Welcome to our little World,
where we take all the little pieces of life, and turn them into some Spectacular Artwork!
We are a group of free spirits who enjoy sharing ideas. This is a peaceful and happy place, and you are welcome to join in!

Come on over and meet Steffany Tribou!

Today, I wanted to introduce you all to Steffany Tribou... just one of our many wonderful PieceMakers! Enjoy reading about her & checking out some of her work. Be sure to head over to her Etsy Shop to see more!

My name is Steffany Tribou, and my etsy shop name is Tribou Mosaics

I have been mosaicing for about a year and a half. It all started with a dream to mosaic my basement stairs, so one day, at a yard sale, I found a wooden footstool for $1, and I bought it. At the next yard sale that day, I bought a broken ceramic fish wall hanging for 25 cents. I bought a few more tiles at our local hardware store, and my fish stool became my first mosaiced piece. I taught myself the process on YouTube. From there, my next project became my basement stairs! I drew a rough plan for waves on the particle board staircase, then I just started gluing away! Two weeks later, my stairs were done. I even incorporated a few ceramic pieces from a local store called the “Lucky Dog Gallery.” I told the owner that I was using them to put in a mosaic on my stairs. I thought nothing else of it until a year later when I went back to the gallery to talk with the owners. At that point, I had 20 mosaiced pieces of my own that I wanted to put in the gallery. They did not have a mosaic artist yet, and I showed them my pieces as well as the stairs. They were so impressed that they took all twenty pieces and asked for more!


I love to paint, but it is not as forgiving as mosaics. If I choose the wrong shape while mosaicing, I can just take it out and replace it until I am happy with the piece…the same does not work with paint! I also play the piano, which I find very relaxing.



I started selling my work about 8 months ago in June. It is in the “Lucky Dog Gallery.” I have sold at least one piece each month, and during the busy season, I sold up to five per month. I also entered into the Lobster Festival Art Show and won the top prize for the best representation of the festival theme for my piece called “Crustacean Sustentation.” This included a ribbon, an award, and $100. I also won first place ribbons at the Maine Blueberry Festival for my Blueberry Lamp and my “Key of Sea” Guitar. In the fall, my “Crustacean Sustentation” piece was at the River Gallery in Damariscotta in a show called “Tools of the Trade.”


My dream is to do a commissioned staircase. I loved the whole process of working on my stairs, and I feel like I have learned so much about mosaicing just through the process of trial and error that I would love to do another staircase in someone’s home to showcase my work. Each time they walk up the stairs they would be able to appreciate my art. 


I am a Nationally Board Certified Teacher in English Language Arts. I started a Literacy Initiative in my school, and through this, I have become the Literacy Coordinator in which I have structured a curriculum and courses for students who need extra assistance with reading and writing at the high school level. In addition to this, I work with teachers in all content areas to assist them in incorporating reading and writing strategies into their classes. I am very passionate about this work, but there are some days when I cannot see the progress, or the big picture becomes blurred with the daily minutia. Mosaicing allows me to gain the satisfaction of seeing short-term immediate progress, and it allows me use my hands to create, which is something that is missing from my career.



I live on the coast of Maine with my wonderful husband and my chocolate lab named Lucy, and my home is two houses down from where I grew up. I teach at the same school in which I graduated from, and I have come to appreciate and love everything that I used to despise about my small coastal town. I am proud to live here, and this is reflected in each piece that I have made. Every single mosaic that I have ever created is linked in some way to the ocean. I especially love incorporating sailboats into my mosaics. 


I became a member of the Piecemakers in August 2011, and it is the best group! The atmosphere is encouraging and inspiring. I particularly enjoy the challenges as well as the group piece (the Surfboard) in which we contributed. We also have done swaps, where we get to hold, admire, and keep a beautiful piece of art from our friends in this group. When school started this year, I was busier than ever, and thought I would need to put an end to my mosaicing until next summer, but this group has inspired me to keep going! I use my weekends and any free time to create.


