There is not much going on in Tiger Gardens other than the usual--life. I've been busy with one project or another and with work and preparing for spring. The pond is still giving us fits too but it will all work out in the end; I just know it will. So today's post is a short and sweet one. My original glass on glass mosaic has been a mighty popular post here at In the Garden so I'm following it up with another of my creations. The original glass on glass mosaic was so popular another blogger actually stole it. That blog is now closed to the public so I'm not sure if anymore of my posts have been reposted there or not. Please readers, respect the copyright of others and while we here at this blog are honored folks like our creations they belong only on this blog. Thanks.
I actually made this glass on glass mosaic about 18 months ago. It lay in the above garden all that time waiting for Mr. Fix-it to weld a frame to it so we could mount it in the garden. It took Mr. Fix-it a long time because, well, things just get in the way and this mosaic was a low priority. Once it was installed he asked me why it took us so long. Ha! The garden I installed this mosaic in is called the St. Francis garden. It is a garden in the frontyard that is quite shady. I have a great view of it from all of the windows on the front of my home. We are looking southeast from the house and behind this little vignette and garden you can clearly see my driveway and the road in front of my home. I wanted a bit of a barrier between the road and my home, as well as a backdrop for St. Francis who is solidly ensconced in this garden. The bonus is that when I sited this mosaic I knew the rising sun would shine through the glass gems in a brilliant manner. Each morning this spot of red is a highlight of the front garden. Of course, as the sun moves its angle to more overhead and to the north I will not get the brilliant shine but that is the beauty of gardens. They are ever changing and variable. The gems will always shine and there will be plenty going on in the garden to keep me amused even when the sun moves-think plants and other mosaics.
The window was a lucky find. It is actually a metal framed window that is quite solid. Nonetheless, when Mr. Fix-it welded the square tubing to the frame he accidentally cracked two windows. You cannot heat up glass when welding as it will surely crack. Don't try it. It's okay though because the cracks are not even noticeable. Yeah! So I finally get to enjoy this glass on glass mosaic with dear St. Francis in his spot in the frontyard....
in the garden....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden
I have come to the conclusion I am a glass lover-you think? It all started with the bottle trees and glass on glass mosaic doors and has now moved on to just plain old wine bottles and glass plates for my garden. Glass is one of those things that provides so much color and requires so little care other than taking caution to not break the glass of course; which I did recently:(
Well today is glass day and Glass Day comes at an opportune time. You see, the garden is beginning to slow down and turn brown. Soon, most of the plants will disappear for the winter. Once the plants are gone the glass in my garden takes center stage. While my garden in no way resembles Chihuly at Cheekwood with its lovely glass sculptures I do have a few glass items here that I can enjoy all year round in my own garden. Let's start with one of the two glass mosaic doors pictured above. This particular glass mosaic sits outside my window and faces WSW. It catches all of the sun's rays perfectly and I have the greatest view of it from my kitchen window. It also looks pretty nice tucked into a garden and really makes a nice focal point along with the plants. This is a view of it facing east in the morning. I enjoy this view while in the garden early in the morning but I mostly look at this sculpture from inside the house behind the sculpture. This glass door is my main winter focal point for color. The other glass door is also visible from the house and faces west. It catches the sun wonderfully during the summertime but not so much in the winter when the sun is low. Nonetheless it too provides great color because no matter where the sun is located the doors look different all day long.
Next up on Glass Day are a few new projects I just completed thanks to my daughter Christine. On her recent trip to Maine to pick up her household goods she picked up a couple of bikes from my parent's home. One of the two bikes was lovingly placed in my garden where it will remain permanently. The other bike lost its wheels to my western fence where it became a glass project. I had picked up some transparent glass plates at a few thrift stores and stuck them into the spokes on these wheels. I then stood the wheels up next to the fence and chained them to the fence to prevent them from falling over. The glass glows as it catches all available light and looks like shimmering stars when the sun sets behind these plates. It is a lovely view!
I did not come up with this project on my own. I had clipped a picture of a wheel just like this from a recent issue of Fine Gardening. I thought it a great idea and a cheap one too! I think I'll try to get some more rims for my very long rear fence. It has been suggested to me that perhaps bicycle repair stores may have some extra rims they won't use or can't use which may be very cheap or even free. I hope so!
This is a simple project in my new 'Non' Pool Garden. This grouping of bottles is 'planted' en masse and sure does add to the garden. I planted coneflowers all around the bottles; but they are small right now so not really visible. That is fine though because the bottles will provide year round interest and once the coneflowers grow up and come into bloom the whole area should be quite a sight!
