Mission Accomplished!

Designed, built, installed and grouted! Here are the final pics.

Ready to Grout!

The Moment We Have All Been Waiting For . . .

I know I missed a couple of steps, but yesterday I began the process of installing. It has been a long, hard process and major learning experience. Hopefully, I will get a chance to tell you about it when it is done. Tomorrow I go back to finish all kinds of details - pieces that weren't fitting or need adjusting, pieces that fell off in the process, grinding sharp edges and peeling the tape off the Karma tiles. The Sunday we (the installer, Cathy and I) will go back to grout. Hopefully, we will be able to finish it on Sunday. Here are the latest pics showing the process.

Starting to Get Exciting!

Here it is! This is really exciting for several reasons. I don't have a table large enough to to hold the entire project. For that last several days I have been working on individual parts of the project and haven't been able to see the how the project is coming together. Here are some pics to catch you up.

Getting the right side ready to mosaic.

As it comes together . . .

As started working on the lower portion of the box that comes forward with the hearth, I wanted to make sure everything was aligned. So, I shifted the panel I was working on and lined it up with the front panel. Seeing it like this, it all started coming together for me and I started to get excited.

Now I need to move on to the left side!

Almost!

I am almost ready to move on to the sides! I know it have been several days since my last post, but I have been having photography problems. For some reason, perhaps the fact that I dropped it, my camera won't use the flash. So, those late night, after I have slaved all day, look what I have done pictures, haven't been turning out. So, today I took some in the middle of the day when the light was good. Oh, and just so you know, I have to stand on my desk and hold the camera to the ceiling to get the whole thing in view.

So, here it is. I am pleased. I can't wait to get to the sides and start to see the whole plan come together. I can seen bits and pieces, for instance the big mirrored circle is starting to appear, but the side pieces will really enhance it.

Tomorrow, I will finish the small mirror space on the left and the even smaller black piece and then will need to clear a couple of tables to get to working on the side panels. Wahoo! See you tomorrow.

The Latest Dilemma

Here are the latest pics. I am steadily moving along and if I can decide what to do, just might finish the front this weekend. As I am sure you all figured, the install scheduled for this weekend didn't happen.







I am really liking the way this section of mirror turned out. I had a lot of fun working the patterns and flow together. I am really like the way it moves.
My latest dilemma is the the set of circles in the center of the horizontal hearth - the heart of the hearth. I have to look back to see what I originally had planned, but at one point I changed my mind and now I am stuck.

So, I took my latest pictures into PhotoShop and did some coloring to help me make up my mind. These are the two schemes I tried. I am having my age old struggle of "what color would be a logical result of these two colors mixing." I wish I could throw that out the window and just do something radical. Maybe someday. For now this is what I am thinking. What do you think?

Moving On

With the intersecting circles basically finished (still haven't decided on the changes talked about last time, but I have plenty to do, so I will let them go for now), I have moved on to the base of the fireplace enclosure -- the horizontal hearth and the front face of the box. I finished the orange and the turquoise, no problems, no questions, and started into the first mirrored section.

The client and I had discussed these areas a little. We talked about the mirror being laid in an irregular pattern with some sparkly textured mirrors mixed throughout. My first thought was all squares, but that felt too structured. So, I through in some irregular shapes and diagonals. However, as the area began to grow, I wasn't liking the look as compared to the Karma tile areas. The tiled areas are all done in a regular pattern of gridded squares. I felt that the mirrored tiles needed to reflect some of that regular pattern, but being the contrarian that I am, I felt it needed to "move" a little more. So, I started to work the mirrored tiles into regular rectangles and rows, but not just normal rows, but rows that flow. I am liking it.

Back to work I go . . .

. . . Continued

Ok, that is what I needed. MUCH better! I have to admit that I wasn't so sure that this project was working out. I think I go through that at some point on every project, but I didn't want to say anything because the client has access to this blog ;) So, I pressed on and now it is feeling right.

