Wall of Plates

I regularly stop in the local thrift stores to peruse their dish selection, searching for interesting colors, patterns and textures that I might want to use in a future mosaic. Some days I leave empty handed, other days I come home with a huge stack of dishes to break. Of every few hundred plates I see, I find one or two with its own appealing, unique qualities and I have to take them home. I've amassed a wide variety of plates that I have no idea what I'll do with (let me know if you need any 25th Wedding Anniversary plates, or a Mother Jones Monument plate), so I decided to decorate a boring wall.

That was back in November. I've been satisfied with it until today, when I read this blog post and saw a more sophisticated and colorful wall collage. Sara gathered meaningful art, painted simple, inexpensive frames and transformed a plain wall into an art gallery. (Seriously, go check it out, it's awesome.) And the best part is that she showed how she decided where the nails go.

For the longest time, I'd see wall collages and wonder how in the world can someone hang 30 different things on one wall and make it look good? And how do these people know where the nails go? It takes one kind of effort to choose materials that create cohesion and balance, but it takes math and craftsmanship to actually get nails into the wall - after you decide where the nails need to go. That always felt like the trickiest part, so I took a few photos as I was trying to figure out how to assemble a wall of plates. I had no idea what I was doing, so I like seeing how Sara approached a similar project.

Worldless Monday: last week, in pictures

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Listening to: la la la la, I'm not listening to you
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Dead. Baby. Birds.

Sooo, I have a roommate.

I'm not going to lie, it's totally weird; I'm experiencing culture shock. At the same time, it's totally cool. I like it.

The best part is, he's escorted me on a few bike rides and now I'm venturing from one end of town to the other. I've put more than 50 miles on my bike in the last week. It's not much, but it's GREAT for me!



The best part is me leaving a list of things I need help with and coming home to several of them accomplished. But the problem is, he jokes around so much that it's hard to know when he's being serious.

Him: I got most of that gutter cleaned out, but the downspout is clogged right in the middle.

Me: (being sarcastic) Dead. Baby. Birds.

Him: Yeah, that's probably what it is.

(My inner monologue): He looks serious.

Me: Dude. (??)

Him: You didn't see that nest?

(My inner monologue): He's serious.

Him: Yeah, there was like, a whole nest. It was right there where all the gutters meet and funnel into the downspout. The nest was empty. So I think you're right; the gutter is probably clogged with dead baby birds.

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Listening to: Modest Mouse - Parting of the Sensory
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That mosaic I've been working on for months

Due to technical difficulties and stuff, I'm not able to upload the progressive photos to flickr, but I have a few taken with my phone.
This piece, entitled Peacock Cornstalks, measures 16" x 25".
For a better size reference, the circle tiles are the same size as a penny.







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Listening to: Salt - Honour Me
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