Normally I view my bottle tree from the house but on this day I was facing the house as the sun came up in the east. It made a lovely sight for me so I just had to add this view in to this post too. Glass is such an awesome material in the garden. It does not rot, rust, or fade away. It shimmers and sparkles and glows and makes me ever so happy-that is what gardening is all about right?
Finally a view from the deck and house toward Mr. C's cow pasture. We have the most wonderful view of the sunset each night. As a bonus we get to enjoy the field and its cow pond. I love having cows for neighbors! Just had to say that. I've added to the view by placing my glass wheels and bottle tree in strategic positions on the boundary fence. This view tops almost all in the fall and winter and the glass really makes it a wonderful sight. It helps to keep me....
in the garden....
This weekend was such a glorious weekend! The weather was perfect although there was no rain and we need rain. That's okay because our family took a trip to Cheekwood in Nashville to see the Chihuly exhibit. The last day to see this exhibit is October 29th so hurry! You don't want to miss the exhibit and the grounds at Cheekwood are stunning. The cost is $15 per person for adults but if you are military be sure to ask for a discount because Cheekwood is highly supportive of the military and all military folks get a 50% off discount! A bargain indeed for a great day out with the family. I wished my other daughter could've joined us but her husband is busy preparing to deploy and so a visit to Cheekwood with us was not in the cards. Perhaps next time.
These are but a few of the pictures I took at Cheekwood. Mr. Fix-it thought we would never move on with me taking all sorts of pictures but the exhibit exceeded my expectations so much that I had to try to record it all. You just can't tell the scale of the glass in pictures and really must see it in person in order to get the full spectacular effect. But without further ado let's looks at some photos of Cheekwood...
A grotto/reflecting pool area under the mansion. In honor of the 50th Anniversary of Cheekwood visitors receive a special treat in that many artifacts and belongings of the family who donated Cheekwood were on display. I loved this part best! You can tour the mansion for free and that is where you'll find some great Chihuly chandeliers and the artifacts and furniture. The mansion is great and while it is not that old it is reminiscent of the castles of Europe. The family who built and owned Cheekwood is the same family of Maxwell House Coffee fame. Too neat huh? They made lots of money from their famous coffee and lived well on this estate (as relayed by a sign in the mansion).
More of the reflecting pool.
My oldest daughter Christine tried to get out of going to Cheekwood but I convinced her she just had to go. I think she enjoyed it don't you?
Now these two enjoyed it all too. It was Mr. Fix-it and Christine's first visit to Cheekwood, but Jimmy visited a few years ago with me. Everyone really liked the park.
What spectacular views you get of the surrounding countryside from the mansion!
The grasses were wonderful in the Sunny Perennial Border. All the plants looked pretty good considering our drought. I think Cheekwood waters a LOT though.
More of the perennial border. I do enjoy the sunny gardens but it was way more comfortable in the Wildflower and Japanese Gardens. My favorite gardens were in the shade.
One last view of one of the 'swimming ponds'. The floating displays were fabulous. If you think you may wish to visit the Chihuly exhibit don't wait too long as the time to see it is nearing the end. Our visit to Cheekwood with Chihuly was simply a fabulous time....
in the garden....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,
In the Garden
Glass in the garden is something I really go for in my garden. It is shiny, bright, colorful, does not rot, rust, or have to be messed with in any way once it is placed. One caveat though, glass can break so if you have young children be sure to keep glass away from areas that they play in. I have a young grandson and all glass objects in my garden are safe for him.
So what do you do with glass in the garden? Well there are as many creative expressions as there are creators, but in this creator's garden I have used glass for bottle trees, mosaic signs (sea glass), and 'mushrooms'. Now I have a new use for glass; a Glass on Glass Mosaic. We affectionately call these mosaics our 'Twin Towers'.
I acquired shower glass doors from a fellow Freecycler last spring. I initially had intentions of using the shower doors over my coldframe, but the doors sat and sat and sat and that plan never came to fruition. So here it is the dead of winter and what's a gardener to do? All of a sudden it came to me that perhaps I could make a glass on glass mosaic with the shower doors. I could get the doors out of storage in the garden and instead display them in a fun and useful manner. A plan was hatched and off we go on this adventure of making the mosaics out of the glass shower doors.
The first order of business for my new project was to build frames for the glass doors. Shower doors are fairly sturdy in the shower, but would not safely hold a lot of weight consisting of glass gems and grout. Mr. Fix-it was enlisted and jumped in with gusto. He is a sheet metal trained fabricator for the Army, amongst his many other jobs (such as the special duty of recruiting) .
