Mosaic Feather Sculpture Installation - Part 2 of 5

This 10ft tall by 40ft wide installation consists of 6 double sided glass and ceramic mosaic feather sculptures. After completing the first side of each feather, I recreated the designs, mostly the same besides it being a mirror image of the first one. I must admit that doing this type of repetition for each sculpture was a bit tough on my mind. Having extreme morning (all day) sickness while being pregnant probably didn't help lol But I liked the idea of the double sided sculptures enough to push through, working on these feathers till the very end of my second pregnancy. 

Looking back on the above photo of me and Ethan, just a couple weeks before I gave birth to Wesley, brings back memories of just how hard I worked to push this project through. For some reason, I imagined this would go much faster. I was so exhausted. I hoped to have it all done before the arrival of the baby but that goal was not really achievable, still I tried. I pushed along, trying to make any little progress I could each day, making some sacrifices on craftsmanship compared to my usual obsessive perfectionism. Letting go of that was actually a really good exercise for me.

As always, my little studio assistant was always eager to come down to the studio and help <3

Here is an example of the two mirrored mosaics next to each other. Pretty cool, right? Worth the extra effort and some frustration lol

Ethan was a bit over 2 years old here. He really loved trying to cut glass. At times this was a bit scary ... Now about a year and half since having taken these photos of him, it is so heartwarming to see his enthusiasm for the project. I love that he was able to have a hand in mommy's biggest project.

Ofcourse, besides having a tiny assistant, I also had tremendous help from my life and creative partner, Kyle. He went above and beyond to help me try to meet my goals with a project. I wouldn't have been able to tackle this on my own during this pregnancy. Kyle created all the feather sculptures. Usually, I would be participating in many aspects of this process but there just wasn't enough time. I am forever grateful to have someone who so freely dedicates his time to help me make my dreams come to life!

Here you can get a glimpse of the 6 feathers in progress. All the bases for my mosaic work are completed and scattered around the studio, reminding me of just how much more work was ahead. Additionally, at the same time, we were slowly packing up this 1000sq ft art studio and our house for a big move over a mountain pass. All of this was very epic and hectic! Another reason why I didn't document this incredible process, literally every second was pretty invaluable to the completion of the artwork.

Progress on one of the sides of the feathers. This is one of the mixed media ones, part stained glass, part handmade ceramic tiles.

Here you can see both sides of the feather, side by side. One is glued onto the sculpture. The other mirrored mosaic is still on the workbench, almost ready for gluing. This mosaic is created with all handmade ceramic tiles, plus some flat marbles.

Here is another of the two feathers fully mosaiced with handmade ceramic tiles with the addition of flat marbles as accents. Ethan was very eager to help peel the tape of the face of the mosaic. FYI, if you are wondering, his hair did not grow that much throughout the duration of the project lol. This was taken early on, before he got his first haircut =)

I will try to post another part of my Mosaic Feather Installation Process soon! Thanks for tuning in =)

If you would like to see this installation in person while staying at our private Mystic Valley Sculpture Park while you visit the Great Sand Dunes National Park in the San Luis Valley of Southern Colorado, we welcome occasional guests https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/409508044