Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Joy 3/82: My Bench

An old, raw wood bench came with my house.  It was an unsightly thing and I was ready to get rid of it but I've watched the people in my mosaic class transform the most ordinary things into works of art, so I decided to give my bench a second chance.  My granddaughter and I painted it purple and pistachio (a paint store mishap) and then I began to mosaic the seat.  This isn't a small bench ... it's probably six feet long and 20 inches deep ... that's a lot of territory to cover ... especially with no plan.

Not having a plan worried me for awhile but I remembered the intuitive painting class I took with Stewart Cubley http://www.processarts.com/ many years ago and decided to use the same process with the bench.  So that's what I'm doing, taking one step at a time, following my feelings about what wants to come next and it is joyful.  It amazes me that I enjoy this so much because it is slow and painstakingly detailed.  But, yesterday I spent about six hours on it and had to drag myself away when company arrived.  The hours just float away as I play with the brightly colored bits of glass and tile, cutting hundreds of tiny shards to fit together just so.  It's sort of like working a jig saw puzzle where you don't have the picture and you have to make all the pieces by hand.

I'm a fast-paced person and like most people in today's world, a multi-tasker.  It's proving to be very peaceful and satisfying to do something that has to be done slowly and carefully and requires my full attention.  Here's a detail shot of the work in progress.



4 comments:

  1. This looks just gorgeous; can't wait to see the finished product!

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  2. Very special, Joyceann. It makes me happy just to look at the pictures. It's hard to believe it's unplanned. Wonderful!

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  3. OK -- so now I have to come visit so I can sit on your beautiful bench~!

    Wow -- it does look beautiful and inviting.

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  4. Actually it will be hard as hell and probably bumpy but it sure would be fun to see all of you sitting on it ... that would be a picture worth taking. Ya'll come!

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