The job of creating a frame for the glass doors was so purrfect for him! Mr. Fix-it generally helps with one big project per year. Last year it was my little wheelbarrow, this year he has really outdone himself. He went to the local metal store and bought some square iron. He then measured, cut, welded, primed, painted, and mounted the glass doors to the frame. The frame allows mounting of the glass mosaic in the garden, as well as prevents flexing of the doors so the mosaic would not crack. While grinding the joints on the frame, Mr. Fix-it got a bit of metal in his eye. He had to make a trip to the emergency room for a metal removal and eye patch on his very sore eye. The things he does for me! He is okay now and his eye will heal.
I initially set up shop in the garage with my part of the mosaic. I spent a LONG five plus hours hand gluing all glass beads on this first door. I had to do it in two sessions. You can see it to the right all ready for grout. The glue I used was liquid nails silicone adhesive. I actually liked this glue because it dried clear and held fairly well, though the gems were able to be flexed that was not a problem once the grout was applied. I used a special mosaic glue on the second door and was not as happy with it. This glue did not dry clear and came loose when the grout was applied. Do your research on the glue and use what will work best for your purposes. Not all glues are created equal.
Once everything was glued in place I decided to bring the door into my living room. The Jimster had to help me carry it in as it is quite heavy. Now on to the grouting.
The grout was a major issue. I have only grouted once before, and this was on a small plaque I made for my garden out of sea glass. I never knew it at the time, but the pre-mixed grout I used on that plaque was for interior use only. I found that most pre-mixed grouts are for interior use only, and you also have to seal them. Fortunately I did seal my little outside plaque and in the 5 years it has been outside, it has held up well-a good thing. But using interior grout on this large piece simply was not going to work for me. I want an exterior grout.
I initially purchased interior/exterior grout at a craft store. I purchased two seven pound buckets of grout. It completed just under half of the door. Oops! Need some more grout! I knew the craft store was out of the grout, so I ventured into my local orange big box store where I found the exact same kind of grout at a much reduced price compared to the craft store. The caveat with the exterior grout is that I had to mix it myself. I am no stranger to mixing these types of things because of all the concrete I mix up and use in other garden projects, but this grout was a mess!!! First of all, make sure to wear a good dust mask. Most grouts (at least exterior) have warnings due to the silica content. I wore a good dust mask. Next, clear an area that will not be harmed if you get some grout on it. This grout 
happens to be a black color (charcoal) and once it gets on something it is stuck there. You must never clean up the grout in your kitchen sink either. I dumped all the water in an area of my yard that I want hardened off due to Mr. Fix-it using it as a driveway, then washed all buckets and bowls outside under the tap. This I did in the incessant rain. Might as well get really wet when we get wet-right?
Mixing the grout was only half the problem. Once the grout is mashed into all nooks and crannies (not difficult at all with my gloved hands), it then had to set up a bit before I could wipe off the excess grout. This was the problem! The black quickly saturated my sponge, my bucket of water and everything! I had to continually work to get the grout off from the glass gems. It was time consuming and frustrating to me. I must say though, that after the first batch, the second batch went much faster as I learned from my mistakes with the first batch-wait until the grout is quite hard before wiping off the haze. Keep checking for readiness. The picture to the right shows the door from the grouted side. The picture below shows how the door looks from the smooth side looking toward a light. It does not look quite as I expected but I am ever so pleased with the whole thing. It kind of reminds me of a stained glass window.
There are tons of types of glass gems in this door. Some were the glow in the dark kind (not a good thing since the glow in the dark material is painted on the gems and quickly separated when I grouted them in), there are stars, rectangles, opaque, all kind of gems as I described above. My intent for the whole thing is to have the sun shine through the door and light up the garden and to provide color in the winter. But also when visitors come over (especially young kids and hopefully my grandson when he moves closer) I hope they'll enjoy a treasure hunt in the door.
And walah! Here is the finished piece. Well, almost finished anyhow. It still needs to be mounted in the garden (completed for both doors and they look great in the garden!).
If you look closely at the first picture you can see shadows from the dividers in the house windows. The shadows are gone now that the 'Twin Towers' of Glass are placed in the garden in areas where they get the sun coming and going. I find the transparency of the glass doors the biggest attraction. Even at night the 'towers' make a colorful statement when back lit with low voltage spotlights.
This is not a project for everyone but one that is certainly doable by anyone. I think if I had to do all over again I may have tried a smaller window first before undertaking these 5 foot by 2 foot doors. The project was immense and I know we spent a good 20-25 hours working on both of these doors. The reason I went this way was the quick availability of the doors I already had on hand that I received from a fellow Freecycler. It turned out reasonably well and should be an enduring piece of a 'one of a kind art'.....
in the garden....
PLEASE! Do not take the pictures from this blog and repost elsewhere! Feel free to use the idea and create your own shower glass door but the pictures belong here only.
Words and photos property of In the Garden Blog and are NOT to be copied, lifted, or fed to another website. Thanks.
