Mosaic Totoro Flower Pot

My daughter Mariel has always been a big anime fan. One of her favorites is the 1988 Japanese animated film, My Neighbor Totoro, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli.

Totoro is a giant, fluffy, creature that looks like a combination of an owl, a cat, and a raccoon dog. He is the Guardian of the Forest and lives in a giant camphor tree in the Japanese countryside. Totoro is a symbol of childhood innocence, the power of imagination, and the magic of the natural world. Only children can see him.

Some years ago I made a Totoro mosaic for Mariel that frankly was not my best work. So, I decided for this year’s mosaic project that I would make a outdoor flower pot for Mariel, with the four sides depicting the friendly wood spirit Totoro and his family of two smaller spirits.

I found a terracotta flower pot. I used a professional sealant inside and out so that water would not seep through the pot and pop the tiles off. Because this was an outdoor project, the glass tiles were adhered with thinset mortar.

I sent Mariel regular updates on my progress with the photos in the gallery below.

Octopus Birdbath Restored

The mosaic birdbath I made last year for my daughter Mariel was damaged when high winds during a February 4th storm sheared off a massive tree branch that came crashing down onto the bird bath in her back yard in Pacifica.

When the tree was removed, the birdbath was four pieces. I was hopeful that I could put the pieces back together using concrete epoxy. Who knew? This thick gray stuff was nasty, but effective. It was designed for gluing marble headstones back on their bases, so I figured it would be tough enough to hold together a bird bath.

Once together, I had to use a Dremel tool to carve out space for the replacement tiles. Mariel found many of the original tiles and one of the eyes, on the ground and I used all of them in the restoration. The gallery below takes you through the entire restoration.

It was a fun project and I think the end result is almost identical to the original. You can see some slight differences below. The original is on the right with the bird visiting.

Mosaic Birdbath Storm Victim

The mosaic birdbath I made last year for my daughter Mariel was damaged when high winds during a February 4th storm sheared off a massive tree branch that came crashing down into her yard in Pacifica. The branch, from a tree on the neighboring property, flattened a section of fence and damaged a backyard gazebo. Most importantly, no one was hurt.

It wasn’t until the debris was removed that the fate of the Octopus birdbath was discovered. I think the pedestal helped the branch split the birdbath into four pieces.

I’ve done some preliminary research. There are epoxy adhesives designed for concrete. I don’t know if I’ll need to drill holes in the pieces and add some sort of metal reinforcing rod.

I don’t know how it would look, but just for fun I might restore it and employ the Japanese art of Kintsugi – where broken pottery is repaired using resin with gold dust in it. I might work if I can’t properly cover the break lines. This would be a decorative, not a structural part of the repair. (But I always get these crazy ideas that I usually scale back.)

I pick up the bird bath pieces next month and now I have a spring restoration project. Hopefully I can make it like new…or better!

Koi Birdbath

I’ve finished another bird bath, this one is for my daughter Sarah. She liked the look of the colorful fish and requested some lily pads be added to the design. I found some great lily pad tiles from an artist on Etsy. Once again, this bird bath is grouted in black, not only to make the colors pop but also to hide the algae that inevitably develops in outdoor birdbaths.

Octopus Birdbath

I’ve made a new mosaic birdbath for my daughter Mariel.

It is designed around an octopus image that she liked. You can see the see the process below and even some rejected ideas like adding glass beads to be the suckers (too busy.) I learned from an earlier birdbath that I should use black grout which doesn’t show algae and makes the birdbath easier to keep clean.

Mosaic Side Table

This is my latest mosaic project. My wife Rodi found this cast iron table at a garden sale. It had plenty of patina (aka rust) which we didn’t want to touch. It was missing a top. I used thin-set mortar to adhere Morjo™ marble mosaic cutting strips to a 9 1/4″ acetate disk. These 6mm strips are what professional mosaic artists in Europe use to make ancient reproductions and fine art murals. The sides of the strips have a honed finish and are not polished. The colors become more intense when it is sealed. The end result gives the piece an almost cork-like look.

Mosaic Chiminea

The finished chiminea in its new home on the patio

I’ve just finished my latest mosaic project, a chiminea. I purchased the chiminea in July 2019 but I spend several months contemplating the design. I finally decided on a dragon design for the top. The dragon is hovering in swirling smoke. The bottom of the chiminea is intended to look like flames started by the dragon.

Mosaic Bird Bath

I’ve never really thought of myself as being particularly artistic and I’m certainly not patient, but for some reason I enjoy doing mosaics. A number of years ago after seeing a demo at the Getty Villa, my wife and I went to the Bay Area (closest!) to take a mosaic class. We learned the basics such as how to cut the media and how to properly grout a project. I’ve since gone on to make a half dozen or so mosaics as gifts to family or to keep for myself. I’ve wanted to do some sort of outdoor mosaic and the opportunity finally presented itself when my daughter gave me a concrete bird bath that was sitting unused in her back yard. Continue reading “Mosaic Bird Bath”