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FLORENCE HOUSE PROJECT WIPs

These are the "work in progress" photos and comments for the Florence House public art project.  There are 17 PieceMakers involved in this project.
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lcmIkH_iJXI


My inspiration was based on the purpose of Florence House - Unlocking New Doors Of Hope - my dove will sport a door, that will hopefully open, and a key hanging from the Dove's beak.


Lori Frank
www.RenegadeRose.etsy.com




I have been busy having fun with my family,visiting from Ca.,but I have squeezed out time to put the last of the glass on my dove. I will grout early next week.
I have tiny butterflies growing from the vines,like leaves. To me,they are the women of Florence House,growing,and becoming more beautiful every day.


Pam
http://www.zzbob.etsy.com


I am not very eloquent when trying to describe the meaning behind the design I just thought linked hearts were appropriate for what these women have gone through. They make friends in their own 'circle' and they each have a lot of love to give and receive.

 

Jackie
http://www.MotleyMannequins.etsy.com


I knew right from the beginning I wanted to use a clear glass iridescent heart for my dove. I've had it for years, and its obviously been waiting for just this project. And I knew the dove would be white, because, well... white dove. It just... needs to be white.

The heart is surrounded by rays of light formed with all kinds of different materials, and together - the dove, the heart and the light - it symbolises Love, Life, Hope, Happiness, Warmth etc...

I love the very idea of mosaics in this context. There's a saying in German "Der Krug geht zum Brunnen bis er bricht" (the jug goes to the well until it breaks), which means that everyone has their breaking point, and that once something is shattered it often cannot be mended. But Mosaics show that with the right materials, you can take the broken pieces and turn them into something beautiful and strong! And what's more somehing that is even more beautiful and even stronger than it was before!

I hope that the Women in the Florence house (and elsewhere) will find the right materials to form their many hard experiences into a mosaic of strength and beauty. That's what my dove is about.


Frances


The grout will be light sky blue (starting at the tail) and fading into black by the time you get to the head. I wanted the body & wings of the bird to be reminiscent of the sky... To me, the sky represents freedom, soaring, life, being part of something bigger, and empowerment. It's what I think of when I think of the women at Florence House. The white pieces in the body & the lower wing are going to evolve into clouds before the piece is finished.


Amanda



I decided to make a natural looking dove, covered in mother of pearl, because I wanted to make a strong and simple dove. Mother of pearl is one of the most beautiful natural materials I know, it shines and changes color, and is extremely tough. I find this a symbolic material to use on a mosaic for the Florence House.
This dove is to symbolize the introverts among us, and the ones who sometimes in their busy lives want to rest their eyes on something quiet.

Inez
note:  Inez lives in the Netherlands and created a dove from scratch because of the high postage rates between here and there.  Look at the fantastic job she did!




Joanne Paquin
www.FloweringMoon.etsy.com



Tina Shoys



    I chose to do an ocean theme. I think that the ocean is like the world and all of us are like being part of it. We could be an animal in the water, a sea shell, or part of the sand. But the water is the one thing that has affected all of us. It weathers on some and gently laps at the feet of others, depending on what part of life or the "ocean" you're going through. To me it's like the things we go through in life.
For these women I wanted to create not only a beautiful piece of art that they could enjoy but some thing that they could identify with themselves. There's so many different things you can take from this piece and that's what I love about it. You choose your story. Or find some thing in the piece that you identify with.
The sun could be for some rising and setting for others. It could be the end of the day or the start of a new one. The sun is also a symbol of hope and warmth. It can cheer you up just by looking at the window and seeing it.
There are two doves in the background because alot of times you may really think you're alone while you're going through something, but in truth there's really someone else that you can lean on that does care. Or it could be the opposite, maybe you need to help some one that is looking for help.
There will be many different types of rocks and sea shells, symbolic to us as humans. There are many different types of people and they all go through many different things in life. The ocean water smoothes over the shells and rocks creating different textures and different types of shells and rocks. To me the same would be true with people. We all go through different things in life and are affected different ways.





