Oh my goodness! I have been on the road and had a list of to-do’s to do. One of which was to get to the Missouri Botanical Gardens to see the exhibit they have of Nikki de Saint Phalle. On my list this was a “C” priority- You know the..” I really want to but I really don’t have time…”-etc….

WEll. Stuff has a way of working out sometimes….

I went. I tried 3 times and the third was the charm.

If you are a mosaic artist, love colorful pop art or are just a curious soul…I feel certain you will really enjoy this exhibit.

I was so pumped I did this like a military operation. Bing Bang Boom. Camera- check. New battery -check. New sd card-check. Attach neckstrap-check. Money and keys in pocket. Thick socks + comfy shoes-check. Perfect parking place! Sheesh- did I lock the car??? I am already across the parking lot…

I see the first piece!!!! It is big and shiny. Yup I am definitely at the right place. Yeeehaw! I made it.

This is: Le Poete at sa muse.  It is located outside the main entrance to the Garden. This piece is privately owned by a collector in Belgium.( Wow- I thought I dragged home a lot of stuff ….;-). It is just under 10 feet tall and a bit less than 1400 pounds.  It was made in 1999.

Sorry about the glare on the top of the photo- I took all the photos you will see here in this piece. Here is a link if you want to see the professional ones from MOBot. They are just awesome: http://www.mobot.org/events/NIKI/niki_tour/index.htm

Next, to the window, grab the ticket (only 8 dollars- what a deal). And a dash through the entry building. I am not sure what I was thinking- I felt like I was at some sort of timed event- pole bending or barrel racing. I was moving I’m tellin ya.

There was a new chandelier in the entry building- a Dale Chihuily. Wow. Sorry Dale. No time for that photo right now. On to the main event.

I am just going to do a few at a time since I seem to be having all sorts of crashing problems….Here is the skull. This piece has really grown on me.

Thi piece is about 14 feet tall and it weighs 12,000 pounds! The inside is every bit as cool as the outside.

I am totally fascinated by the extreme tactile nature of these pieces. The finish is just awseome- so smooth! Every body loved this piece. I had to wait quite a while to get a shot without folks crawling all over it….This is La Cabeza.

I think my favorite may well be the lions. I just loved the more subtle color palette- the natural semiprecious materials she used here are just to die for_

 Guardian Lion  One of a pair. These pieces are over 7 feet “tall” and weigh about 3,00 pounds. I love the natural materials used so beautifully here. Semiprecious tumbled stones, glass, ceramic pieces.  Kids were really attracted to these pieces. It took a while to get this photo without a child exploring.

The finish on these pieces fascinates me. They are so smooth. So clean. So perfectly finished. Just gorgeous. I am so inspired.

Okey Doke. That’s it for now- I’ll be back with more adventures with Nikki…What a trip.

Good Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise that is…..(that’s how we talk round these parts..).

I am excited. I am all packed and ready for one of my regular pilgrimages to my other residence in So IL.

This is really special. For one- my sister is graduating with a Master’s Degree ( a family first – way to go Teri!!! ) and it is mother’s day weekend and it is once again time for Little Egypt Art Association’s Annual Art Show. This event is held in conjunction with Herrin, Il’s “Herrin Festa Italiana.”  

I have a story to tell about these folks and this event-

A year ago, my sister Teri urged me to participate in this art event. She had done it several times and really enjoyed the whole process. She is a painter of some fanciful wonderful stuff. There is a link to here web site (which is under construction or I would post the link here as well…) on the right side of this blog. More stuff will be posted there soon I promise….

This is Sunflower by TMac

At first, I hesitated. My stuff is big, heavy, fragile, and – 3 dimensional. The organizer of the only other art show I had attempted to enter told me that my stuff was NOT ART. Well OK. That will be the subject of another entry….

So- persuaded by my sister, I brought my most recent pieces- one of which was my Mother’s bowling ball which I had converted to a yard globe.                     

Betty’s Ball

Ozark Vernacular Bird House Number 1

and I threw in a mirror as well…

Well – we had a great time. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to participate in my first juried show.

As it turned out- my sister and I both won awards in the amateur divsion_ She won first for Painting and I got a second and a third in Fine Crafts! WOW!!! I was never so excited. WOW.  We entered another show- Another ribbon!!!! More braggin rights for Betty’s girls….hehehe.

