Work in Process Pictures

Many months after completion of the project, I finally got around to uploading most of the pictures I took while the art piece was in process.

Help

I realize this post may not really belong here, but I need your help.
My oldest daughter lives in Sweden. She finished her masters degree in graphic design at the University of Gothenburg in 2013. She decided to stay in Sweden and has been trying to find full time employment since then. She is working online, taking on small design jobs, but has not had any luck finding a regular, full time job to support herself.
This morning she set up a link to a site called PATREON, where people can support their favorite artist, or help out a struggling artist to make ends meet.
I am not asking for you to donate, if you are not comfortable with it, but if you would please re post the link to your social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter etc., it would help greatly.
here is the link ( which also has links to her sketch book and other work)

CASSANDRA'S PATREON

thank you so much for helping a struggling artist succeed.

Finished Mosaic Pictures

Well, the mosaic has been finished since January 9th, and was dedicated in April. It has taken over a year, from conception to finish.
Here are just a few pictures of the finished mosaic.
We faced many challenges with this project: from gophers damaging the wires to the kilns, and rendering them inoperable for over a week, when the final deadline was looming, to the gold on the center piece not turning gold. Many times I spent the night worrying, instead of sleeping because of this, but in the end, it all turned out well.
This is my 3rd public art piece for the City of Avondale, and maybe in the future I will consider creating another one, but for now I am still trying to get my household back in order, which has been neglected for over a year and is a huge mess.

Back to School

Now that the new school year has begun ( a few weeks ago), Mrs Davis, her art students and I are diligently working on the mosaic panels.

top picture: Madelynn Perez, 11th grade, Wilber Velasco, 12th grade, Gabrielle Fuentez , 11th grade.

bottom picture: Gabrielle Fuentez , Steven Torres, 12th grade

Newspaper Article

Here is a link to the Arizona Republic newspaper that mentions the current mosaic project. The actual paper copy has more pictures of the project. I will try and scan it and post it here some time soon.
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/glendale/2014/08/22/west-valley-public-art/14455163/

As promised, here is the actual newspaper article.

 

update: hair is done.I did find some additional tile pieces in another shade of brown to add some more dimension and reduce the contrast between the light and dark brown. I wish I had more shades of brown to make it look even better, but that is what I had to work with and I am not going to change it yet again.
I started on the face and we will see how it turns out. The ear is not exactly what I want it to be. After 4 tries of making it look somewhat like an ear, I quit. I will start on it again this morning, and hopefully with better results.

Another update. The arm is done. I changed the flow of the tiles to give it a more realistic appearance and I am happy with the result. The shirt is done. The hair is partially done. I added more highlights, but it still needs some work. The helmet is done, but is not quite acceptable, as the two blues need a bridging color and the grey on the bottom needs more definition.
I am hoping to finish the helmet, face and hair today. Keep checking back, as I am going to try and post daily updates.