Melissa
www.mycentirmosaics.etsy.com


Jennifer


I will be trimming this dove with pearls.  The pearls will be symbolizing how something beautiful and unique  can be made of something that was once just a grain of common sand...an irritation to its host.


Patti Cadwallader



My inspiration for this dove is to demonstrate with the large heart to love yourself and know your true worth, for in loving yourself you allow that love to radiate out to everyone. Know that you a Special, Strong, Safe, and Secure now and let your love Shine.



Peggy Lindstrom
www.PalsCreations.etsy.com


This blog post by Patti Cadwallader















FLORENCE HOUSE PROJECT PROGRESS

In 3 months, we will be shipping off our finished doves for the Florence House public art project.  So far, 15 PieceMakers have signed up to mosaic a dove that will be combined into one large public art piece that will reside at the Florence House.

Go here for more information about the Florence House:
  www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lcmIkH_iJXI

I've decided to line the border of my dove with pearls.  My inspiration is that the pearl is started with a grain of sand.  These women at the Florence House have had to go through a lot of heartache and disappointment, but in this case the pain is like the grain of sand which will become a beautiful pearl...a precious object, desired and beloved.
I don't know if I'll do my dove white, but the pearls around the border will be white.
Patti
http://www.oceankisses.etsy.com


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No pictures yet but I have several keys that I would like to start with, old ones that I want to use.  I am thinking bright colors....yellows and golds with maybe red in the center.
I was listening to Phillip Phillip's song "Home" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfRya-P4ffk) which I love and thought of this...."Everyone's path in life is different.  Sometimes we take a detour...but then we find HOME."  So maybe some type of swirleys or ball chain tht run off and on the dove that lead to the key.
Alice
http://www.MedallionHouse.etsy.com
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My inspiration was based on the purpose of Florence House - Unlocking New Doors Of Hope - my dove will sport a door, that will hopefully open, and a key hanging from the Dove's beak.

WIP Pics of the unfinished door, cut and attached to dove. It is very rough looking yet but now I can start embellishing it! And the door actually opens!



Lori
http://www.RenegadeRose.etsy.com
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MMy granddaughter(aged 9),and I are doing the dove together. We chose butterflies,partly because they have to go through change and hardships,to become their beautiful selves,and partly because they are all so different,yet their beauty is the same. they exemplify the inherent worth in all human beings!
Pam
http://zzbob.etsy.com

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I sketched out my design for my dove. After watching the video once again, I decided to incorporate a heart into my design. Not only for the heartwarming generosity and love that everyone has shown for this group of women, but to signify their love of a new beginning.

Joanne
http://www.FloweringMoon.etsy.com
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The inspiration for my dove is a rainbow. The women of Florence House have been through periods of darkness and storms of one kind or another in their lives, and it's after the storm that a rainbow appears. The rainbow signifies a new beginning, a happier time for them.

Tina
http://www.TinasMosaics.etsy.com
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I am looking forward to adding more stories so keep your inspiration in mind to share and send me those WIPs!

Patti Cadwallader
http://patticadwallader.com

Landmark Challenge Winners!

What fabulous entries for the challenge! Each one was beautiful, and you all should be SO proud of your creations!!!


First Place
"Mountain Goddess"
The first place, over-all favorite piece belonged to Waschbear Designs! Congratulations!! Please click on the photo below to view "Mountain Goddess" larger.


Please head over to Waschbear Designs on Etsy to see more of her amazing work!


Second Place
"Somewhere over the Rainbow"



Third Place
"The Palace of Fine Arts San Francisco"



Congratulations to all the winners, and each and every entry! All the work is inspiring, and it's wonderful to see everyone's different interpretations of these themes. Can't wait for the next challenge vote... which will start on August 1, with the theme: Doodles. Get breaking! :)

Thank you once again to Tiny Tile Mosaics, for supplying our over-all favorite artist with a gift certificate to their shop! Please check out Tiny Tile Mosaics if you haven't before... your mosaics will be forever changed!