Discovering Mosaic

I had the opportunity to help create a collaborative mosaic 

 back in 2011 when I was working for Vibe of Portland, 

a nonprofit arts and music educational organization with the mission to 

"Empower Portland's Underserved Youth through Art & Music." 

Teaching artist for Vibe, Leslie Barnum (see below), headed up this project. 

This was the first time I came into contact with this medium. 

I am so grateful for this hands-on introduction to mosaic because it  
inspired me to explore this art form more seriously two years later.

Thank you Leslie! 

I didn't get to see the finished mosaic until I visited 

Portland three years later, in 2015 (see below). 

Starry Night in Caps Revealed!

Well, I know a lot of time has passed since I last posted.... 

The last post I wrote was about the bottle cap mural my 5th grade students 

created at ASPA (Arts and Science Preparatory Academy) in Cleveland, Ohio.

When I revisited that post, I realized I never posted photos of the finished mural. 

Then I thought, "Well, better late than never!"

Here is the finished mural:

 I was so excited to finish this project, I had to give it a hug! 

Begin Again.

Well, here I am again.

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again." 

-Thomas H. Palmer

I saw the quote below TWICE today and felt like it was a cue to 

get back to posting on this blog!  

I have been having a great time continuing to explore my creativity

and sharing it with the people around me. I have started an Instagram

account to reach more people, but this is limited in what I can write.

Hence, here I am again. 

I want to share my creativity with more people! 

Enjoy. 

Hello Again!

It has been awhile since my last post! 

Inspiration is building and it is time to continue blogging on a more regular basis.  

I still am driven by seeking and enjoying the sense of wonder that is around us. 

Good things are happening in my life and there is so much to share. 

Stay tuned!! 

Finishing Starry Night Mural

 Problem Solved!

 

After deliberating for awhile as to what to do to fill in the gaps

of the Starry Night mural, I decided to use spackling paste.

 

I unscrewed caps along the gaps and then applied the paste.
 

After the spackling dried, I painted that section of the mural.

Once the paint dried, I glued back the caps and screwed them
down to the wood. Voila - much better!!

Below are photos of this 3 step process for two
different sections of the mural:

 

Step one: Spackling applied
 

Step two: Area painted

 

Step three: Caps glued and screwed down

 

 

Step one: Spackling added 

Step two: Area painted

Step three: Caps glued and screwed down

 

 



Hanging "Starry Night" Mural

The Creative Process Continues

My family and I moved to eastern Pennsylvania mid-August of 2013,

and, needless to say, my time has been limited as we

have been settling into our new lives.

Hence, this delayed post to bring viewers up-to-date on the

"Starry Night" bottle cap mural.

The final piece consists of six panels, each measuring 2' x 4' -

making the mural's total size approximately 8' x 8'.

Each panel was screwed into the wall using
drywall screws and anchors.

Once the mural was hung, some of the panels did not fit together
exactly right, leaving gaps in parts of the mural.

Visually, this really disrupted from the overall cohesiveness of the mural.

I just couldn't live with the mural looking this way and took some time
to brainstorm remedies to this situation.

Below are some photos showing these unfortunate gaps:
 

 

Check out the next post to see what I chose to do!
 

 



Sweden's Model of Sustainability

 

 

Sweden's Model of Sustainability

 

 

I came across this article on Facebook and couldn't believe it!

 

50% of U.S. trash ends up in landfills, compared to Sweden -

where only 4% of their trash ends up in landfills.

 

This is just amazing!

 

Here is the link to the article:

 

http://www.pachamama.org/blog/models-of-sustainability-sweden-runs-out-of-garbage

 

What can the United States (and other countries) be doing to

decrease the amount of trash we produce???