Mosaic the Market: Project Journal Page 6

1st Page	2nd Page	3rd Page
4th Page	5th Page	6th Page

	Grouting and Mounting September 2003
The first mosaic we chose to grout was the simplest, and flattest of all the panels - Canadian Maple Leaf Mosaic. For this day we had four volunteers work hard to learn the ins and outs of grouting. Because of the mixed media used in these mosaics, grouting is quite hard to do.	It takes hours of focus on details to make sure grout is in all the holes and creves but to ensure all the excess grout as been fully removed. We were all so pleased with the final look of the first grouted piece.
In our enthusiasm we decided to grout two pieces this day. Unfortunately we left before the clean up was complete.	For the next two days we were locked out of the workshops space. One of the maintenance guys took the key home for the weekend, and the other maintenance guys thought they couldn't call him. Man, we were steamed. Because we left the grout to set for too many days, when we finally got into the room, the grout that remained on surfaces was close to impossible to remove.
We worked for hours to clean up the grout and shine up these two mosaics. The team certainly learned the hardest lessons on grouting; don't leave until its done, done and done.	An important step in mosaic is to dremel off an "sharpies," (technical mosaicist talk) All fresh and Shiny :)
The team learned their lesson and took a new approach to the grouting. They decided to go slower, area by area, cleaning the grout off as they went along.	Fun Abstract Mosaic was the third piece we chose to grout. We removed the toy track, and masked off the not to be grouted area's. This method seemed to work well, and at the end of the day this mosaic looked Fine!
Remember the mask technique we used to seal the 3d areas of the mosaics? Here you can see how the grout has not stuck to or scratched the surface of these items.	Once we removed the mask, the objects are bright and shiny.
The forth piece to be grouted was the *Flower Garden* mosaic. This piece took much more concentrated work. The flowers were each made from different types of tile, china, dish, and pottery. There is also a large amount of raku, which is very soft delicate pottery. These pieces of raku all needed to be sealed and masked before the grouting, as the colored grout will stain porous materials, including skin.	This piece we decided to use various colors of grout. This meant we had to tape/mask off the areas where each color ends to prevent the grout from going too far or spreading onto the previous color. This technique takes more time, but the final project looks wonderful. Once all the grouting and cleaning is complete the mask can be removed from all the pieces.
An important step before grouting is to check the glued pieces thoroughly for adhesion. Each piece needs to be completely connected otherwise they will come loose during grouting. Here Lise is pushing and touching each piece to make sure they secure.
Grouting is a dirty job, dusty, staining and smelly. You need to constantly blow your nose and wash your hands. When you mix grout you always wear a mask and gloves. It can get really hot inside the mask. Good thing this isn't surgery :) We made a little mess trying to save this bag of grout, in the 'use what you have' fashion. The grout was old and had gotten damp, so it turned into an almost solid mass. The grout was still very soft and would easily turn back into powder. So the team took turns mashing the grout balls down. The grout looked like dampened laundry soap. We ended up saving almost the whole bag of grout, but there was some extra grout mess that needed to be cleaned up.	That is when we had a minor vacuum fiasco, with the vacuum we were given, which did not have a filter. Before we knew what was happening we had blow dry grout dust all over the studio. It was so thick you could feel it landing on your skin. Lise and Shylene waited as long as they could to let the dust clear, but had to wear these masks just to be in the room. They were laughing so hard under these masks, so hard!!. They wore the masks as long as they could stand it- man this studio could use some window... What a mess :(
Mounting gets started even before the grouting is not completed on all of the murals just so we are on track for the big unveiling celebration. The Market Square maintenance man, Ron, gets the first mosaic up and bolted lickedy-split.	We tried to have the mosaics covered up, until the big day and this cover lasted over the weekend, but was down by Tuesday :) We covered them all up again Friday afternoon :).
Once the grout is totally dry, the mosaics were sealed and shined one more time. The track was then glued into place and weighted down to help the glue set.
	Two more are sealed and ready to be mounted. Only one panel left to grout.
Volunteer Lori gives the mosaics a final shining before they are mounted	The last day of grouting video student Scott, came by to film the final days of the project. Scott took video the final steps in the process, from discussions of final details to cleaning and final grouting.
Victoria from Cadboro Bay to Sooke was the final mosaic to grout.	It will be fun to see what Scott actually filmed as he used a time lapsed technique to watch the mosaic come alive through the grouting process. Its great to watch the picture re-appear as we cleaned off all the grout. Again this piece used mixed media and lots of special pieces that would need to be masked off. We took our time grouting this piece in two colors.
	Together with the other video taken we should be able to make a great little video.
	Clean up is another important stage in grouting. We used a shop-vac throughout the grouting to help clean away loose grout and dust.
The second mosaic to be mounted was the *Flower Garden*. Boy does it look lovely with the mirror shining with the sky and nature outside. It looks great!
On the last few days of mounting Go! Magazine's Daru Dhillion paid us a visit to give viewers a sneak peak at the finished mosaics. It aired on the night before the big unveiling.	The media support we got during this project was simply outstanding. It helped us know this project was a "good thing"
The project is almost completed. With only the unveiling celebration and video left to complete, this project has proven to be a huge success.	Special thanks to all who participated, donated and supported the project. We look forward to years of new Community Unity Projects, maybe in your neck of the woods!!!