An update at last !!

I bet you all thought I'd forgotten all about my little old blog ......no way !! I've just been really busy working on my latest mosaic. It's taken me 5 weeks to create this little beauty and my first go at doing one that's not an abstract, and I have to say I'm quite pleased with it. It measures 20" x 15".and is for Redskin Tattoo in Bangor.

Towards the end when it really started to take shape it became almost like a drug, I just couldn't stop doing it. I even worked on it for 12 hours a few times too. I made a bit of a rod for my own back, as to get the effect I wanted I had to cut the 1" mirror tiles into 25 pieces, which was very time consuming as you can imagine. Even the 1 cm grey and irridised tiles I cut into 9 pieces each. I also decided to paint the background with a matt black enamel paint, rather than do the whole panel with glass. This was to enhance the effect of the shiny mirror tiles, and it worked, I'm pleased to say. I think I may use this technique in other mosaics I do, as it was so successful.

I've also got a commission for 3 stained glass sun catchers 2 crosses and a pentagram, and an oil painting to do too. The sun catchers are almost complete and then I'll move on to the painting which is half done. So I will probably have to go quiet again as these need finishing before Christmas.

Here's a photo of the mosaic just finished, hope you like it.

My paintings part 2 and 3

Another long silence in blog land while I've been preoccupied with carrying on doing the set of paintings for myself and also doing a seascape commission too. I've been alternating between the three paintings, as even with the drying oil, there's always a gap of two or three days while I wait for each coat to dry. But at last my two are finished and up on the wall, although not in their permanent home until I've done all five paintings, so that I can juggle them around here there and everywhere, till I'm happy. The second photo below I think is my personal best so far in 20 odd years of painting. I've really enjoyed doing these paintings, and it's been a nice change from the constant cutting of glass, which takes it toll on the arthritis in my hands.

It's probably as well that the mosaics have taken a back seat as the gallery where I show my mosaics has now sadly closed. Partly due to ever increasing overheads, and the recession, but also due to personal circumstances of Mike the owner. I am seriously thinking of doing a website with crafts on though, as this seems to be a natural progression. But for the time being that's still in the "things to do" section of my life lol.

My daughter Jenny is currently doing 4 weeks voluntary work at a tattoo shop Redskin Tattoo's, as some of you know she has been interested in tattooing for quite a long time now, and has done various tattoo's on willing victims lol !! Being at the tattoo shop has let her see that a lot of the little things she has worried about, were needless worries. Everyone working there has bent over backwards to make her feel welcome and she feels part of the family already. One thing I learnt was that tattooist have their own special handshake lol, which involves elbows touching rather hand shaking .... this is because tattooists almost always have ink covered hands and also it stops any risk of infection should they be working on a client. We've also decided that my next tattoo wil be larger one than usual and I have a yearning for it to be in the style of one of my mosaics, so designing that is also on my list of things to do, and may have to jump the queue as my daughters quite keen to get stuck into it ...not literally of course lol.