the redman lives! at last hallelujah. vision realized and it feels pretty good- now, except my wrist that really still hurts from rubbin all the grout off those tiles. outside it is snowing now, snow-globe-a-ramma. too cold out now for outdoor mosaic work- under 55 degrees is a no-go. that is why i just had to put it on the calendar in october and getter' done as they say. it was four full days of pretty intense creative labor. a big shout out to all the people that rolled up their sleeves and pitched in- the resident artists at redline and my fabulous family. thank you!!

the idea that took about 8 months to come to fruition- there was tile making making and glazing and baking with the redline teens- (my boy amaru got his finger stuck in the slab roller and spent weeks recovering from the crushed finger) the there was gathering tile and broken dishes from the community, there were supplies to be bought and hauled, and returned and rehauled, (hobo, menards, lowes AND home depot) and ordered form the internet, there were masons to consult, a good line on mirror glass to be found- glass to be cut (and more bleeding fingers- redline teens this time), then brick cleaning, cement mixing, brick parging, tile braking and cutting, tile placing, tile grouting and grouting and grouting, and grout sealing, and sealing and sealing.

ta-da!!!!

The mosaic marks the back "artist entrance" to redline milwaukee which is where i have my studio space. it was just a plain grey door before. now it is a plain grey door with a huge redman pointing to it. kool.

so here is the wall i spent all morning scrubbing the crap out of. i think i did a pretty good job. i mean i think them bricks is clean. really ready for the next step in the process. i'm having to do a lot of figurin stuff out. its kind of drag, but i think it will be worth it in the long run. you'd think it would be a simple thing this project, but really, it's not. it's building character. mine. dam strait.

so we had our timeline show at redline that ran through the month of july and now already august is almost gone. i really need to get better at posting stuff in a timely manner. alas o my. it was a pretty intense experience. i busted my butt to get this painting and my mosaics done in time. i leaned how to hang a 100 pound piece of the wall with the help of "french cleats" and three strong people. i enjoyed the process of laying out the show with my fellow artists to develop a flow between the pieces and between the color and black and white elements in the show. I loved that my "pie" sculpture ended up placed in front of the last remaining section of heimo wallner's mural. i ended up echoing this combo by painting a frame heimo-style around my "sun" painting with india ink at the other end of the gallery. that was a lot of fun. that ink really flows. i had not really tried it before. it was a good discovery. the funny part is that heimo really did not groove so much on that painting. the paradox of it all was quite entertaining. all the work in the gallery really ended up looking great together and i was proud of what we had accomplished in our year of studio time as a collective group. pretty radical.

a few weks ago (time flies) i made the trip to philly to attend a mosaic workshop with isaiah zagar at his haven, philadelphia's magic gardens. it was an incredible experience. my boys came with with me, because they wanted to see the magic gardens too, and we all had an amazing time. the thing about taking the workshop and sweating for two straight days while mosaicing a wall of a future ice cream parlor in 98 degree heat and full sun is that i got to hang out with a wonderful group of artists, was immersed into a collective creative flow, and learned from a master in his art countless secrets that he discovered from years on the job.

"art should not be segregated in museums; it needs to live free amoung us." -isaiah zagar

my son's first grade class came to redline for a field trip to see what real artist studios look like and to try a little mosaic making. the kids got the hang of it pretty easily and didn't make too much of a mess. they were thrilled by the chance to ride the city bus as an extra added bonus. i was glad to be able to encourage their creative juices and to show them that people really can be artists when they grow up. the best part though, was when he brought his mosaic home from school after they were finished and the teacher handed them out. during dinner he made his papa and i both close our eyes while he took it out of his back pack. when he said "open" he had it proudly displayed in both hands held high with a huge grin on his face.

lately i have been entirely consumed by making the tiles for a huge ass (okay its only 4 x 4 feet, but to me it has become huge) mosaic. i totally underestimated the amount of time and effert that would go into this project. and supplies. did i mention supplies? 50 lbs of clay- clay is heavy granted, but i thought 25 would do it. and a whole pint of underglaze (jet black.) it took a bit longer than carving a mug- about ten times longer in fact- and all while racing against the clock of drying and cracking clay. it would have been easier if i had planned on being in the studio for three days straight and just cranking it out. but alas, i had not. i had work to do, dinner to cook, a boy to play slapjack with. live and learn. and thankfully so. cuz what fun would life be if we stopped learning? i labeled the back of all the pieces with underglaze according to a grid system to aid me in putting it back together after it is fired. which i do believe it is just about ready for. phew!