Grapes and grout lines

I love doing glass mosaic work. I have always enjoyed jig saw puzzles and that is what they remind me of. There are a few things that can really make a difference in how your piece turns out. A big one is if you are consistent with how much space you leave between your glass pieces so your grout lines will be the same size through out your piece.  I am a bit obsessive about it actually.

I am a member of an online group of Glass on Glass mosaic artists. Some of the talent in that group is nothing short of amazing. We do challenges that stretch our experience and push us to grow. I love the challenges. I learn something new each time I do one. But this last challenged really pushed me to go against my norm. It was a coloring book challenge. Sounds simple. It had to be done on a microwave plate (you  know the clear kind your microwave comes with) and the focus of your piece had to have the black line like in a coloring book. Yep sounds simple. I had the hardest time leaving that black line around my subject wider than the rest of the piece.

First I did a landscape. The clouds and the sun were supposed to have the thick black line.

But nope couldn't make myself do it. Ended up with even spaced grout line and a finished piece on a microwave plate that I couldn't use for the challenge. 

So I headed back to the thrift store after another microwave plate and I was good to go. I decided to do a grape vine this time.  I had been wanting to try stacked grapes in a piece anyway so it seemed like a good chance to try it. Time was running out and I only had a few days left to finish this challenge so I HAD to be sure and leave the lines.

I did a little bit better but still not great. It was good enough for me to submit to the challenge but still fairly even grout lines. I guess some habits die pretty hard. Especially when want to keep them around for the next challenge.

Here is the same piece in the light. That is another thing I love about glass. It looks completely different in the light than it does without.

So I happy to say the coloring book challenge is done and I can move on to stressing about if my grout lines are even enough. Yes, things are as they should be.