Adventures with Chicken Wire

Making mosaics which are three dimensional is fascinating to me as it requires so many different techniques to bring a piece into existence. One of the methods of creating a sculptural base is to form a shape from chicken wire, wrap it in bandages made from old sheets and then use a mix of sand and cement to firm it up and make the surface on which to mosaic. The challenges in using this method to create the vision in my head when I started are many - and I don't always completely succeed, but like many unplanned outcomes in life, sometimes I like the end result just as much. It probably also says a lot about me that I really enjoy the hands on element of creating a shape from such humble materials and then glamming it up with sparkly glass mosaic. The transition from ragged strips of cloth over wire to a solid prettied up end product never fails to amaze me, like the magical properties of grout, of which more in a future post.

In the meantime here's my latest work from my adventures with chicken wire.

I have called her Purple Haze Puss and here she is cozying up to some purple flowers in the garden.

A Warm Fleece and Waterproof in May......

One of the things about making mosaics destined for the garden is that they are of course outdoor pieces. When in the UK working from a small shed I long for warm dry days, not too windy of course, so that I can work outside with some space to move around the piece of work and spread out tools, bags of sand and cement, materials etc. Sadly the weather gods have not granted my wish recently and the endless days of rain, sometimes accompanied by a chilly wind have made May feel more like October so I've largely been confined to the shed with only the occasional foray outside to fetch water for mixing adhesive and grout and grab a quick photo opportunity when the sun has appeared to remind everyone it's still there and that summer will arrive one of these days.
Slightly short of slate tiles without a trip to the supplier I used my last one to start the woodland creatures series and chose a squirrel as my first furry friend. Here he is just after grouting so still looking a little damp round the edges as I took advantage of one of the brief spells of sun to take this photo.

The next challenge is to get back to sculptural work, the subject of my next post. which will hopefully be written on a glorious sunny day!