Wedding gift Monogram!
I can’t wait to tell you all about my latest mixed media creation. AND YES….my own creation combining some of these crazy unique arts that I am into. Let me give you a little background.
My cousin got married in the most gorgeous venue in New York City around Christmas time, the Botanical Gardens. It was probably one of the most beautiful and fun weddings I have ever been to. You can see my husband and I celebrating here!
Yup…That’s me in the dress that I converted from a cocktail dress into a gown. See that post HERE!
It took me a while after the wedding to really figure out what I wanted to gift them. Of course everyone loves money but I was thinking that I wanted do a little extra something special.
I started playing around with their monogram by layering calligraphy letters together and intertwining them.
My draft sketch ended here though. No need to perfect the sketch with black pen, I would have been wasting time because the idea in my head involved wall art on a much larger scale.
Glass Mosaic on canvas
Taking a 16 x 20 canvas, I drew the same sketch onto the canvas with pencil. Once I was finished with the sketch, I started arranging glass pieces to start a mosaic monogram.
What glass to use??
I will use any glass type mirror pieces, tile pieces, ceramic pieces stained glass pieces etc. for mosaics. Mosaic is versatile!!
Normally I would cut my own glass and grind it, but I found bags of glass pieces that already had ground edges.
It’s called DRAGON GLASS!!
I think I screamed to find it right at HOME DEPOT!!! Although the dragon glass has some iridescence with a mirrored surface, you can still see the glass colors through it.
- This dragon glass is in the section where they have the woodburning stoves and gas stoves. I think it is used for gas outdoor fire pits. Well…now that ’s not all it’s used for!! How about K. Rupp’s mosaic glass art.HA.
- Usually when I am working with art glass, I have to travel a bit to get to my stained glass stores. At those stores I have seen it in small 8 oz. containers being sold for over $20.00 at the specialty glass shops.
- It was a treat to find bags of Dragon glass at home depot that didn’t cut my hands when I started handling it! Also at $30.00 for a 5 lb. bag at Home Depot I couldn’t resist.
Give me all the colors please!!!
What is a great adhesive to use for a mosaic??
I used WELDBOND:
- Dragon glass is thick; not flat, which presented a unique look but also an adhesive obstacle.
- As I started building the monogram, I had no idea if the glue would hold it well enough with raised glass.
- Flat glass would have no problem with just being glued into place, but because it was raised, a concern would be brushing up against it which could loosen the pieces.
YAY IT DID HOLD!!… but with the raised glass there was a trick! I explain later in the post!
I continued on considering that I was gluing the glass pieces with an amazing glue for mosaics.
Embellish with texture
My favorite calligraphy is the style of lettering you find in medieval manuscripts. Lots of embellished drawings around it and weaved throughout the lettering.
Instead of using more glass mosaic as embellishment which I thought might take away from the monogram itself, I decided to embellish their monogram using a cement-like texture that will not break or flake off.
- I used a frosting piping bag used for cake icing to apply my cement texture technique.
- Once I piped the texture over my sketch drawing I waited a few minutes for it to set up slightly.
- I used pottery tools to sculpt the texture into place.
- Texture also was applied around the letters to strengthen and secure the glass pieces in place. This was the TRICK that really held those glass pieces onto the canvas.
A CAKE PIPING BAG NORMALLY USED FOR ICING!!!!???
YES!!!!The texture took a few hours to harden onto the canvas.
Then I grouted the glass……
What Grout to use with glass mosaic?
I used Non-sanded grout in an off-white! Polyblend.
Usually when one grouts a backsplash that has glass tiles, sand-less grout is the way to go to prevent the surface from scratching.
- I used a pottery putty knife tool to apply the grout.
- I was careful to just apply the grout on top of the glass monogram. Any grout that got on the canvas in other areas may have discolored it or been difficult to clean up.
- Grouting can strengthen the mosaic together but mostly it gives a finished look by filling in all of the tiny gaps between the glass pieces.
- The next step was washing the surface after grouting was complete. I used a damp cloth and washed the surface of the glass very carefully since I didn’t want to get the canvas wet in any way.
Painting the background
As you can see in the previous pictures, I had already started painting the background early on to see what colors I wanted behind the texture. But painting the entire background fully was the last step.
- I finished the wall art by painting the background with acrylic paints in a muddy taupe, grey, silver off-white blend that mimics Italian faux finish technique.
IT’S DONE- WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Finally it’s done!! HEY TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!!!
I want to hear feedback folks! I never mind feedback and a little critique here and there(just no jerks)… just so you know! I think it makes me better as an artist, blogger, photographer :/(don’t say it..ha).
Regardless, there will be more art projects to come. The more I hear people liked it, the more I will make more stuff like this. Feedback!!! Yes, we love it!! It keeps us going!
FRAMING
We framed this personalized wall art and sent it on its way to my cousin and his new beautiful wife.
AND….you guessed it, ED MADE THE FLOATING FRAME!!!!! Framing can be sooooo expensive for artists.
STAY TUNED woodworkers….I have a tutorial coming…How to make a floating frame!! Hope you liked this mixed media glass mosaic monogramed wall art. Tongue twister. Until our next project…..
K. Rupp
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This whole project makes an absolutely beautiful wall hanging and is an especially unique wedding gift. The calligraphy type initials are very artistic and create a one-of-a-kind gift that is personal and gorgeous! Love it!
Thank you so much!! I always have remembered the unique gifts that people gave me when Ed and I got married. I really loved doing it for them!
Thank you for sharing at #ThursdayFavoriteThings. Pinned and shared.
Thank you so much Marilyn!!!
Thank you for sharing at #OverTheMoon. Pinned and shared.
Thank you for sharing Marilyn!
What a cool project! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!
Thank you so much for stopping by to check it out Cecilia!
That’s gorgeous. I may have missed it in the instructions, but can you paint the canvas first and then do the embellishments or is it better to do directly on the canvas?
Oh definitely you could paint it first. It was my first one so the whole project was sort of an experiment and I was figuring it out as I went along. ha. Next time I will probably do the Italian type faux finish before the embellishments and then it would only be small touch ups at the end. Thank you so much for stopping by Erlene and the nice complement!
Absolutely gorgeous! You must have a lot of patience. This would have taken me about 5 years to complete…if ever!
Hi Christine, Thank you so much! Yeah, I would say this project was not any more time consuming than any other art project I have done. That is not to say that it wasn’t time consuming. HA. I am used to doing detailed work. If you like putting together puzzles, mosaic is a fun art to get into;). Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Wowsers. This is truly lovely. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much Mary!! Glad you stopped by;)
This is truly lovely.
I did not understand the instructions on the piping. You use a cement like “something” to pipe the embellishments. What product or mixture did you use to pipe?
It also looks like it was rather stiff to pipe. Was it hard on your hands?
And did you later have to press it into the canvas so it would attach?
Thank you so much for sharing.
Hi Lucinda,
Great questions! So for painting texture I make my own. I should put out another post on how I make it. It is a combo of wood glue and stucco from any hardware store. I mix it up like a frosting consistency so it is not stiff at all and not hard on my hands. Since it has glue in the mixture, I did not have to press it into the canvas, but I did have to shape it into place. I use a rubber tip (pottery tool) to push It around to get the exact look I am going for. Thank you so much for your questions!….which has given me ideas for a follow up post! Thank you for stopping by!
This is absolutely gorgeous!
Thank you so much for the complement Kristy!