything is included, except you bring your own base or buy a low-cost one there. Come have space to work, hang out w/ other fun mosaic people, and make a mess somewhere other than in your dining room! Studio time is $10 an hour.

Mosaic Studio Time HOURS are:
Mondays from 11 am to 3 pm and
Thursdays from 11 am to 3 pm
and By Appointment

At least 1 weekend day a month and 2 weeknights a month willl also be scheduled; check out Calendar page for current month’s dates/times.

* Please note: Mosaic Studio Time is not a class and does not include teaching time; participants should have taken a Beginner’s Mosaic class (anywhere) and/or be at least a Beginner’s level mosaic crafter to use Studio Time.

Mosaic Classes offered at the TileMosaicGirl shop are:
Beginner’s Mosaics
Tempered Glass (“Crash Glass”) Mosaics
Mosaic Jewelry

Cutting & Shaping Tiles for Mosaic Design
Continuing Mosaics
Garden/Outdoor Mosaics
Special, Introductory no-artistic-skills-required, “MAKE A MOSAIC!” Sessions!

(These “MAKE A MOSAIC!” sessions will be perfect for those friends and family members you have that think they don’t have an artistic bone in their body but want to get out and do something fun, quick, easy, and inexpensive. Very similar to what they do at Canvas & Cocktails or Sipping & Painting…everyone works on the same simple base and leaves class with a completed mosaic that’s either ungrouted style, they can easily grout at home, or they can leave to get grouted.)

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: CLASS DATES ALREADY SCHEDULED:

(Long-awaited, big demand)…Tempered (“Crash Glass”) Mosaics…Thursday, March 10 & 17th, 5:30 to 8:30 pm

Beginner’s Mosaics…Sunday Evenings, March 13, 20, & 27th, 5-8 pm

There will be a registration function on the “Classes”  page here soon, so that you may register for these classes. Class sizes are kept deliberately small so that Krystie Rose has enough time with each student for the help that they need  to learn the ‘awesome art of mosaics’!

TileMosaicGirl at Pot-Luck, the Pottery Painting Place

2620 S. Colorado Blvd, Denver, CO, 80222

720-435-3057 / tilemosaicgirl@gmail.com

Also on Facebook & Twitter!

New Fair Display Walls!!

OMG! I am SO excited! I found some great stuff today on my latest trip to the Habitat for Humanity Resale Store in Denver.  (They have stores located across the U.S. and Canada, all of which benefit Habitat for Humanity’s excellent program.)  I often find great grout, caulk, and tiles at the Resale Store, much of it donated from home improvement stores when the manufacturer decides the new season calls for a new shade of ‘white’.  This time, I was looking for something to use as a fixture in my upcoming summer fair booth that I could hang my mosaics on; like a vertical wall that’s freestanding.

Well, hallelujah, I’m here to tell ya, I found the PERFECT thing for it and I am SO excited! It’s a brand new set of bi-fold doors; 2 sets of 2 doors adjoined by hinges, that can stand upright very well, but I’ll hit Depot for some kind of L-brackets to mount on the bottoms so they have some support on the floor for the weight of the mosaics.  These ones are perfect because they’re brand new, unfinished, completely flat surfaced, and 6 feet, 8 inches tall!!!  And, for a zippy lil price of $45 for all 4 doors, they more than fit into my fair ‘budget’.  I thought I would share this ‘find’ of both the display option and the Habitat stores, if you weren’t already aware.

Closer-up of new display walls

I also scored an awesome wooden display cube that I can use as a riser or a double shelf for displaying tabletop items.  This one’s great because the depth on it is at least 12″, which is much larger than most riser-type fixtures.  And, at $5.00, ya can’t beat that!One more thing I found myself not being able to leave at the store was the most awesome, super-duper, cool, yummy-rific, bright baby blue, ceramic, completely in great shape, TOILET!  Yes; you heard it here; I AM going to mosaic a toilet and put it in my backyard!  The tank’s going to become a planter and the bowl will either be a birdbath or have a fountain in it!  It was only $35!  I canNOT wait to be able to start gluin’ on that baby after the fair and get it in the yard for summer!!!

'Fish Bowl' by Jean Wells

Barbie Pink Toilet

Garden-y Mosaic Toilet

Fun Sunny Mosaic Toilet!

