A Bench of a Project

More Yard Art for the Avant Garden

It all started when a friend, Cathy Adams, mailed me a photo of her sitting on a lovely blue (concrete) couch covered in mosaic. 

 A street scene of yard art to make me swoon; my brain went from "I want" to "I need" to "I will make" in about 60 seconds or less.  Here is, as they say, the rest of the story:

According to my husband this dandy bench was on the way to the garbage.

I had to make the surface "solid" so covered the wood with some left over plaster cloth.

Realizing the plaster cloth would not hold up long term, I interviewed Home Depot guys and after a variety of answers (including odd looks) I began to cover the bench with concrete wire mesh.

Next came the concrete surfacing (which I failed to make as smooth and level as I should have: note to self)

At this stage the enormity of the amount of real estate struck me and I sent a note to friends and family asking for donations of their broken plates, tiles, mementos or anything ceramic to incorporate into the project.  I also returned to Home Depot and Lowe's to interview "experts" on the appropriate mortar to use.  I selected a porcelain tile mortar, polymer enriched by Mapei, because it sounded like I could grout and glue all in one step: big mistake!  The experts were not artists and this artist should not try to cut corners.  All's well but next time (am I crazy?) I will glue and grout, the hard way.

How can I not find photos of work-in-progress??

finally done - now I need to grow the grass back!

Yes, it took ages to complete.  The hardest part was getting the body into various positions to work with a slippery mess.  Unlike a painting or a small piece, I could not simply flip the bench over and get it to rest on my knee.  I had to limit the time my poor back could scrunch over or my arms could reach forward  But as Funky (my husbands description) as it turned out, I love recognizing all the wonderful pieces it contains: hey, anything with a unicorn, a Santa, some tiles from Mexico, a demolished 50's bathroom and a Virgin Mary in it has to have character, no?

detail

Come on by before the mosquitoes come out and we will enjoy a cool drink on a one-of-a-kind piece of art.

ART FULLY YOURS,

Cindy