Ep. 132 THE MOSAIC EYES HAVE IT! STARTING TWO NEW MOSAIC COMMISSIONS - ST. MATTHEW & A TROPICAL FISH

Ep. 132 THE MOSAIC EYES HAVE IT! STARTING TWO NEW MOSAIC COMMISSIONS - ST. MATTHEW & A TROPICAL FISH.
Welcome to my studio!
0:38 I show the design for a mosaic of St. Matthew, represented by an angel. The mosaic will be stained glass over alkali resistant fiber glass mesh using Laticrete 254 thinset as the adhesive. I plan on punching up the darks a bit so it will be easier to see from a distance.
3:07 Nipping has commenced! I start with the eyes as they are the most crucial and tricky part with the most fiddly bits.
4:07 It is very important to get the eyes even! Then I show my palette for the eyes - deep brownish blue, slate blue, cobalt blue, soft light blue and brown. Finally I get after it! I also start adding the eyelid and other skin tones. If I take a break, I have to clean up the thinset so I can butt the pieces up next to each other.
7:32 Now I work around the other eye and the bridge of the nose. The right side will be a bit darker than the left side as the light source is coming from the left.
8:18 Woah, Nelly! I stop working on St. Matthew so I can start a different commission. I have a tropical fish and a sea anemone. For this one, I have to draw it out by hand since the images are not copyright free. So I am using them for inspiration rather than directly. I draw them out with pencil, and then trace over that with Sharpie so I can see the design through the mesh. The sea anemone is definitely going to be the trickier project with all those crazy tentacles and spots!
12:28 I show how I set up the fish commissions so I can work on mesh and it won't stick to the designs. The whole thing is set up on a board so I can move it if needed.
14:38 Here are some feather cut pieces of glass, some of which I am going to use RIGHT NOW! For this project, I am using Weldbond as my adhesive. The little bits go down rather quickly, which was nice.
15:42 I get back after the St. Matthew project. WHY? You may be wondering. Because, I had to ask the fish client some questions via e-mail and had to wait for her response. So...in the meantime, I knocked out St. Matthew's nose and forehead. Two pieces weren't quite right, so I swapped them out before the thinset had set up.
17:40 NOW I finally get started on the fish. I have a gorgeous little fritball for the pupil in adventurine blue, which has a little bit of a sparkle to it. I decide to make the orange/yellow around the eye more prominent, so as to deviate from the copyrighted image. Then the fish gets his lips and bright blue on his face. The next bit has some light blue and white before I get to lay in that gorgeous orange glass! The fin at the bottom was rather pale and I boosted the rainbow hues just a bit. I am not cutting scale shapes as scales are not visible on this fish.
20:50 I show how I deal with excess thinset coming up between the pieces by removing one little piece and cleaning it off, then carefully placing it back.
21:25 YAY! I finally got to the rippled glass!!! I could hardly wait to use it!
That's Putting It Together Ep. 132! Thanks for watching. See you next time!
22:04 BONUS: I went ahead and added the mirrored glass I had already pulled to the bottle so I could put it away and tidy up!
WATCH NEXT:
Ep. 112 MOSAIC MANDALAS PHASE II PREP + Wildflowers and Chester! • Ep. 112 MOSAIC MANDALA...
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[@sabrinarosati290]

I love all your projects, especially St. Matthew's design. The way you combine different shades of glass to make the skin is awe-inspiring; all the pieces work so well together. I hope I can make a portrait one day as well 🙂 Thank you for sharing your art.

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Oh thank you! I feel like I’m agonizing over every piece.

[@speedmom1702]

The fish is going to be So Amazing!! I love the colors!!!🐠 I can't wait to see it finished!

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Me too!! I think I can finish it this next week!

[@speedmom1702]

@@mazzonimosaics8222 ❤

[@sundaysunshine2925]

The “ eyes” have it - wow 🎉🎉

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

You got it! 👀👀👀

[@tanyagrimes8258]

WOW Julie!!! This is just beyond incredible!! Thank u for sharing with us!!! Love learning from u SO much!!! Can’t wait to c what comes next!!!!

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

You are too kind! Thanks for watching! Cheers!!!

[@rupashukla5916]

Julie 😍😍😍 the eyes say it all 🤩🤩🤩

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Thank you Rupa! 👀👀👀

[@diannecrea7090]

Wow!

