Ep. 161 MAKING GORGEOUS MOSAIC FLORAL PENDANTS, MOSAIC TULIP STEMS & A BIG MOSAIC OLD MEXICO ZINNIA!

Hey Everyone! Welcome to my studio.

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1:36 I take after a daisy shaped pendant bezel. First I mix Apoxie Sculpt for 2 minutes by hand, then let it rest for 5 minutes. I've poked out where I want the center and then I place the beautiful little ladybug. Then I make the center with handpulled filati and the petals with a mix of white smalti shards.
3:48 Next I decide to make little daisies in a heart shaped bezel. The white petals are from DiMosaico. The centers and green background are handpulled glass.
4:43 More daisies in a long bezel this time. How can you have enough flowers? These are more of a side view and I add a bit of blue sky at the top.
6:18 Now I have a huge oval bezel and I combine both types of flowers. I even add some itty bitty red flowers along the bottom and edge. This has a few side view flowers and a bit of sky. It's gorgeous!
7:21 Time to tackle the Angelique tulips again. The stems and buds are where my focus will be. I have a pile of scrap glass and one piece of glass from my storage. I start with various highlighted areas of the buds and stems, nipping each piece to fit with wheeled nippers and adhering with Weldbond adhesive.
10:29 When my stem reaches the bottom edge, I remember that I want to paint the lip framing the work. So before I put glass near the edge, I pull out an artist quality acrylic paint and prop up the work so it doesn't touch my work table before it dries. Once that is done, I realize it is going to take a while to dry because I used slow drying paint!
11:29 I switch gears to a new substrate, which is a floral cutout from a craft store that I have prepped by priming with Kilz primer first. I start with Apoxie Sculpt and beads for the center in reds and golds. Then I dry lay in the red glass "spines" that run down the center of each petal. It is easy to go back and adhere the pieces all at once with Weldbond adhesive. Then I surround each of the spines with an orange outline, very much like the Old Mexico zinnia pendants I've just made.
14:00 There is gorgeous texture in the center, but the spines are very flat in color. I decide to punch up the petals with a variety of yellows, including ceramic pieces, mirrored glass, irridized tiles and cathedral glass in yellow. I continue to use Weldbond for this step.
17:00 Now it is the next day and time to grout. I want an orange color, so I look at my new Rainbow Colorants and go with brick since it has an orange cast. I carefully follow the directions and mix a 5% colorant load. Meh, too red. Then I start winging it and fiddle with the grout, adding more white powdered GROUT (not thinset, which is what I said in the video) and yellow colorant until I get the color I want.
19:23 Using my blue Kemper finishing tool, I carefully spread the grout near the beads, and then the whole thing. I am always wiping away from the beads so they don't get contaminated with grout. This one is a super sparkler in the sun!!!
20:46 I showed how I finished off the zinnia with paint and wiring. Then I show how I did finish the stems on the tulips.

That's Putting It Together Ep. 161. Thanks for watching. See you next time!

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MOSAIC IN PERSON CLASSES (Atlanta metro area)
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