I’m happy to report that my Art Salon piece, titled, “The Unknown” (question mark mosaic in pic; not the white background; that’s supposed to represent how it would hang on a wall; better pic of it on my Gallery page), sold to a gallery in Canada, outside Toronto, the Maplestone Gallery; www.maplestonegallery.com! Yey! SO Fun! I see a lot of their stuff is very bright like my piece, which makes it interesting.  I also see that they offer a variety of mosaic classes, in case you’re able to attend.  Check them out; I met Aiken, the co-owner along with Suzanne (who looks like she does FAB mosaic work), and he was really nice! I bet their classes are great! I see they are also offering a special visiting Artist workshop with wonderful mosaic artist Carol Shelkin in August; sign up now; she is VERY popular and her work is fantastic (see her piece below from the Mosaic Art International 2010 Exhibition)!  Anyone who’s attended or knows the gallery, please feel free to post your feedback here!

"Fabulous Hair" by Carol Shelkin

Beautiful "Fireworks" clock by mosaic artist Linda P. Smith

Garden stone from MosaicSmith on etsy

Thought I’d take a minute to continue sharing some of the wonderful mosaic artists I’ve found along my “journey”…

The latest I’d like to share is Linda Smith at  MosaicSmith Mosaics…Linda is an artist out of one of my favorite areas of the country for beaches; Tampa, FL.  Linda is a mostly self-taught mosaicist, like me, who makes and sells wonderful functional and decorative pieces, available through her etsy store.  I’ve included photos of some of my favorite pieces of hers above; the bright colors on the clock and the garden stone are SOOOOoooo up my alley!  She also does mosaic jewelry, custom pieces, and installations.  Linda writes a  wonderful mosaic blog and I was honored when she recently referred to my blog post (and photos) on issues w/ glass gems and grouting in her blog.  She shares a lot of great information on her blog; it is a wonderful resource for all things mosaic!  You can also find Linda on Twitter @MosaicSmith (http://twitter.com/MosaicSmith), Flickr, and Indiepublic, an online community for independent artists/crafters and art & craft lovers. 

The photo above (titled, “The Unknown”) is a piece I’ve submitted for the Art Salon/Auction at the show; we’ll see how it does!  I’ll also be volunteering on the ‘Mosaic Marathon’, where we all contribute to the making of a huge mosaic installation to donate to a local domestic violence shelter.  It will be so fun to actually be designing & breaking & gluing some sh*t down w/other mosaicists!  I think the conference will provide some great inspiration, skills, and information to both inspire my work and add to my class content for my students.  I don’t know if I’ll be able to go every year, but I’m at least glad to be able to go now, at this more ‘beginning’ time as a mosaicist!  For anyone out there who’s familiar w/ SAMA and wants information and/or reports on the conference and its activities, I’ll be doing some posting (hopefully during, but definitely after) and can answer any questions you might have.  If you’re not familiar w/ SAMA and you’re looking for some information on mosaics, supplies, classes, artists, designers, etc., see their website  for all kinds of resources!

http://www.thejoyofshards.co.uk/projects/pr2mirr.shtml

Click on the logo above for Sandy Robertson’s terrific Oz Mosaics website, straight from the land Down Under!  I see she just got a new site up; it looks terrific, Sandy!  And, her videos are SO terrific! Sandy is absolutely hilarious! She has TONS of great videos on all kinds of mosaic how-to topics; check ’em out!…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2A2q9gED3g

Well, it’s finally here; my step-by-step guide to grouting your mosaics! I was kinda worried about posting about grouting before I’ve even talked about bases you can use for mosaics or where to get supplies and materials, but, ‘the Hubster’ said he thought I should just go for it and share my grouting ‘formula’ now because there’d be plenty of people out there who’d be at the point of grouting. Since I like to be detailed and share what people REALLY need to know, this took me longer than I had planned, so, it’s “Chapter One” for now; I’ll get “Chapter Two” posted in the next day or two. If you’ve got a mosaic that you need to grout, or are planning on making a mosaic, you can use “Chapter One” to plan for and gather all your supplies and materials!

The ‘formula’ I’m presenting here comes from combining different directions and tips for grouting that I’ve culled from books, other mosaic artists, mosaic classes I’ve taken, online resources, and, of course, that good ‘ol trial and error I’ve experienced as “TileMosaicGirl”. This process is what I’m following now; if I find other, better ways to do it in the future, I’ll be sure to post those. Also; please DO post any ideas, critiques, or feedback that you might have from your experience.

FIRST OF ALL, Let me share a few things you need to know about grouting:

1. You need to at least mix up grout in an outdoor, well ventilated, or garage-type area; not in the house where the dust and fumes will be trapped.

