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

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

SICIS The Art Mosaic Factory

This is a link you will want to go to. I am in New York City visiting my son, his girlfriend and my brother. While here, I am checking out art galleries, churches, cool architectural buildings, and wonderful ethnic restaurants.

The photo here was the best I could get when copying it from the web site: http:/www.sicis.com for the SICIS Art Mosaic Factory. This is a site you WILL want to visit.

We were walking down the street and saw a building full of mosaic flowers. When we got inside, there was a floor full of mosaic panels, mosaic rugs, mosaic dogs...

On this site you will find beautiful mosaic artwork, installation recommendations, etc. Take a look and let me know what you think. This gave me so many ideas I came back to our cute little hotel room and couldn't sleep. With my drawing pad by my bed, I woke up in the middle of the night and started drawing in the dark so I wouldn't wake my brother. When I woke up, I detailed my midnight sketches. Can't wait to get back and start working on some.

Pat Deere

Stairway To Heaven - Photo courtesy of Artistic Buffet

I got an email from the owner of the blog spot shown below. You will want to check out her blog to see the rest of the photos of this awesome mosaic. Since I have been renovating my studio, working on my mosaic floor, and entertaining ideas for future projects, I found this very fascinating.

Take a peek. You won't be disappointed. http://artisticbuffet.blogspot.com/

Pat Deere

Mosaic Class: Try taking a mosaic class. The possibilities are limitless and don't worry about not being "artistic". I can help you with that.
Custom Mosaics: What a great way to enhance your kitchen backsplash, shower walls, or stairs. Give me a call and let me come up with the idea for you.
Free Glass: I still have boxes of free glass available for mosaic work or small stained glass projects.

It's happening - my studio is taking shape!

This may not look like much to you, but to me it marks the last big piece to my studio work. I believe I talked about my husbands electrical contracting company, Deere Electric Inc. This is a combination of his logo, company name, and imagery in my own mind to create a really cool entrance to his room.

Living in Michigan, we get absolutely beautiful sunrises and sunsets among the clouds. The colors can be out of this world. The fall gives us beautiful colors in the leaves and that is what I have depicted around the border. Evergreens really help create a wonderful pallet of colors any time of year. And, since our last name is Deere and we have our studio and business in a log cabin, this seemed to be an appropriate design.

Can't wait to show you the finished piece. For now, I have to get back to work! You know how it is when your on a roll... nothing can stop you till it's done!

Pat Deere

Classes: I offer mosaic classes any time of the year - hope this inspires you.
Custom Stained Glass: What kind of design can I add to your home to give you an awesome family heirloom?
Free Stuff: Right now I still have boxes of free glass for students who like to do mosaic work. Send me an email or give me a call!

Back in the swing!

Ok - I'll admit this doesn't look like much, but to me ... it represents the ending point of a 3 week process of working on my studio to put it into a condition that works better for myself and my customers.

It started out like most projects. The flooring was coming up when I tried to sweep so I thought it was time to replace it. I planned on a simple tile floor. A friend, very lovingly, called and told me about a great deal on some porcelain tile. Great! I said. It should take a Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday to complete. Well, as most projects go, that turned into:

New glass bins
Rearranging all the glass in those bins
Disassembling and removing old bins
Finding a place for all the stuff while working on the projects
Moving my desk, file cabinets, book shelves and computer into any corner I could find
Removing the old flooring
Removing the old sink
Installing the new flooring
Grouting the flooring
Trying to get the studio ready for a visit by a church committee I'm working with while not damaging the work in progress
etc., etc., etc.

It's really hard for me to be productive in those conditions. In the process, we decided to make a really cool mosaic in front of the room that houses my husbands electrical contracting room. Thus, the picture above. I am using some of the same glass from that mosaic flooring to create a glass edge on my desk. I know it doesn't look like much here, but wait to see ... THE REST OF THE PHOTOS. I'll post them as we move along.

I didn't take "before photos" because I couldn't find where I put my camera. Now that I found it, I can show you the progress and hopefully inspire you to do something similar in your own home or office.

Enjoy the day. We are supposed to get 4-5" of snow here!

Pat

Inspirational Students on a Sunny Michigan Saturday

What a fun day! Today was my Free Mosaic Class day and I had 3 students attend with various levels of experience. It never fails that students inspire me and they did today - whether they knew it or not.

I meant to snap a picture while they were here working and... we got talking about mosaics of all kinds, pottery, bead making, fusing, art shows... and on and on and the picture was forgotten.

We were working on Tara here. You can see her laying on the table behind my mosaic sample board for another project I applied for. You have seen Tara before and she is getting closer to being done, with the help of Kerry, Joann, and Phil today.

Phil is working on an idea that will require gluing musical wire (like guitar strings) to glass. Today we tried using KOA 300 and an ultraviolet light. It worked for a while and then broke loose. I am going to try again to see if we can get it to work well. If there are any suggestions from people who have had similar situations and you found a combination that works, let us know!

