Stepping Stones

I have the itch to be outdoors.  More importantly, I want to create a beautiful space to relax and enjoy my garden in the backyard. Ever since I can remember I had admired mosaics. Those small scale decorative pieces of art loaded with color and texture lures me like a fish to a worm on a hook.  To look at them they are intimidating. It must take hours and hours to create such a beautiful object.  But I have come to find out that it is fairly simple and not really time consuming as one would think.  On Sunday, I designed my first stepping stone. Someone had given me a lot of glass stones and I was anxious to put them to good use.  I went to the store and bought mortar, grout, a large flat stone, and a trowel.  I was set for my project. Monday, I cemented the stones in place.  Tuesday I added the grout.  Today,I polished the stones and it is garden ready.  I think that I am going to make several of these.  It was fun coming up with a pattern. Not bad for a newby huh? 

A Mosaic covered House

The Journal Gazette did a write up about a house in Los Angeles that is truly one of a kind.  I have always liked mosaics and eventually I will try to do one. Aziz and Louise Farnam from Iran began gluing tiles to the outside of their bungalow 13 years ago.  They were inspired by the tiles and lavishly decorated mosques from their native country.  I have to admit when I went to Morocco the tiles there were awesome. I would love to see what the inside of this house looks like.  

Hmmm this gives me an idea...What I would like to do is put some decorative tiles around the front door of my house. This is something that they do in Morocco and I really liked the idea, especially if you live in a place where all of the houses resemble each other. 

What started out as a hobby exploded into this unique beauty. 

Once the first mosaic was put in place the couple began scrounging around for more tiles, plates, and figurines.

                       The pictures came from experiencingla.com

Mosaics are not just in Morocco

Before my exposure to the wonderful tiles of Morocco, I loved mosaics.  Often I would meander my way through books and dream of how my bathroom or kitchen would look with such lovely patterned tiles in them.  I have a folder crammed full of pictures and put safely in my desk for future creation. Everyday I drive past a long gone restaurant but there are a couple of places where tiles have been put into the wall.  So, today I went there and took these pictures.

I have always wanted break up dishes and things and create a mosaic out of the broken pieces. I was too scared to try.

In the picture below there is a cup at the upper left hand corner of the grate.

I have been looking at another place too. 

For a long time I drive by what appears to be a bar and think one day I will take a picture of the tiles.  The wall is in need of repair and many of the tiles are broken.

However, beauty is still there. So, you don't have to go abroad to see beautiful tile work.  Sometimes it is in your own city and possibly near your back door.