What a wonderful Mother’s Day . One I will never forget. Mom was pretty happy too.

This year promises to be even better.

I will keep you posted.

May 3, 2008, Big Brown galloped to a decisive victory in the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby. I have owned race horses, ridden, trained and re-trained them. I have made a trip or two to a Winner’s Circle. Nothing however, ever compared to being right there at Churchhill Downs for the classic Run for the Roses.  That , my friends, that is the Big Kahuna of horse racing Winner’s Circles. The stuff dreams are made of.

I have had a work in progress for a while- I was calling it Easter Hat Lady for lack of a better idea. Suddenly- while watching the pageantry of the Derby I remembered all the wonderful hats and I thought- That’s it- She’s gonna be “Derby Hat Lady”. 

Ta Daaa!!!!                                                                                                                               

Here is a close-up of her-Looks right at home in the Winner’s Circle if you ask me……                                                                                                               

This is probably as close as I will ever get to a Winner’s Circle again….Sure looks like fun doesn’t it?

From what I recall- it was…;-). 

Do you have any Derby stories to share????  

Le Cabeza – Giant Skull Sculpture recently installed in the Missouri Botanical Gardens, St Louis. Part of the Niki de Saint Phalle Exhibit.

Niki 045, originally uploaded by mistone.

Here is one of the sculptures you will be able to see in the Missouri Botanical Gardens “Niki in the Garden” Exhibition.  This exhibition will be there from April 27th through October 31st 2008.  Don’t miss it!

Here is a link to a huge background of information on one of my very favorite artists. What a charmed and charming body of work. Please check it out at Niki Charitable Art Foundation.

In addition to that site is another for her sculpture garden in Italy. It is based on Tarot Cards and is quite a fantasy. That site is: IL GIARDINO DEI TAROCCHI”

I can’t describe how I reacted when I first saw photos of her “Three Graces” dancing in a water feature in Atlanta’s Botanical Garden….They are imposing joyous and colorful. My kinda stuff.

Don’t take my word for it- look it up- follow these links. Make plans for your trip to MoBot….Heck they are even looking for volunteers to be intrerpretors for the exhibit. How much fun would that be?????

OK. Get Busy. .

Sara Winchester, widow of the Winchester rifles heir, began a construction project in 1884 which continued day and night for the next 38 years. Speculation and rumors reported that the reasons for this obessive behavior ranged from-1) fearing to stop lest ghosts or demons would “get” her as retribution for being the recipient of all that rifle money…..to- 2) she was a very bad architect, to-3) she was just full tilt boogy nuts.

Haunted, poor designer or plain old nut, she sure did a lot of building.

Frequently, when I am in the zone, I think of myself as having  that single minded passionate drive to avoid  the humdrum needs and ministrations of basic existance …..i.e. put on street clothes that would at least pass for street clothes somewhere besides a very bad street in a very bad neighborhood- oh – let’s say- under a bridge…..(they are just going to get dirty ruined etc- anyway..) .. What do you mean the frig is empty- surely there must be some microwave popcorn…whatever.

Out of Thinset!!!!  Alert the media. Dial 911. Start the car. Be right back.

hehehe.

Yes Sara. I understand. You gotta keep doing your thing or “stuff”  will intrude. I don’t know if it’s demons but anything that interrupts the flow is undesirable.

For those of you unfamiliar with Sara Winchester; here is a link http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/. It is a fascintaing story.

Another mosaicist, I believe it was, St. John’sGypsy called it: OCMD or Obsessive Compulsive Mosaic Disorder. Love it. It is true. So many of us report the same drive.

So -yes yes. I have been in the zone and neglected my blog. I will try to do better. 

I can safely report that there are no poltergeist-y activities going on at the present and I have at least 10 projects in the pipeline….so the theory seems to be working…   

Please tell me that you do the same thing too….

Okey Doke.

Who? What ??? Miss Who????

Miss BIG STINKY. Miss Big Stinky helped me grout yesterdyay..

