Invitation to the NZ Art Guild 2011 Annual Members Exhibition - "Our Future"

Sketch for 'Our Future' mosaic artwork

This is a rough sketch for my other artwork for the NZ Art Guild's Annual Members Exhibition. It will be made up of twenty-five large 'mosaic' tiles, each measuring 2¹/₄" x 2¹/₄" (5.7cm x 5.7cm). Starting in the bottom left hand corner and following round in a clockwise spiral, it has been designed to show the different phases of love during the course of a life-long relationship - the future for a couple in love.

I am now setting about creating each tile. When the piece is complete I will post a photo, along with a key to explain what each tile represents or the meaning behind it.



Preparing for Etsy shop

Today I have registered with Etsy.com and plan to launch my Etsy shop some time in August. It will be called Claire Fairweather's shop and initially I will sell my HANGAs and some Art-Brooches. Gradually I will add other pieces of polymer clay artwork.

First polymer clay mosaic artwork completed

Living in Browns Bay
16¹/₂" x 11³/₄" (42cm x 30cm)

Here is the first of the two artworks I am creating for an exhibition at the end of July. This style of mosaic uses free-form shapes, carefully cut from different coloured sheets of baked polymer clay, to fit the design - similar to cutting the glass shapes for stained glass (lead light) work. I have done much of this before in the past with glass but this is the first time I have tried it with polymer clay, on a larger scale.

I am really pleased with the finished piece but it was a 'labour of love', cutting all the pieces to fit. This photo does not show the pearl effect in some of the colours - I will have to try photographing it again, when it is not raining, to get better lighting on it.

Now I am starting work on designing my second piece for this exhibition, which will be in a totally different style.

Nearly finished

All the pieces have been stuck in place and had an intitial sanding - just waiting to be grouted

All the pieces have now been cut and stuck to the board. I need to decide how I am going to sign this artwork - with initials or a signature? Really looking forward to seeing it when it has been grouted, as this should really pull it all together. I will do the finer grades of sanding, after it has been grouted, to help remove any residue from the grout that has not wiped off.

Progress photos of my mosaic artwork

I have been busy over the last week or so, creating different coloured pieces of polymer clay to cut into shapes for my first piece for the NZ Art Guild exhibition. I have posted some 'in progress' photos below, as I am going away for a long weekend, so it will be a while before I can do any more work on it.

Design sketched on to MDF board, backed with a wooden frame. (The first polymer clay pieces have been laid on the design)

Balsa wood has been cut for the top and bottom pieces, as they would have been too large to fit in my oven, if I had made them out of polymer clay

The balsa wood has been sealed with diluted PVA glue and then painted with several layers of acrylic paint

Here are some of the different coloured pieces of baked polymer clay I have made for this artwork. They are 2mm (3/32") thick and will be cut into shapes to fit the design

The first cut pieces have been glued on to the board

I will post the finished piece when it is complete.