As soon as I am done here, I will be leaving for Toledo to check out the building that Art-O-Matic 419 will take place at in April. I will be one of the exhibiting artists and don't even really know what it involves. I know there will be artists of all kinds, including poets, musicians, etc. and thought it sounded like a fun mix. I'll let you know more as I get information.

Chicago is my destination on Tuesday. I will be visiting my supplier to pick up some large pieces of glass and always something real unusual that I will use for something some day. If you need anything, let me know before Monday evening and I will pick it up for you when I go.

That's it for today. Enjoy your Saturday. It's SUNNY here in Michigan today!

Pat

More Mosaics

Mosaics seem to be of interest to people lately. This is a fun mosaic tray I recently finished. It began with a pre-existing tray that had a fun collection of buttons underneath. I added stacks of marbles, a melted glass bottle, fused glass for the flower, a melted wine bottle of my moms that had a chip in it, and an assortment of other glass to make it a fun serving tray. Over the top of all of it, I put a clear piece of glass to make a nice smooth place to hold items. I do have this tray displayed at the Lenawee County Fair if you stop by.

During the fair, I have been talking to a lot of people. One woman made a unique marble mosaic using a marble collection from a friend. It sounds like he collected these marbles since he was a boy... a collection that spans 80 +/- years. I asked her to send the mosaic in that she made using these marbles so I can post it on this blog.

If anybody has a unique glass piece you made that you would like to share to inspire others, please send a photo and description of the piece to me so we can post it. People really like to see what can be done with every day objects.

Pat Deere

Tara - The Retired Model

This is Tara. When my husband brought home this mannequin - minus one arm and a head, he told me he was going to use it for target practice. I objected and told him I had a much better use for it.

This is the beginning stage of what she looks like. She is being mosaic'd... small glass pieces glued to the entire piece. Once done, she will be grouted. I am using clear silicon adhesive for this project.

If all works out as planned, she will be given to the Art Bra Auction in Tecumseh to be sold to the highest bidder. The money made from that auction goes to breast cancer research.

The design: I have taken Tara to several different locations and many people have worked on her. Right now, I have her at the Lenawee County Fair (until this Saturday) where I am working on her as well as anybody wanting to put in a little time. The colorful piece on her right cheek was added by a girl who was at the Blissfield Festival. That has now turned into a design on her pants pocket. The pink ribbon... the symbol for breast cancer. The eagle - just seemed like it should go there. She also has many parts of her front finished. I'll add pictures as we move along.

So, if your visiting any of the fairs I am at, stop by my booth and help me finish Tara. It will be fun for you and go to a good cause. A list of the fairs I'll be attending are shown below under the Lenawee County Fair title.

CLASS NOTES: Mosaic classes are offered through my studio. The fun thing about them is you can use so many different things besides just glass. Add stones, pottery, broken dishes. The shedule is flexible and only limited by your imagination.

CUSTOM MOSAICS: If you browse through my web site you will see some pretty extravagant mosaics I have done in the past. They make wonderful backsplashes behind a stove. If you do not have the creative itch to make your own mosaic, or don't have the time, I would love to provide a quote for you to make a backsplash that will make your kitchen a showpiece!

Mosaic Bird House Auction - Tecumseh Center for the Arts

The City of Tecumseh is hosting a bird house auction where the bird houses can be viewed in area businesses throughout the summer and auctioned off in the fall. My bird house, shown here, was inspired by my three teenage boys. It can be seen at United Bank and Trust in Tecumseh.

The four sides of this glass mosaic are: Life is a Journey, Get Inspiration Wherever You Can, Learn From Your Mistakes, and Be At Peace in the End. Each of the sayings are hand painted onto the glass and kiln fired for permanence. The poem, by an unknown (to me) author has been engraved onto the glass for the Learn From Your Mistakes panel. It really hit me when I read it and it reads like this:

Praying to a God you can't see and can't hear seem a little confusing?

When my child made a bad decision that was legally and morally wrong, I only had to ask him one question.

MOM: Would you have made the same decision had you talked to God about it first?

CHILD: No.

MOM: That was God talking to you. You may not see him and you may not hear him like I am talking to you now. But the ability to make good decisions while talking to God is prayer. And, your good decision is God's answer.

When you get to the side, Get Inspiration Wherever You Can, much of that came from a wonderful canoe trip I had taken on the Au Sable River with my children and friends. They had a beautiful old log cabin on many acres. The trip passed a private piece of land where somebody had built an outdoor chapel. It was roofed and the windows were made of wrought iron. Inside there were benches where you could sit, meditate, pray, or just listen to nature. It was a great place for a quiet moment and open to whoever wanted to stop by.

Visit all of the houses whenever you can. All of them are supposed to be listed on the Saline Picture Frame web site. I did not find that link yet but will post it when it becomes available.

CLASS NOTES: Along with a full array of other classes, I teach glass mosaic. There is a new product out called NO DAYS Mosaic Adhesive. Great product! It adheres well and is quick drying. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about it and I do have a limited supply of free samples!

Pat

PL Deere