[@skrtskit1521]

Amazing per normal you!! 🎶🎶💖💖

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Thank you so much! 😊

[@cindycoleman5196]

Stunning work.

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Many thanks!

[@MsK-xm7vw]

To start; let me just say how nice you looked! 😘 I'm loving your St. Matthew's design, so young and vibrant, like the original religious pieces of the Saints. Now that you're doing this piece, I can tell you that this style of mosaics is my norm. I'm either working with smalti or stained glass, but always very detailed and intricate. So you can see why I enjoy watching your work, it's always such fun and free-flowing pieces, like your fish. Don't get me wrong; I love working with small tessera, it's always so satisfying in the end. But; recently I've started some smaller, more relaxed pieces for myself. I hope you're having a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays 🎄✨

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

You are too kind! The key is to enjoy the process, no matter what you are working on!

[@arlenebain5678]

Wow! I don’t know how you do it! So many projects in the works! Amazing work! Merry Christmas!

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Thank you! Merry Christmas!

[@kathiekarancz964]

Julie, are you grouting the new projects? Thanks for sharing and I look forward to all your new videos in 2023! 🐢

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

The tropical projects will be sent to the client as is on mesh, ungrouted. She is mounting them on an exterior wall with some of her own work, so she will grout it. The St. Matthew mosaic will be installed on the exterior wall of a church and then grouted in place.

[@carolzutski7739]

wowzer!!! What a nice surprise to find these new exciting projects this week! I LOVE them all, but especially appreciate seeing the mesh method, I wanted to try that and also, someday I would love to try a portrait, you make everything look so possible to do, THANK YOU!!!💗

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Thank you so much, Carol! Working with thinset and stained glass is tricky business. Getting the right depth to secure the pieces and leave room for grout is my current challenge!

[@GodzHarleyGirlStudio]

Gosh, such beautiful projects and so many! I love the way you show what you’re working on and the progress. I like this better than one project per video, so much less confusing for you I’d imagine. Hugz, Tree

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Thank you so much! Showing what I'm working on is the only way I can make videos consistently. Sometimes I can make a small project start to finish in one week.

[@kathypalmer8612]

You make it look so easy! Love the colors on the fish😊

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Thanks so much 😊YES! The fish is gorgeous! Blue with orange? So great!

[@laurawalker546]

Wonderful video! ❤️

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@laurawalker546]

@@mazzonimosaics8222 question, what is it that you put the thinset into? Do you just use some plastic bag and cut a hole in it?

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Just a ziplock type baggy. Then I cut the corner off.

[@rupashukla5916]

@@mazzonimosaics8222Julie how about using 💉syringes / bottles with nozzles ? Would they work? Just a thought...

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

I think they are one time use as it would be difficult to clean out the old thinset.

[@sharonc7031]

I’ve got a lot of different projects going at the same time myself. Happy to know this exists in another artist. Fine work. I didn’t know the Jesus mosaic was for yourself. Would love to see that up close. Was there a video on that? Don’t remember seeing one.

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

I made it quite a while ago. It is for sale, but now that I have studio space inside, I would rather have it on display. I’ll be hanging more pieces eventually.

[@sharonc7031]

@@mazzonimosaics8222 thanks for all you do for the community.

[@suegaffyne534]

I love your work……… it’s stunning…….can I ask, how long do you work on each section before you take a break to let the glue in that area dry? I see you switch between projects so assume there must be a ‘ cut off point ‘ you use to let glue dry rather than just needing a change of scenery???

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Depends. I can usually focus for 2-4 hours, depending on my schedule. It is more about that rather than a technical reason.

[@skrtskit1521]

Do you have a video on the bottle you worked on at the end? I was interested if it is a glass bottle with a paper mache that you are applying the tiles to? Thank you-back to browsing your videos -- :"}

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

One of my students gave me the bottle. She picked up two at a thrift shop. I’m mainly working on it as I teach, so there is not much footage.

[@lizstroud6531]

Your centers of the daisies, are they glued down with apoxie sculpt and then thinset for the rest of the flower? I love watching you work.

[@lizstroud6531]

Sorry, I just saw that you're using Welbond for the feather cut, but the center?

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

I used Apoxie Sculpt. I made the centers in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXfLZqd7aZJqpsk