2.  Always wear a face air mask (like the white kind that painters use sometimes) when mixing grout, and even while working with grout, if you find that you are sensitive to the smell (I know there have been times when I didn’t use a mask after mixing and I had this icky nasal-y, respiratory gross-ness later or the next day; not fun!).

3. NEVER EVER EVER rinse, wash, or pour grout down the sink, tub, or into any plumbing structures or pipes! A main ingredient is basically CEMENT and it can totally and/or partially block your pipes and ruin your plumbing system!

4. You will have to use separate buckets for rinsing grout from your pieces that you will set aside after you’re done grouting (…after you follow the grouting steps in Chapter Two). (You’ll wait about 12-24 hours for the grout to settle on the bottom and then slowly pour all the clear water off the top into an area of the yard or a field that won’t harm any plants or structures. Then, you’ll pour/scrape out the remainder of the grout into a disposable container that you’ve kept around (like an old shoebox, butter or Cool Whip container, coffee can, jar, etc.) Next, you will need to throw away the container with the grout. Do NOT get the grout on any other surfaces; wherever it goes, it will harden into a cement-like surface and damage whatever it’s on. If it gets on anything else, immediately wipe it off with a clean sponge (a sponge that, again, you DON’T rinse in a sink, but instead only in your grout bucket) and/or wet rags that you THROW AWAY (meaning, you also can NOT WASH anything that has grout on it in a washing machine; your only option is to throw it away or rinse it out in an outside area where it doesn’t matter if grout accumulates, like an old field, weed pile, part of the yard that you don’t care about, etc.)

Here I’m showing my typical Winter grouting set-up and supplies (when I can’t do it outside, which is much easier in non-Winter weather, with the hose and such) …

Note: If I’m going to be grouting multiple pieces with different grout colors, I have separate supplies for each grout color, it makes it much, MUCH easier; you wouldn’t believe how, say, the white grout residue in the sponge can get transferred onto a piece with black grout.

SUPPLIES:

• Rinse bucket 2/3 full of water
• Large grouting sponge
• Smaller sponges for smaller/more intricate areas (household sponges and those triangle-cut painting or ceramic-work sponges work well)
• Small container (or cup) to add water to grout
• Small-med. size container for mixing grout (I’ve been using a lot of recycled Cool Whip containers, you can also use old bowls that you then only use for grouting)
• Sticks/wooden spoons for mixing grout (the free ones at the paint dept. of home stores work great; split them in 1/2 to use for diff. colors)

• Medical-type, tight-fitting latex or non-latex gloves (get at the $ store or a box at a great price from Sam’s Club or Costco or online)
• Long, dishwashing-type (usually yellow) rubber gloves

• Regular/tight fitting 1/2 knit fabric/1/2 rubberized “nitrile” gloves; from the garden or chemical section of home stores (dk. blue rubber in my pictures).
• Grout float, wide plastic spreader, or spatulas for smoothing grout into your mosaic piece (I don’t use these that much for my pieces, but many people do; usually used more w/ really even mosaic surfaces)
• Paper towels and/or “Shop Towels” (usually stronger)
• “Dental tool” type art picks and tools (often found in ceramics and/or painting dept.’s) to fine-turn certain areas; around crevices, uneven surfaces, digging out low-lying, buried pieces, etc.
• Toothpicks and/or straw, if you have holes in your pieces that need to be kept open (like for wire hangers on my stars)
• Plastic bags, plastic tarps, or any type of plastic covering to protect tabletop surface
• Newspapers; to absorb grout & water & throw away after all the mess!
• Cloths, old shirts or clothes to use to buff away the excess grout film after you’re done (I usually reserve dark shirts for dark colored grout, white for white, etc.; seems to make it easier)
• Large “dump” bucket 3/4 full of water (like those huge orange ones from Home Depot, or a large size mop bucket—that you can only use for mosaics in the future) for throwing grouty (that’s a word, right?) gloves, mixing sticks, and other items in to rinse off

• Aforementioned dust/chemical air mask
• Safety glasses, if you feel more comfortable using them (…maybe we’re all a little spazzy…?)
• Your powdered, sanded grout in whatever colors are needed (note; store opened grout in airtight containers; any moisture from anywhere can ruin it)
• Penetrating Grout Sealer (liquid; available in home improvement stores in the flooring/tile section)
• And, lastly, your BEAUTIFUL mosaic pieces you need to grout!!!

Just found out about this mosaic artist via another mosaic artist, @shonalockhart, one of my followers on Twitter (thanks; Shona!); I checked out her stuff and it is REALLY cool, plus she teaches classes in Virginia.  Check her out:

http://tinyurl.com/yjl3bq9