Pineapple - Phase 2

Here is the almost-complete pineapple. I just have to do the background, which will be three shades of purple. I'll start with a light violet next to the pineapple and progressively get darker out to the borders. Then I'll need to take it to my friend's house and make an exact template for the size of the hole it's going in. I'm going to have to add something in the bottom of the space, because the surrounding concrete veneer is about 3/8 inch thick, and the mosaic at this point is only about 1/8. I'm leaning toward putting down a couple of layers of mortar - I plan to consult with a friend who is a professional tile installer.

I had fun with the oranges and yellows in the pineapple, laying them in a pattern that makes the fruit look 3-D, in a sort of abstract way. The planes of the tiles (I left a lot of them square) remind me a little bit of how a geodesic dome creates a round shape with lots of flat planes. The leaves were harder - lots and lots of special cuts - but I'm happy with the result.

Fellow mosaic artist and blogger Eve Lynch (see link to her blog on the right) commented that the idea of filling holes with mosaic reminded her of a British artist, Jimmy South, who installs mosaics in potholes around London in guerilla fashion. Great idea! What a nice surprise to be stuck in traffic, look down and see a work of art in the road.