New Project!

Photo courtesy of Etsy.com

I have always been fascinated by mosaics. When I was younger (in high school) I used to spend hours in my bedroom with the door closed, sitting on the floor cracking tiles between towels with a hammer in hopes that mom wouldn't hear and come in and tell me to "go do that in the garage" or "let me get you some newspaper to put down" (that's always her answer to everything potentially messy. Gotta love her.) Anyhow, I made a few random trivets and flower pots as well as a couple christmas ornaments (that happened to be too heavy to hang from any normal christmas tree branch.)

I have an uncle who is a tile layer (he is actually still laying tile at the ripe age of 80-something, can you believe that?!) so I had a plethera of left over tile from the 50's-90's to search through in hopes to find something more colorful than "builder beige." Occasionally I would stumble upon a few pieces of left over tile that had some fantastic patterns, colors, and shapes to them. All in all, this was a hobby (like most of the things I get interested in) that was short lived. I tend to get overly excited about something new, only to end up with tons of leftover projects, unorganized supplies, and half finished pieces of art.

Well, here I am again, wanting to give the art of making mosaics another whirl. I feel I am at a point in my life now where I am more artistic, creative and organized to start a project and finish not only one or two but several. All it takes is time, energy, an organized space to work, and patience. I am in the process of creating a "studio" on our covered back patio. I am looking for some old cabinets that i can turn into a work bench and other handmedown pieces of furniture I can utilize in my new workspace. (bookshelves, chair, etc.) Once I have this space created for myself, I can see the creative juices starting to flow.

There is nothing I love more than art that is functional. And there is nothing better than functional furniture that is art. That is what has inspired me to create a mosaic table for my front patio (the-soon-to-be coolest place in the neighborhood where friends hang out, sip on cold beverages, smoke cigars, and watch the kids play.) (My parents did it, sitting in old park bench that my mom painted, smoking cigarettes, gossiping with the neighbors and keeping a careful eye on us as we ran a muck in the neighborhood streets.) Well, what do you know, here I am doing the same thing my parents did. I am starting to feel old (but that is another post all in it's own that we'll save for another day!)

So here are a few inspirational pics I found from flickr and etsy that are are serving as motivation for me to get off my ass, create a functional organized workspace and bust out my creative side.