Okay smarty pants...could that pic be any smaller????

Barb

Lookin good bama!!

bama- HA! That's the exact same thing I was going to do to show off my exchange project!

Can't wait to see it done! you are such a tease.
It looks like such a fun piece, forcing yourself to work on it shouldn't be all that hard.

Hazie

Great job of pushing, nicethyme!!! bama, this one's gonna be another super one! Love the basic geometry and that you just let it flow from there......When ya lettin us see it?!?!?

Pat

Lookin' forward to your pictures!
I sure like that deep blue background tile!
K.

Bama...can hardly wait to see the next update. This is going to be so different for you. And you added a swirley? Wow. Well, since I love EVERYTHING you've done, I'm sure this will be wonderful, too!

Are you kidding me!! Only an nth of a pic! Sheesh! I will be waiting for more....everyday...until you give us another peek. lol

Well?????????????????? LOL So far what you have shown us is very nice. I too love the blue.

Chris

I finished glueing!!
PROBLEM! I have a couple of keys on it, and I'm concerned they won't stay on. I bumped them and ting..ting..off they came. I used small pieces of glass underneath the keys to lift them up so they wouldn't be lost in the grout. Would silicone hold them better?
I plan on grouting either tomorrow or Friday. I'm gonna meet my goal of having it done by the weekend!!!
BTW: I decided on a title for this piece: "Bozo Barf".
You will totally understand when you see it.

"Bozo Barf",huh. Can hardly wait.

I love how you crate your designs. Can't wait to see it finished.

ROFLMAO! Bozo barf! Hilarious.

I think the silicone would hold them pretty well, what was your original adhesive? Are they fully touching the glass that is holding them up? I did something with a skeleton key and had to build up extra (I used glass too)under the length of the key since only the ends touched when laid down. It was a bit of a PITA. But it looked cool in the end.

I will wait patiently....

I'm fixin' to grout!
The stuff is slaking as I type. I did a search on grout and I'm gonna try it differently this time. Usually I use a damp sponge, but I've read several old post on using rags, no water at all. I've also seen somewhere that you can sprinkle dry grout over your just grouted piece, and clean it up that way.
I'll let you know how it goes.

I grouted. I used a VERY dry grout. I liked it, but I'll confess, I kept wanting to spritz water on it. I was afraid it was gonna be a bear to clean up, but it wasn't. Actually it was easier than with damp sponge.
I had a few problems. One of my keys popped off again. I had used weldbond to attach them, with little pieces of glass underneath to raise them up a bit. I guess I'll pop them both off and put silicone underneath.
I also used nail-head trim on the outside edge. I thought it was cool. The trim is appliled with cap nails spaced every so often. Apparently the cap nails are made of a different material because they changed color when I went over them with the grout! The trim is brass color, but the brass color on the nail caps turned silver. It's not too bad, because they are spaced evenly around the edge.
I may still remove the trim and put glass there. Not certain yet.

Bama, you still have us in suspense. Guess we have to turn in tomorrow.... Like a sequel. Are you in advertising medai?

I've tried the dry grout but I found I still prefer to wipe with a damp sponge. I feel like it gives the grout a nice finish. And I always sprtiz my grouted pieces about 5 hours after grouted then again at 24 hours.

I'll tune in tomorrow....

Oh, sorry! I forgot to mention that tomorrow I'll post a photo. It was too dark outside to get a good photo and they never look right photographed inside with a flash.

:::on pins and needles following this thread::: Won't you just show us a bit more, please?

BTW - I'm loving the drier grouting method myself and am using wadded up newspapers instead of old rags. It's working great!

I LOVE dry grouting. It has taken huge amounts of dread out of the clean up process for me. I leave it for 30 minutes then wipe off with Scott brand shop towels. I also use the old bowling or golf towels we have. I wipe off over the trash and done. I will spritz it if I feel it needs some more grout or other work done to it.

Glad to know you finished it but you sure know how to build suspense! And congrats!

You are such a TEASE! I hope you post early in the AM before I go to work.

you BEEOTCH! LOL

where's that pic? WHINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNE

ok, it's tomorrow ........................................................

I am now tapping my foot and pacing....where is it you big TEASE!?

You gotta be kidding me.
You picked this up on Wednesday and had it grouted
by Thursday!!! What's the secret?

NO! LOL!!I actually started working on it again last week.
I still have to finish the edes of the MDF. I think I'll paint it, not sure though.
This was such a learning experience for me. I had started with a drawn out pattern, but soon ignored it and just did whatever. Some areas I'm not happy with, but overall I'm pleased.

Hey "a river runs through it" LOL

I LOVE IT! it's got so much interest, I had no idea that I would enjoy clown vomit SO MUCH! I learn something new everyday. But listen, if you plan to sell it, maybe you should change the name? lol if you live near a city with 3 bridges crossing a river... you could spin a whole yarn on the mosaic representing the vibrancy of the city yada yada yada!!!! LOL

Great job Bama

Oh!! It's the BOMB Bama!! too, too, COOL! So glad you decided to finish it.

Hazie

What?? You didn't like "Bozo Barf"???? LOL!
Thanks for pushing me to finish it. I ain't so scared of abstract now!!

