This is the last post on “Meditation Garden” for awhile. The timing is good as I just finished cutting and gluing the entire design. After the piece is complete I will glue (with silicon) a few crystal beads in the centers of the frangipani flowers, but it’s best to wait until the background is finished to avoid getting them messed up with sticky grout, mortar, etc.
While working the design I always have the background in mind. I want to use a very light color to keep the ethereal mood of the pastel glass and mirror. (My sister suggested a black background which would indeed be stunning. Maybe the next one!) One possibility is to lightly tint mortar and apply it to the background using a little glitter around the flowers. Mortar creates an subtly textured background that won’t compete with the design. Mortar may be applied like icing a cake, about the consistency of icing is good too. Work in small sections and clean the glass as you go as mortar is an adhesive and not nearly as forgiving as grout to remove once it dries. Another option–when the mortar is nearly dry you can blend a little acrylic paint into it to create subtle variations of color. I’m thinking maybe a lighter shade of the background color radiating out from the larger flowers creating an “aura.” I’ve also considered white mortar sprinkled with fine white sand with a bit of glitter mixed in. And then something occurred to me I’ve never tried–Venetian plaster. I have no idea how to work with it but that’s one of the joys of making art, there’s always an opportunity to learn something new. I’m off on a trip so I have time to let this percolate. When I return, we’ll finish the background…
Note: In most pieces there is a surprise or some part that speaks to me. In this one it is the pods. I love the combination of the smooth shiny mirror and little slice of beads, their decided “femaleness” and the curve of the vine. I couldn’t decide whether I liked the blue Swarovski crystals or the red iridescent ones better so I used them both!