Kasia Polkowska Art: October 2013

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Mosaic Flower Series

Below is a series of flowers that I've created as stained glass mosaics. All of the designs were hand drawn by me for this specific project. All of the glass in each mosaic is completely hand cut by me with basic hand tools: the pencil grip glass scoring tool, the running pliers, the flathead tile nippers and the wheeled nippers. Visit my open facebook page "Kasia Mosaics" to see lots more up to date process shots as well as new projects and news about my Online Stained Glass Mosaic Classes which are available for streaming world-wide - hope you take a look and enjoy!

Sunflower, stained glass mosaic, 11"x11" (12"x12" framed), 2013 ~SOLD

Watch the video below if you are interested in learning more about stained glass mosaics. It is a preview of my Online Stained Glass Mosaic Flower Class which is ideal for complete beginners as well as intermediate mosaic students.

The Online Class comes with 12+ flower templates that can be used for the class projects. It covers my mosaic process from start to finish, covering every step of the way. Everything is documented via video tutorials that are supplemented with additional photos and written notes. The students in the class are invited to a private facebook group page where they can ask for advice and feedback on their work as well as interact with other students and to share their progress as well as finished projects.

Above are the rough sketches I created for the mosaics.

Here is a shot of the sunflower mosaic in progress. Its hard to choose which flower from this series is my favorite, but if I had to choose, it might be the sunflower. Before choosing the color palette for this flower, I figured I'd do the classic sunflower with the brown center ... somehow when I started looking at my glass, the brown didn't make sense for this one, I liked the look of the less common greener center

Here is a shot of the lotus in progress. The lotus is a recurring element in my work. I've been wanting to make a purple one for a long time now so here it is!

Here is a shot of the rose in progress. I've always really loved roses but if I had to choose which one I love the most, it might be the orange one.

Here is a shot of the Colorado columbine in progress. Through out the summer on various hikes here in the mountains of Colorado, I have seen these beautiful flowers along the trail and was inspired to create one of my own.

Here is a shot of the zinnia in progress. Zinnia's are Kyle's favorite flower to plant in the garden. He is really the one who has brought it to my attention. Seeing how much he loves these flowers, I just had to include it in my series. I feel that every part of the flower lends itself perfectly to being recreated with a mosaic pattern. This flower was particularly fun to create and I plan to revisit it in a variety of colors in the future.

Above you can see part of the grouting process. I grouted all the flowers at the same time. Seeing them all come alive at the same time was very rewarding.

Here is an Instagram shot I took of the view from my studio window while finishing up my mosaic flower project. Part of Kyle's stair garden is seen framing the beautiful view of the trees I get to enjoy everyday. Though out the summer, we watched the flowers blossom and attract the humming birds - it really was a treat and it inspired this little series. In September I took this photo thinking about how beautiful the rainy day was and how it made the flowers really stand out. At that time, I had no idea how much rain we were going to get in Boulder - that was the beginning of the big flood before we had to evacuate from our home. I had to put my project on hold while we were displaced. Eventually we got to visit our home for a few hours at a time and I got to come back to glue the flowers on day and then a few days later we came back to grout. Despite all that we had to deal with as a result of this natural disaster, I had to do my best to complete my project and it felt really good to sneak in a few hours of studio time during the five weeks we've been away from our home.