Slab Glass
This is the first camera of my memory, about the size of a box of animal crackers. The flash was four-sided, rotated after each shot and then discarded. In the mosaic, I made the flash out of scraps of slab glass inherited from an odd-jobs kind of guy who haunted the neighborhood around my shop. He would frequently have broken tools for sale, cheaply. One day he had a bucket of chips and chunks of thick glass. I’ve had them kicking around for years.
I used this light blue glass for the center of the flash. Oddly enough, held up to the sunlight, the blue glass glows orange. I believe this is an example of how nanoparticles have been used to color glass since the Middle Ages. At least, that’s what I recall from an old episode of NOVA.
Camera
To Mnemosyne the essence is not what we hold, but how we hold it. She is the smell of grandmother’s kitchen, the tint and hue of the photographs taken when we were children. Her domain is not accuracy, just persistence.
Starting the camera
The flash bulb is my favorite part; it’s made of slab glass
Mnemosyne is the hook in the song that catches in your ear. She’s the turn of phrase in a poem that you still recall. She doesn’t care if you like the poem or even understand it. To Mnemosyne the essence is not what we hold, but how we hold it. She is the smell of a grandmother’s kitchen, the tint and hue of the photographs taken when we were children. Her domain is not accuracy, just persistence.
Stone Patchwork
Stone Patchwork
Ming Red/ Rojo Alicante/ Etowah marble/pink travertine/ Morning Glory sandstone/ Rosa Verona/ Lillet granite/ Rosso Francia/ Tennessee Cedar/ Breccia Pernice/ Rhodochrosite/ Lilac/ Tennessee pink marble
Mnemosyne
Mnemosyne dresses in almost-rags, a patchwork of ribbons and fabrics, a quilt of her own history.
Mnemosyne in her patchwork quilted robe
Mnemosyne dresses in almost-rags, a patchwork of ribbons and fabrics, a quilt of her own history. She has nine kids; she doesn’t have the time or money for finery. She prefers this anyway. New clothes lack character. Worn out jeans have stories to tell.
Refining Edges
Sanding edges
I’m hoping to eliminate grout joints in this mosaic, just stone on stone. I may use grout joints in places for story-telling, or to address the background, but within characters, I’d like to avoid the extra lines. That requires addressing the edges, done here with a sanding disk on a five inch grinder.
Patchwork Robe
the geometry of true patchwork/scrap quilt/Siddi/stitchery/ask Mom/seams/draping
Mnemosyne
Mnemosyne, Muse Mama.
Mnemosyne is the Goddess of Memory and the mother of the Muses.
She sometimes jokes that she’s really the goddess of forgetting. Mnemosyne is forgetful herself, often misplacing her keys or phone. She calls all of her kids “Sweetness” because she often forgets their names.
Templates on the table
Laying out the templates on the table, for the right side of the diptych.
