Lots of news to report since my last entry. I now have several mosaic pieces for sale at the store Barnwell Center in Shreveport. Here is their web site for information on how to find them-although they do not have my pieces listed yet:

http://www.barnwellcenter.com/the%20store%20at%20the%20Barnwell%20Center.htm

I've signed up to go to the SAMA Conference (Society of America Mosaic Artist) in Miami the first week in April- looking forward to taking a workshop, "Listen to the Rocks with Bill Buckingham and Sophie Drouin". I have one other spot for a workshop left- but can not decide what to take - maybe I'll just save my money and buy more stuff at the vendor market!

I joined the Contempary Arts Guild, a local guild in Alexandria. We have a show opening Sunday at Capitol One Bank and I will have a couple of pieces in the show.



Also, I'm doing another workshop- at the Alexandria Museum of Art. They have a series called "Art Smart". which is a basic introduction to a particular medium. The workshop will be held April 26th & 27th. It is free to members and I think will cost $10 for non-member--this is a DEAL! The material will cost more than that.

I've started my marble mosaic with ammonites. I like marble but I have to learn how to make better cuts with it. I'm also not happy with my design now that I am half way through it! I have summoned help though- so we'll see what happens! It certainly will be a learning experience. It is also the largest thing I've done to date.

Oh yes, and I must mention the new mosaic magazine- "Mosaic Art Now". It is the brainchild of Bill Buckingham. I got my first issue this week and it is very well done. Right now it is yearly, but I hope he has enough interest to do it at least quarterly. There is some amazing talent in that magazine. Here is the web site: http://www.mosaicartnow.com/ - check it out!!

Latest news-- I sold my Fleur du Coeur piece! yipee- Christmas money! I made some change to the piece. I'm about to start my piece that began in the design in for at SAMA in 3/06, a workshop with Emma Biggs. I'm looking forward to beginning this piece. In other news, I accepted a postition as a member on the Louisiana Craft's Guild board. I think this guild is going places - there lots of exciting ideas to buid the guild --I'm loooking forward to it!

Here is my latest piece. I'm still working on a title.

I love Elaine Goodwin's work & style. Not that this is in any way as complex or sophisticated as her pieces, but I tried to use some of the elements and materials that she uses in this piece. I guess you could say it is "inspired by". I've done several "inspired by" pieces... guess I am still looking for my own voice. The material in this work is marble, smalti, & gold. It's a very simple piece, but I really like it.

I'm about to start on a piece that I started in a design class at SAMA last year. I'm still trying to finalize the design and materials I am going to use. But sometimes you just have to get started and see what happens!

I taught my first mosaic workshop the 1st weekend in October. It was to a group of kids in South Louisiana. They each did an 8" x 8" mosaic using vitreous glass tiles and learned to use wheeled nippers. Here is the mosaic that they did for the Steve Irwin Memorial mural that will be installed at the Australian Zoo. It's of Mike the Tiger, a tribute to Mike V as well as Steve Irwin. I thought it turned out well. Other good news-- I sold "Eclipse"! (see my blog in March,2007)

Above is a photo of my booth at the Louisiana Crafts Marketplace. It was held on Magazine Street in New Orleans in conjunction with the 1st World Cultural Economic Forum that was sponsored by the Lt. Governor's office. This was my first actual booth- it was a lot of work, but fun. There were 52 Louisiana artisans there and most had amazing work! I was proud to be associated with the guild. The Lt. Gov. , his staff and dignitaries from the 14 countries represented also attended the Market Place. Next year they are planning to expand the idea.

I actually sold 4 pieces- so I was happy. ( and then 2 more right after the show) One was my most expensive picture frame :)

Now on to my next project- preparing to teach a workshop in south Louisiana for a group of gifted kids. This will be my first workshop - so I have a lot of prep work to do. It is being sponsored by a grant, so at least I've already gotten my supply list done.

For some reason, I can not seem to get my links to work- so when I changed my on-line photos to Flickr - the link( or the right of this page) would not take - so here is my new photo link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ehbraz/

Now back to the grind! I have been building inventory for a large event in New Orleans sponsored by the LA Crafts Guild and the LA Lt. Governor's office. We will have a Louisiana Craft Market in conjunction with an International Cultural summit. here is a "work in progress"- it still needs to be grouted and painting. It is made mainly from broken parts of one of Doug's fused glass pieces using dichroic glass. More to come....

Since my last blog entry I have retired and been on my retirement cruise with friends- we went to Alaska- it was beautiful and fabulous! I have fallen in love with Orcas. they are probably as smart as humans- and are very social animal. They live in large groups called "pods" and they are a matriarchal society. We also had an amazing experience "mushing" sled dogs on a glacier. They LOVE their job. put this trip on your list of "must dos".

The first weekend in May, 2007 I was a featured demonstrating artist at the MayFest in Leesville, LA. It was a lot of fun- I don't have any photos of my demonstrating- but her is a photo of my friends and me with Irma Thomas- the Queen of Soul- from New Orleans- she just won a Grammy for her latest album. She played Friday night- and was great! Better seeing her in small Leesville where you can be right next to the stage - than fight thousands to see her at JazzFest. What a down to earth great person she is-- and looks pretty fabulous for a grandma!

I also met some other great artist. I've written a proposal to teach a workshop for gifted kids in South Louisiana-- it will also include one day of learning flameworking and making glass beads-- that will give me an opportunity to learn that then I can either make flat beads for my mosaics or regular beads to use on my fish mobiles. I'll keep you posted on that. Well- only 2 more weeks until I retire-- it is a very surreal feeling- I don't think I will really believe it until after it happens!