I love it too! Abstract yes, but you can see your geometric style still shining through. Nice combo ;o)

OK, So I put the two pictures posted side by side, just to see if I could get in your mind for a moment.While I was there, my eyes were wide open in amazement at all the ideas buzzing around in there. I want to be more like you and step out of my box now and then. Thanks for the trip.
No, I'm not always this weird.
LaLa

OH BAMA! BEAUTIMOUS!! MAGNIFICO! GORGEOUS! So glad you finished this one. You outta sell your stuff lady!! And outside the box is fun, isn't it? No one will ever look in that mirror 'cause they'll be too busy checking out the artwork!!!

Hey LaLa, weird is a good thing! No sense being "normal". That's boring!

It turned out beautiful. Love the colors you used, the glass squiggles - everything!

OH, that was worth pestering you for!! What a great job. Step out of you box more often, that's great!

Maria

Doesn't matter if you are inside or outside your box...you still do fantastic work! Love your Bozo barf mirror!

Barb

WOW i love it. Love the colors and all the little things you used in it. Awesome.

bama - if you can do THIS wonderfully outside your box, I can't imagine what you will do next now that nicethyme pried the lid off for ya! That is absolutely STUNNING!!

OK, ya got me thinking maybe I can crawl a bit outside MY box....

Pat

that's just GORGEOUS! Love the nails around the edge too!

Bama, this is a BEAUT! I love it because there are so many points of interest. I do see your geometric influence but it goes well with your 'out of the box' exploration. This is a WONDERFUL work of art!

I LOVE it Bama!!! I'm hating my TP Tower so much and I haven't even finished grouting it yet, Your's ain't Bozo Barf, Mine is!!! Jnea

What did you put over the mirror?
Look at us!!!.......We are all getting a little Slow funky!
So many of us are playing outside the box the last few weeks! TOO COOL!.......who knows where this will go! Too much fun!!!

Hazie

I love how that turned out! It's beautiful! A lot of people are stepping out of the box lately, I NEED to try something abstract, step out of my box!

Awesome ,Awesome,Awesome!!!!Makes me think of a city with streets,parks,rivers,even a little taxi going on.Did I say Awesome????

Hazie,
I kept having problems trying to get a good picture of it. Everyone kept being out of focus. After about 8 tries, I finally figured out my camera was focusing on the reflection in the mirror! So I taped a catalog page over it. Yep! Worked like a charm. Well, almost. Then I didn't like the picture of the catalog, so I used my paint shop pro program (like adobe) and painted in a faux mirror with the little starburst. But if you look closely, you can still see the catalog page!

Thanks everyone for your kind comments.
I went to Lowes yesterday and bought another piece of MDF, and some wood strips to edge it with. I'm trying to come up with my next project now. Thinking I might cut out some sort of shape. I really liked the mirror you did Hazie!

And WHO would have thought that something BEAUTILICIOUS would have come from that modest start? BAMA: It is REALLY realllllllly reeeeaaaaalllllly WONDERFUL! DA BOMB, the CAT's MEOW and everything else!

Oh, Bama, that is absolutely gorgeous. I always love your color combinations, and this piece is no exception. Although this is "different" for you, I would have been able to identify it as yours, because your "style" that I love so much is also there! I hope I worded that okay - having a hard time saying what I mean, but mean it as a TOTAL compliment - as I admire your work and your style immensely. I love this!!!

Luscious! I don't know that I'll ever be able to do anything like you and the others here, but I'm sure enjoying looking at the pictures. This is one that I'll be going back to study, I really like it.

I don't know how I missed this glorious thread . . . .

Seems we are all stepping out on a limb with recent work. VERY nice Bama - you have a lovely feel for precision and grace.

An all around wonderful piece.

Susan I see you go got the key's to stick,was it the ge II or something else ?

OH me... Oh my.... just a nother add on of the 7 wonders ....
it is TRULY OUT OF THIS WORLD>>>!!!!!!\
Beautiful Job !!! the pattern is SOOOOOOOO wonderful....
I just love it!!!!
Your are truly inspiring !!!! and I pray God will let me attempt this soon... of course a beginner is... well nothing like you all that have been mastering it... BUT AFTER ALL
It will be a start...
and just to think.... you made me wanna DO IT !!!!!
Thanks for sharing your wonderful tallents!!!!
God Bless!
* * * * HAppy * * * HOLIDAYS !!!!!
M E R R Y + CHRISTMAS !!!!!!
susiesunshine

Dear Bama-
Want to say that this is absolutely FABULOUS, and I am absolutely loving your style! I totally don't mean to make this "about me," cuz it certainly isn't, but from someone who struggles with both sides of the brain wanting to be the dominant one, this piece "defines" the struggle.

My day-job is accounting...I want things balanced...both sides of the ledger must balance.

My original life-goal was to be an artist, but that didn't pan out. I was an honor student in art class, but never knew exactly what to do with the talent, so it went by the wayside. Math came easy, as did art, so I had something to fall back on.

I love Monet.
I love MC Escher.
I love impressionism.
I love abstract art.

But I also love the perfectly balanced lines of architecture.

I usually find art critique/comments to be merely expressions of how much vocabulary the commenter has learned and is trying to impress everyone with, but I have to say, this piece really does have something to say! (to me, anyway)