Yep – there she is….just checking to see if the bucket is dead yet. She bit it, shook it, threw it in the air….Trying to look non-chalant. Seriously- she snatched it  when my back was turned. Hmmmm. Maybe I didn’t wash all the ice cream out of it. This dog is no puppy playful soul. She is a bona-fide Police Academy flunk out. Yup. A trained killer. Welllll….

Goes to show mosaics are good for your mind. Yup. That’s it. Soothes the savage beast.  Or maybe- just maybe- grout tastes like ice cream. You will have to do your own research on that one…;-).

Gosh it was a big artful day for the K9 units. Little Blackie found time to intrude on a number of photos of the “Dark Tower” …..Everyone is an art critic….sheesh! She looks pretty non-plussed. Now – if only it was made of garlic and chicken liver…then there would a light in those eyes…..She looks like- …”This is why my dinner’s late…”.

Oh well.

I have tried – unsuccessfully- to teach the dogs to wear safety glasses and to stay away from the glass cutting area ( the entire farm..).

Any of you have pets that “help”? What do you do to protect them from the hazards in the shop? Anything?

Ok that was yesterday.

Today – there is a work in progress that has me kinda excited. It is a yard sale table. Two levels – first (lower) shelf has been glued.    

Wonder what the K9’s think of this??? They were too busy fishing sticks out of the pond and smelling trees to make any statements…..

No- I am not lost. I am not posting music blog stuff from the 1980’s (has it really been that long..).

No- I haven’t switched this over to a relationship blog…endless stream of ..”and then he…”.

Oh no.  What I am going to talk about here is a method/style of making a quick project which is simple enough for kids, campers or  unhandy visiting bored relative types. You can actually produce some pretty and  use-able items using this process.  

I decided to do this because I saw a discussion on a message board on making stepping stones with children. They were talking molds, cement mixing yadda yadda. STOP! Stop right there . There is NO need for all that. It is messy. You will buy stuff you do not need and make things that are not use-able and have leftover concrete/cement whatever all over the place. And- I may not have children – but I have seen them in action. No reason to mix concrete with ‘em.  Not unless you want it in places you never imagined it could get….I’m just sayin’….

I will walk you through a project which is easy, cheap and decorative.

This piece is made using a paver, part of an old metal plaque and tumbled stones….

I have loads of these. I will share some of the pics as we go along.

 This was made from a shell trivet glued down as one piece.

Go to Wally World or another similar place and buy a concrete paver. Round , square, rectangular. You decide.

Next, acquire some clear 100% silicone caulk -also available at Wally World in the paint department. Pick up a cheap DRIPLESS caulk gun.

Assemble your “tesserae” bit and pieces of shards, metal, glass- what have you.  A word here- resin and plastic stuff will fade in fairly short order- a year or two- if exposed to the elements. Personally I like glass and china and mirror…use what you have.

Depends of course on the ages you are working with…Younger kids do well with rocks and bricks- small projects. Check out some of these:

 Get your base (paver, brick, stone, whatever)  out.

Clean the debris off of it.  A stiff brush and damp towel work fine.

Lay out your design out and start gluing .

Use the silicone to glue the pieces to the paver (stone or whatever). This stuff stinks so- do it outside in a well ventilated area. If you get silicone where you don’t want it- use WD 40 to remove the residue.

TIP:I use a dripless caulk gun- available with home improvement supplies anywhere….Load the gun with the silicone. Squirt some silicone in a cheap baggie. Cut the corner off the baggie and use it like an icing bag. Cheap, easy way to hand out the adhesive to a whole room full of folks. I do this when I teach. This is how I dispense all of my adhesives.

OK. Every body has a paver, some junk and a baggie with silicone. 

Make something.

Let the piece dry for at least 24 hours out of direct sunlight.

Now- you are ready for grouting. I use sanded grout that I get at the big box stores- When I first started doing these things- I had a small bag of Quick Crete.I did not know any better. I thought this was grout. I used it as such and Voila!!! Those are the pieces that have certainly weathered the best!!! Who da thunk…;-).

The stone on the left is made of scrap stained glass- no cutting, glued to a paver, “grouted” with Quick Crete. It is 7 years old. Still holding up well.

