Copper I is the first mosaic in my series based on the allure of oxidized copper. This first time-lapse video with audio commentary is the second video in the series of six videos and shows the start of the creation.
Video transcript for deaf or hard of hearing:
Hi mosaic visionaries! This video is the beginning of the mosaic Copper I in my new series based on oxidized copper. The image you’re viewing right now is how far I am by the end of this video, which is 25 hours of mosaicking, plus about 10 hours of prep, organizing, and cleaning between steps, so about 35 hours in. So let me show you how I got started!
I’m beginning by placing my agate slices. Just like stained glass, agate is translucent even when it doesn’t seem to be so I like to take the extra step of backing them with aluminum foil so that they have a nice iridescent gleam.
Next I’ll build the first rows of tessera around the agate slices. For most of my personal art projects, I work organically. I start with only an idea of the general movement and colors I want in the piece, then as I work, I step back and see how I want the project to evolve.
I’ve been hoarding these agate slices for about a decade. I’ve used some in my previous works, but they often don’t fit in when I do smaller personal projects. I usually only have limited time to work on my own projects between commissions, so I tend to do small projects to work on different techniques I’d like to explore. Since I decided to make a larger mosaic this time, it’s the perfect opportunity to use them.
I am trying here to get a balance of color, shapes, and textures. I want to build some tiny circles with a lot of flash and sparkle first, then fill in with more grounded, larger color spans around them. That basically means that I’m selecting sparkly found objects to be the centerpiece of some of the smaller circles along with brighter colors, lots of beads, and textured glass, then when I get to the larger sections to fill in the middle, I’ll make those sections interesting by forming more abstract shapes using a series of gems as the core, then working out from there, kind of forming a multi-celled structure. Another way I’m using to create some smoothness in these larger areas is by using solid color opaque stained glass to represent the areas where the oxidation process is smooth and even.
I’m also trying at the same time to balance the color. In my favorite images of oxidized copper, there is a lot going on once you really start looking at it. It’s not just a light turquoise or mint green color. It’s every color on the richer yellow-green to aquamarine spectrum. Since this mosaic is intended to be more of an underground, vein of copper found in the earth sort of feel, I’m also going as dark as cobalt. Plus, who doesn’t love some cobalt blue?
There’s a lot more work to do on this first copper mosaic, but I’m really looking forward to seeing how it evolves. I hope you are too! Thanks for watching!