Last week I attended the Society of American Mosaic Artist Conference in Mesa, AZ. It was a well organized event, very informative and inspirational. I met lots of new folks and took 2 wonderful workshops. My first workshop was on design with Emma Biggs. She is so enthusiastic about mosaics- her workshops are a delight to attend and I learned so much. I brought my "Eclipse" piece to the workshop for critic- I was pleased that it was very well received. Just getting a "Well done" from Emma made it worth the effort of lugging it all that way. My other workshop was with Matteo Randi in the use of the hammer and hardie, the tools that have been used since Roman times to cut marble and glass terrerae. And I am happy to report that all of my fingers are still in tact! I bought a hammer and hardie at the workshop and can not wait to really begin to get proficient at using it. There were other superb speakers at the conference and I have heard nothing but good comments about other people's experience.
And now it it time to get crackin' on a new project!

Here is my latest work- I call it "Eclipse" - as in eclipse of the pyrite sun. This was also my first attempt at gradation of color. I love all of the materials used in this piece- smalti, gold, copper, dichroic glass, and pyrite sun. I'm taking it to my design class w/ Emma Biggs at the SAMA (Society of American Mosaic Artist) - I'll be interested to hear the critique. I'll let you know. I'm really excited about going to my first SAMA conference- it will be in Mesa, AZ. I'll give a full report when I return.

Here is my "Fish Out of Water" currently hanging in the Alexandria Museum of Art, with the La. Crafts Guild Exhibit. It is inspired by a series of fish that Alexander

Calder did. Actually, I did this fish before I began doing mosaics. There are a lot of fun things hanging in this fish - pieces of glass and bottles I found in the alley next to my house, a little doll's arm I found, my first glass beads that I made, fused glass.

I plan to make more of these fish to try and sell - I have lots of ideas- I need to work on some of the methods I used to make it- it takes forever to drill holes in all of those glass pieces! Stay tuned!

Here is my first mirror. I completed it in the "Desert Jewel" style. It is going to the Alexandria Museum of Art to sell in the gift shop.
My mosaic art was just accepted for the Louisiana Crafts Guild. Speaking of the Crafts Guild, the currently have an exhibit at the museum and I have a piece in it- it is my fish- I'll post it next.

It was recently pointed out to me that I need to include some photos of my picture frames that I completed - especially the ones that sold! So here is some of my "functional art".

The one on the left was the first frame that sold- at the museum auction. It is in the series I call "Desert Jewel". The one on the right is one of the Christmas frames that I actually reaped a profit from- it's in the "Christmas Forest" series. Another bit of news-- I am now a "Rock Star"! Check it out on Mosaics Rock's Rock star gallery : http://www.rockstars.mosaicrocks.com/ . It's pretty cool the way Bill has the different natural material linked to the mosaics that uses that material.

Exciting news! My piece Emerge was accepted into the Juried Art show at the Morrision Institute of Art in Natchitoches, LA. Here is their website- http://www.morrisonarts.org/. The show will be held January 12-29. In addition to that news I sold my first mosaics! My Christmas picture frames. As a result I have been making a few more frames and mirrors in the "Desert Jewel" series. I was also recently juried into the Louisiana Arts & Crafts Guild.

"Emerge" - September, 2006
I began this piece at an advanced workshop with Sonia King and Emma Biggs in Dallas in August, 2006. I was a bit worried about taking an "Advanced" workshop- but should not have- learned lots- it was great! They are 2 of the best teachers. The piece has taken me about 50 hours to complete. I spent a lot of time thinking about this piece- almost a year in fact! The final design looks a lot different than what I planned. The concept of the slate "river" is there, and most of the material is the same- but I received such wonderful input about design from the workshop. I got a bit of insight about reflectivity and how to combine materials. The copper wiring looked too "new" - so I passed it through the burner on my gas stove- gave it a great patina! I am thinking about turning this piece on it's side, because I think the top is a bit heavy. One problem though- I "signed" it - with a tile "B" in the lower right hand corner- (I think it is cut off in this photo) - should have taken Sonia's advice and left space in all corners until I decided which way the piece would turned. I actually did not think that would be a problem until I was finished! The materials used in the piece are copper nuggets, slate, copper smalti, pebbles, marble, van Gogh tiles, safety glass and NZ paua shell.

This is my first mosaic. I began it in a two day workshop with Sonia King in Dallas, TX. It took me almost a year to complete it (mainly a time issue). But I learned so much in that class and from this piece. It is a table top inspired by a floor in ancient Corinth. It is of a rooster, pecking the ground. My lack of drawing ability is showing on this one, but overall I like it- even thought it may look more like an abstract rooster!

This cross was made for my friend Karen's birthday( it was a "special" birthday, we're not posting numbers!). It is made primarily of broken pieces of fused glass given to me by my friend, Doug, who is a Fused/ Stained glass artist. Nice friend to have, huh? I love it when one of his pieces breaks! (sorry, Doug). This piece also includes millefiori, smalti, and glass gems. It is grouted using a blue (I think it was cobalt) grout.

The piece on the right is titled "Fleur du Coeur". It represents the love I have for my state and the pain that the recent hurricanes brought with them. I plan to do another piece similar to this one, to improve the design, a bit more abstract, fragmented . This piece was the first time I used Italian smalti for an entire project and I also used thinset as an adhesive for the first time. Smalti glass is such a wonderful material to use, in so many ways. It has such a wonderful reflective quality. Comments and discussion of this and other pieces are welcome. Click on the small image to enlarge it for a better view.