At any rate, get sanded grout. I totally hate the stuff that is premixed with additives. It is actually much harder for newbies to work with. Get the regular stuff in a small bag and mix it your self. Follow the manufacture’s directions. Or not…hehehe. I mix it much drier than they recommend and it is far less messy. I usually mix it to the consistancy of a pretty stiff cookie dough….

Gently wipe excess off. Use a dry rag for this step.

Let the piece dry for a while – wipe off haze. Again- check manufacturer’s recommendations.

Polish with a cloth. Seal with a good tile sealer. Or not. It will last longer if you do. 

Here are some completed stepping stones made using the process described above:

My sister indtroduced me to a store by that name in St Louis quite a few years back. It was such an eclectic arty place. I absolutely loved it. Loved everything about it. The name -a French idiom- means ” a little of this and a little of that” ; “hodgepodge”; “mishmash”.  What a good name. Rolls of the tongue. Meli. Melo. This. And That.

Well- when I first started all this trying to establish an identity thing- I wanted to call my stuff Meli Melo. Already taken.  People kept asking me- what is your business? what do you have? so – I said…art….and….artifacts…and so the name was born. Simple and it is what I have. What I do. What I spend time thinking about. Doing art. Acquiring artifacts. Dragging them all around.

I believe the eclectic little store is gone. But it made quite an impression on me. My taste and my interests are well reflected by the little store full of wondrous items with the name that rolled off your tongue.

I am embarking on this blogging thing for numerous reasons. I really want to organize my thoughts on the art and artifacts that I find every day. I want to share these wondrous things so others can indulge in the Aha! moments I experience all the time.

I have been an internet info junky from the start.  I have amassed a veritable fountain of misinformation of all sorts. It is my goal to spread some of it around here.

As I go about doing this- I really would appreciate any feedback comments or questions anybody has.

I intend to do several pages. One I will devote to a listing of artists who I admire and enjoy. That page will also include galleries and venues which I find interesting.

Another area I would like to do is perhaps a How To page or category. I get a lot of questions on how do you do this or that….I may do a tutorial or two. I am still unsure how best to organize this. I will be figuring all this out soon I am sure.

The photos I used here are from my eclectic magnet series. They are essentially made out of all sorts of left over supplies- a little this; a little that. Arty. Artifacty. – Meli. Melo.

I have always been a maker of things. Began as a very small child…made things out of cans, boxes, left over junk. Always rooting through some else’s cast offs. Not sure why. I was simply compelled. Perhaps my muse is Trash-sichore…the tenth one…   

I had the great pleasure and honor to have been a public servant for over two decades. At some point, a significant paradigm shift (and you thought I was blowing smoke up your skirt about the public servant thing.. that’s right…I can still talk like one…..hehehe)  occurred that gave rise to a far less structured life. I like to characterize  it as ”self-unemployment”.

Not the first time I chucked it all to run off into the sunset. Probably not the last.

And so. I have the incredible opportunity to make stuff. An almost unlimited amount of time to do so. Not too much to use – but hey- that is the point and the challenge.

What fun it is to see a pile of glass and wire Transmogrified into a lovely little piece of art. It is my joy. It is my passion.

If you like it too- well then- that just about makes it perfect now doesn’t it?

Thanks for checking in.

Don’t be a stranger.

 Here is a picture of the fish bottle prior to grouting. You can really see the beads and the little fish window very plainly.

.The beads were built up in a thin layer over and over until they reached the desired depth.

I used Envirotex Lite to adhere the beads to the bottle and to each other. I used thinset (thinned with water) to  prime the glass surface where the tiles are. I then used it “full strength” to adhere the vitreous glass tiles to the bottle. I liked using these two things- resin and thinset- to work on glass. All of my prior glass work has utilized WeldBond. It is a wonderful product. I just wanted to experiment with some different materials.

This is the finished product of experiment using resin and tiny glass seed beads in my mosaic application. I like the effect and I will do more of it.

It is just another technique in the arsenal of things one can do to embellish almost anything.

The fish are recycled buttons. The shells are from a recycled necklace, the bottle is a recycled liquor bottle. The large beads are recycled Mardi Gras beads and there are some vitreous glass tiles and glass gems and some glass charms used in this piece.

I kept it clean enough that it could still be used as a decanter. The top is the original one and works perfectly.