A TINY DELIGHTFUL SURPRISE

Walking by Alumni Josh Berger's Succulent garden today I saw this itsy bitsy surprise.

The String of Pearls had bloomed.

These tiny flowers reminded me a bit of cacti blooms,

only even better like something you might see in a fairy garden.

The very small clay head was a piece left behind years ago.

Of course I saved it and now has found a perfect home as a garden sculpture.

LATE SPRING LOVE...

ON MY PATIO GARDEN

Amaryllis, Bearded Iris & Succulents are happy, happy, happy.

Shrubs, Geraniums & Star Jasmine growing like weeds.

Orchids, Cannas & Calla Lilies blooming intermittently

A very cool ceramic sculpture by local Costa Mesa Artist surrounded by Star Jasmine. 

And the sweet bird cage given to me about 3 Mothers Days ago by my son

now houses pieces of broken succulents.

(I couldn't keep the Ivy alive)

Finally Finishing up my Garden Sphere

Finally, after 10 long months I'm gluing on my last piece of glass to my sphere. That was a couple of weeks ago.


Here I am last nite finally grouting the damn thing after driving everyone crazy in the class trying to decide which color grout I should use. Sorry I was such a pain in the ass!


I ended up choosing the grape grout which looks kind of black in these pictures.


And here's my good buddy KK who helped me every step of the grouting way wearing this really funky crown that she found laying around the studio. KK you are the queen of my heart. Thank you for your patience and kindness.


Here are several views of the finished sphere.

Can't decide which side I like the most.

The only bummer with finishing this up is that I'm gonna have to figure out what to make next. So many ideas. So many decisions. What to do? KK, HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Understructure of Mosaic Sphere

I often get asked if my mosaic ball is a solid mass of cement. So last week when Katherine was starting a new sphere class at the Muck, I shot the next few pix.

You start with a bouncy ball from the super market, the kind that you find in the big cages at the beginning of springtime. Then you spray the heck out of it with primer before applying the cement.


A close-up of the application of the cement slurry over top the patches of adhesive netting, over top the sprayed ball. Two coats of this process are necessary to built up a strong structure to be able to mosaic on top of . And after the cement is dry if it's too lumpy bumpy, you must smooth things out with a metal file (a real pain the the a__!) Makes a big mess too. But so much fun. Loved working with the cement, it was my very first time.

Update on my Mosaic Sphere

Almost done! I've only been working on it since September and I'll be the last one done from the class. Only a couple of more months to go :)

A crazy sideways view of the other side.

Springtime in my Garden

I love garden sculpture especially when it's made by my students, so I've collected a lot of it over the years. These two pieces are in my walkway leading to the our front door. The piggy was a Home Depot find and the coil pot was made last year by then junior Wendy Ku. Unfortunately, our gardener recently knocked the pot over with our heavy new hose and broke it into many pieces. So I'm really glad I got a shot of it before the fall. Accidents happen.

One of my favorite times of year are when my azaleas are blooming and my citrus trees are in blossom with their wonderful fragrance wafting through my yard. The azaleas are especially tricky for me to grow and I've lost many over the years, but the ones on my side yard seem to hang in there for me.

Garden Sculptures

Katherine's current class are working on garden sculptures. I didn't allow myself to participate because I haven't finished my last project yet. One piece at a time! These next 3 posts are pieces that are in progress. I'm so jealous.

Garden Sculptures

Garden Sculptures