Detroit Monopoly - You won't find another one like it!

The story behind this is kind of interesting.  I was contacted by a suburban Detroit city to create a piece of art from a steel door at a KMart store that had closed.  Cool!  I can do that.

So, I went to work and had my son Travis grind off all the old paint, I welded it into the shape of a table, and my son Matthew helped with the making of the money and the mosaic top.

When I called to deliver the door, I was told by the representative of the event, "Sorry.  We changed our minds on this project for the time being."

I am thinking, "Do you realize how much time we have invested in this project?".  But, it didn't matter much to the person on the other end of the phone.  In fact, I think she was a little overwhelmed herself.  So, since 2009 I have had this beautiful mosaic table in my studio covered up to keep it from getting ruined.

The properties are all Detroit:  GM, Ford, Chrysler, The People Mover, Renaissance Center, Hudsons... The property buildings are glass gems/glass globs.  And the money was all custom made as well.   Guaranteed to be one of a kind.

Right now it is in my sale.  But, rumor has it, a local Detroit reality show may be interested in selling it in their shop!  Time will tell.  It was nice to uncover it and see once again what it looked like!

Pat Deere

Art Bra Auction in Tecumseh - Bid on a bra for breast cancer research.

What a fun project.  When my friend, Elizabeth Engle asked me if I wanted to work on an art bra with her using ceramic and glass, I said "sure!"  I have been wanting to use that combination of materials for a while and never had the chance.

While I was on vacation, Elizabeth got a mold from my studio.  She created the pieces, brought them back for me to fire in the kiln, and I used this one as my donated piece.  The top section was created by painting fusers glue mixed with glass frit with a design carved into it prior to firing.  The nipples fell off during the firing process, so they also were covered in frit, fired, then glued back on after the mosaic work was completed.  The strap is copper wire and the bottom is decorated with beadwork.

This is the third bra I have created for this event over the years and it is a lot of fun to be a part of.  Some of the bras are a little quirky, like this one, but the cause is serious.  If you are in the area and have the opportunity to go, I have the information listed below.  Advance tickets are required - I believe they have sold out in the past so call ahead to be sure.

You can find information on facebook:  Tecumseh Art Bra Auction

Contact Info: The Purple Pear Tree, 109 W. Logan St., Tecumseh, MI, 49286, Phone: 517-424-6003

Hope to see you there!

Pat Deere

Day 5: Thanking God for my opportunities.

365 Days Of My Life As A Studio Artist: Day 5

Day 4 Donations: $ Will find out when I get into the office tomorrow.

Donations Running Total: $.03932

Day 5 Growth Idea: Thanking God for my opportunities.

Sunday seemed like a good day to show my gratefulness for the opportunities I have been given. You will see throughout this blog that I had a lot of roadblocks, but I also had a lot of opportunities that kept me going. One of them is pictured here. After my studio fire about 8 years ago, we moved everything into the bottom floor of this building. At the time, it was being rented out - one renter on the top floor and another renter on the bottom floor. I took over the bottom and have been here ever since. I love having my studio on our property. Although it could be larger... and I don't know any artist who doesn't feel like they need more space, it allows me the opportunity to come down and work any time of the day or night. And, for me that is a real plus. If I can't sleep, I come down, work for a bit, get the ideas out of my head and on paper, then go up the hill back to bed. How cool is that?

My History: I think #5 may be my lucky number. My jobs lasted for 5 years... 5 years at Manufacturers Bank, 5 years at The Westin Hotel, and the next 5 years were at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn. Once back in Dearborn I started back at school. Although I was foolish enough to have the engineers I worked with talk me into taking Calculus. Math was never a strong point of mine and even with their private coaching, I had to drop that class. Drove me nuts to do it... but for me, there was no way I was going to make it through and pass. As in the past, if times got tough, I dropped my art classes. Still trying to figure out why I did this. I guess it was that lack of confidence in myself, my abilities, and the ability to make any money doing what I love. My job at Ford Motor Company lasted 5 years because we decided to start having a family.

Today's Business: Did a little follow up on an upcoming job for a hospital in our area. Things are looking good but I don't want to post the results until I have a signed contract. I have found that getting excited about the possibilities before I have a contract and money is kind of futile. The committee is supposed to meet tomorrow, I found out so maybe I will know this week. It will be a 4' wide x 4.5' tall mosaic with the same feel as the glass panel on this blog. Wish me luck.

Pat Deere

Dancing On The Ceiling

My niece sent me a link to a pretty cool web site, I have listed it at the bottom. One of the amazing works of art was an exhibit she had seen, probably during the Cows On Parade Exhibit in Chicago in 1999.

When Detroit wanted to do a fundraiser between the Detroit YMCA and the Windsor Endowment for the Arts, I submitted a design. This design was sponsored by General Motors and purchased by a private buyer who donated it to the Detroit Opera Theatre. I haven't seen it there yet but was told it is displayed in their parking structure. These photos show two sides of the car while on display on the Detroit People Mover prior to the auction.

This side was a wonderfully in love couple with a very smooth dance move. The next photo was inspired by a photo of my husband at his senior prom - donning a John Travolta pose.

I estimated there were over 170,000 pieces of glass in this piece. There was a mirrored dancing ball on the top of the car. Iwill post other pictures of the back and drivers side at a later date.

I always wanted to mosaic a car. Actually, I wanted to mosaic a running vehicle so I could drive it in parades and attend Art Car functions. Once I did this, I lost that desire for a while but would probably do it again if I got the right vehicle.

Pat Deere

Classes: Mosaic classes can be taken at Pictures In Glass. Click on this link.

Link: Unusual Worlds Worst/Best/Craziest, etc.

Theatre, Mosaics, and Weeping Willows

I was asked by a local theatre to come up with an idea for their donor wall. What you see here was actually a sample board for a mosaic idea on another project... that I didn't get. (But I did get 5 stained glass windows on that job.) This sample board would have been used in a bathroom and resembled a section of splashing water.

At any rate, my idea is to make a weeping willow tree. The hanging leaves will actually be pieces of glass - some fused and some not (like the glass sample shown). The fused pieces will add a lot of dimension to the piece.

The trunk of the tree will have the feel of a dancing figure swaying in the wind like a weeping willow. Names of the donors will be engraved on the leaves.

Don't know all of the details yet but we will be moving in this direction. I love it when my customers give me the ability to use my artistic expression and not be tied into a preconceived idea of what they think it should be. History has shown they are usually much happier with the results.

I'll keep you posted.

Pat Deere

Mosaics in the process...

On February 21 & 23 I posted a couple of pictures of this mosaic in the process. I always like watching the process an artist goes through to make a piece of art from start to finish.

Well, this is still in the process but it is sooo close. They say a cobblers children has no shoes, and in my home I really don't have much glass. I'm trying to change that. This mosaic was actually done for my husbands electrical contracting business, Deere Electric Inc. Today I have laid the thinset and placed my mosaic (glued to mesh) in place. I am filling in the blanks where glass has either fallen out or not reached the edges the way it should. Once dry, I will be able to grout and seal it and it will be done.

Since today is my husbands 49th birthday, I thought it would be nice to have it finished for him today. It will actually be tomorrow before I can grout though. When it is completely finished, I will post some close up photos so you can see the details.

Ok - back to work. Have a wonderful week-end.

Pat Deere