Mosaic Mural Intensive - Day 7

Day 7 (Sunday). This is the final day of class. Before grouting, we cover all spots with blue tape that are susceptible to scratches, or discoloration when grouting. We chose a misty gray color for the grout. The grouting is done in 3 steps: 1) apply grout using cellulose sponge, 2) wipe surface of excess grout with tile sponge, 3) dry buff.


We completed the mural in time to prepare the classroom for the IMA 5th Anniversary party later in the afternoon.

Mosaic Mural Intensive - Day 6

Day 6 (Saturday). Today was installation day. We prepped our installation site by taping off the wall around the hardiboard, taping a plastic skirt below it, and covering the floor with red paper and a canvas tarp.


Installation steps include: 1) Stabilize sections with blue tape; 2) Mix thinset, and trowel a mortar bed onto surface starting from bottom left corner; 3) Lift section from floor, remove plastic backing, position it into mortar bed, and guide into place; 4) Press tile pieces firmly into the mortar and remove blue tape; 5) Pick out excess thinset from grout lines; 6) Prepare mortar bed area for next section and attach the section, working bottom to top, left to right; 7) Cut out and attach bridging pieces; 8) Pop out tiles as needed and adjust placement for better fit.

Mosaic Mural Intensive - Day 5

Day 5 (Friday) was a free day from class to allow the glue to dry. I organized a field trip for the class to visit some public mosaic murals in San Francisco, and to have lunch at my mom's restaurant in Chinatown. Amy, Janine, Jody, Sarah, and myself from the class plus Sarah's mom and sister piled into Jody's mini-van for the trip into the city.

We visited the following sites:
- Laurel's Spheres: On Ocean Ave; By Laurel True
- Tiled Steps: Moraga St. between 15th & 16th Aves.; By Crutcher & Barr
- Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy: 19th St. & Collingwood St; By Ellen Blakeley
- Above Elevators of Bart Station: 16th St. & Mission St.
- Mission Creek Mural: Harrison St & 16th St; By Sizemore & True.

Mosaic Mural Intensive - Day 4

Day 4 (Thurs). We finished setting all the sections, and redid some areas where the colors did not flow right. We learned how to trim the mesh, stack the boards, remove the sections from the boards, and how to layout the completed sections on a plastic sheet.


We also learned about packing and prepping for transport, and about prepping for the installation.

Mosaic Mural Intensive - Day 2,3

On Days 2 & 3 (Tues, Wed). We learned more cutting and setting techniques. We are using lots of high fire McIntyre tiles, and some fused dichroic glass. The second day was spent setting most of the flowers and leaves. The third day we finished off the flowers, and set the background and border areas. In setting the background we learned the difference between mixing (colors random) and blending (colors gradient).


Some students concentrated on one section, and others moved between sections. Some students used gel gloves to help ease the pressure on the hands from carving and nipping the tiles.

Mosaic Mural Intensive - Day 1

Day 1 (Monday). This was the first day of the Mural Making Intensive Class at IMA in Oakland. There are 12 of us in the class, taught by Laurel True. Some students came from far away (Vermont, San Diego, Seattle). Laurel covered design, transfer, and prep techniques. Her design is called: Birds of Paradise and is 4'x8'. The 12 of us took turns at the different steps in the process. We are installing the mural in the large IMA classroom, so there is no need to transport it to the installation site.


Mural Prep includes: 1) Marking sections and coding colors, flow and bridging areas; 2) Transferring design onto mesh with Sharpie pens; 3) Covering boards with plastic sheets; 4) Taping mesh to boards.

Goal of Day 1 was to cut and set all mirror pieces. Mirror is used in some border areas, swirls, and veins in the leaves and flowers. Fused dichroic glass are used for the stamens in the hibiscus flowers, and for the feathers in the birds.

Embossed Horse

This is a 9"x9" stained glass panel. The center piece is an antique blue glass that was embossed during a fusing class at the Glass Craft Expo in April. The embossing is done by cutting a stencil out of fiber board, then placing the glass piece over the stencil and heating it in the kiln to slumping temperature. This technique works with stained glass as well as fusable glass. A rose border with opaque and glue chip glass was added to frame the embossed horse.

During the Glass Expo, I bought a Skutt kiln at a discounted rate, and drove it home to avoid the shipping expense. I hope to make more pieces like this once I upgrade our wiring to accommodate the kiln.

Mosaic Postcard

I recently completed a 12"x18" mosaic piece for the CMA challenge with "time" as the theme. The piece was titled: "Day and Night in the City by the Bay", and depicted the San Francisco skyline. I posted a photo on my flickr account, and some of my flickr friends thought it would make a nice postcard. I thought that was a great idea too, so I went to postcards.com and ordered some postcards. If you would like one, send me an email and I can send one to you.