Now, the dilemma with the "eye." I have been stuggling with the colors of the tiles. My original plan was that the intersecting circle on the right would be differentiated by materals, and the circle on the left would be set apart by a change in the colors. And the original design had the third circle from the center as pink, but there wasn't a pink in the Karma tile. So, I tried the red, but it just wasn't working for me. I was thinking about changing the entire circle colors to red, but I decided to stick with my original inclination. I studied but really needed to see the entire eye together before I could make a decision.

So, this is what I originally put down.

And this is what I am thinking of changing it to.

It also took a couple of days looking at it to realize that the little triangle between the green and the purple should be turqoise. I think I have it now.

What do you think?

The Eye of the Storm . . .

Hi Everyone, here are the latest pics.

I have been struggling with the colors in the "eye." Specifically, the two green and the red sections. But more on that later. I feel a need to get into the studio.

Done With the Tiles!

I think I am finally done with the tiles. Can I be real? I have just affirmed why I don't work with little square tiles on a regular basis. I don't know if it is the media or my eye that demands perfection, but I just do not have the patience for little square tiles!

So, after half a day of futzing and putzing, I think I am done with the Karma tiles. Wahoo! Of course now that I have said that, I will find more things to fix, but the bulk of it is done. Here is a look at the project.

There were a few tense moments when I began to lay out the turquoise colored areas. What you see pictured is ALL the turqoise tile I had. As you can see, it came down to almost the square inch! I don't know if I am that good, or just that lucky :)

Next step, the mirrored tile. But first, I am going to the gym!

Sonji Says . . .

Ok, I have to put in a quick plug for Sonji. She has been heaping praises on me today, so I need to tell of you about her.

Sonji Hunt is a fabric artist from Milwaukee, WI. I met her this summer at an outdoor arts festival in Bayfield, WI. Like she said, be it the heat, the boredom, or the fact that she sees in fabric what I see in dishes, we hit it off immediately.

Sonji's work often gets lumped into the category of "Art Quilts" but her work is like no quilt you have ever seen. Check out Sonji's blog "Sonji Says" and if you Google her, you will find her web site as well. It was Sonji's blog that inspired me to start this one.

Thank you Sonji, I love your work, am inspired by your talent and drive, and am honored to call you friend.

The Next Step

Wow, I sent out an e-mail to let people know that I am doing this, and the response has been amazing. Thanks everyone for your interest.

So, the next step was to create, or in this case re-create the base. I have an awesome tile installer and all around handy woman working with me on this project and she took care of "truing" the enclosure. I then took exact measurements and set about drawing a pattern for the mosaic. This was no simple task. First off the project is bigger than any table I have. So, I brought in a 4 x 8 piece of plywood and screwed it to the top of a desk to make a table. The face, the horizontal hearth, and the front of the enclosure fills that. So, to connect/flow the circles onto the sides of the enclosure, I had to drape the front off the table and figure out at what point each surface connected. I had done all of this for the model so I had a better idea of where I was going, but at this scale your head and your eyes begin to play tricks on you.







Once the template is drawn it needs to be covered with plastic and a fiberglass mesh that the pieces will be glued to. The plastic is to keep the pieces from sticking to your pattern. On a large project like this it is typical to build it on mesh or paper (in reverse) so that it can be built and transported to the site for installation as opposed to building it on site.

I separated the bottom two panels from the actual front that surrounds the fireplace opening and put them on one board (so they can be moved around easily) and left the rest on the table.

I then pulled out the Karma tiles and started to figure out how I was going to put them in the different spaces. Of course I labeled each section with its appropriate color according to the model.

And then I began to cut.

First, I used black tiles to border the fireplace insert. These tiles will actually lap onto the metal fireplace and transition to the mosaic.













I decided that I would NOT lay the tile in the typical "grid" pattern. I felt that the strong "square" structure filling the circular shapes and lining up from area to area and color to color would be distracting. So, I intentionally skewed each sheet of tile differently so as to break down some of that structure.









And I cut . . .



and cut . . .



and cut . . .


for the last three days!

I am almost done with the glass tiles and will have more pictures tomorrow. Talk at you then.