May 12th

Grouting & Finishing Day is here:

How exciting! Getting ready to grout our first piece. Ironicly it's the first piece we finished mosaicking. Here we go!

My sister Rebecka and her son William stopped by the project today and glued in a few pieces. So great to have my family part of these projects. Really keeps the Unity fresh for me.

It just so happened that the pink tiles had finally arrived and Jes was busy all day making the perfect cherry blossoms. Everyone lined up to place their cherry blossom in the tree.

Everyone sat down and got to work.. so many little details to take care of - and we thought we were so close to finished :)

After much discussion we decided to change the final sun to represent the "happy face" mark teachers put on student's papers. Rita took her time to fill in the sun and is hoping to return tomorrow with her mom to help finish it up.

So - the first panel is grouted. What a difference! A little concerned about the dullness of the tiles.. hmmm

The mosaic in the mosaic is almost done. What a crazy little bit of extra work this idea was.. hope it looks good from far away.

Up close the details make sense, but only in relation to the big mosaic images.

"This was a great day in the Mosaic Room! Five women with so much in common. It was wonderful to share each other's lives & histories of ourselves with the others & hear the same from theirs, was really amazing.

I continued to mosaic the sun on panel #1, shape flower blooms for the pink tree and some shapes for Father Raven!

I am sorry to have to leave at 3:30!! WE sang together and shared sad and happy, and funny stories. Awesome Day!!" Karen

With all the blossoms in, the cherry tree couldn't look lovelier. Really it's a glorious addition to the mosaic. These specialty glass tiles were worth the time, effort and wait. Now finally this panel is done :)

Saturday May 13th Grouting Continues

The sunshine is lovely, the birds are singing too. Grouting and final mosaic pieces to be laid. Seeing it all come together is so very rewarding. We waited until a few people came out to help before we started the grouting, but once a few extra hands were here, we were off.

Dr. Fawcett and his son James finish up the raven using the only bits of black we can find. We were stealing black from anywhere we could. Then while tiding up a bit I found a bunch of black tiles hidden on the shelves - OOPS :)

Rowan and his mom Heather were are first helpers of the day. We mixed the grout, gloved up and got to work. Rowan was a great help and really took to the work fast. I have never had youngsters help grout before, but now I know they can do a fine job.

Before long others showed up to help us out. It was funny to see these little ladies in the smocks, getting all into the mud :)

I was finally able to convince someone to help with the fine details of the "mosaic in the mosaic". Sharon Cameron took a turn and did the final panel with the Raven - its looks great. Nice mosaicking Sharon J:)

About half way through grouting the second piece today we ran out of grout - AHH I madly called my contacts to find more grout, but everyone was out! So we called Decora Tile and they came to the rescue! Thanks to Decora for saving the Day!

While I was out getting the grout - in Sharon's new car (thanks Sharon), the team took a little B-Ball break to stretch their legs and breath some fresh air

Much to our pleasure Rita & her mother did return and took their time to place the yellow ring around the outside of the sun. It was a great moment for all of us to see the joy in Rita's face as she worked along side her mother.

In the end the sun looks kinda crazy -a bit of a sideways smile and off kiltered eyes - kinda nuts, but very childlike for sure .. oh the evolution :-) funny

Today we got another two pieces grouted, and they look good - dull but good. We will be back on Wednesday to meet with the staff, enjoy some pizza and finish up all the grouting.

May 17th - Staff Pizza & Grouting Party

Today a few of the team and other staff met to get the final pieces grouted. We shared some pizza and got to work. How much can we do?

Dr. Fawcett put on a smock to cover himself up and protect his clothes from the dirty grout. He looked lovely for sure. Its actually my husband's Oma's old painting smock- great to see it in good use :)

After taping up all the mirrored windows - we grouted the fifth panel.

Then Coral grouted the first panel. When Raven got all covered up it sure scared people to see image disappear, but trust and have faith people :)

See? He looks great :)

Not many photos today - too busy working. Syndi and I stayed late to get all the panels done, but .. sadly there is still one left to do.. next time :)

Final Grouting Date

Today we have the two final panels to do. Hooo.. what a job so far. I have never and I mean never done so much grouting.

The panels are looking amazing, with the exception of the grout staining some of the lighter colored tiles. I am not sure what has happened here - but will be doing some research and testing before the next big project is at the grouting stage. Ahh so much to learn .. so little time :)

As you can see the piece is finished being grouted, and has been wiped many times over - but remains dull .. bummer .. So .. but on a good note, the mirrored windows look wonderful - what a great addition.

Before starting to grout today, I tried a technique to seal the tiles, hoping that with a little sealer, the tiles would remain brighter and shiner. We have our fingers crossed that this will make a difference.

Jes fixes up some the tapped off mirrors - the tape is to protect the glass from being scratched by the sand in the grout.

The technique worked a bit… but we took the seal off too soon and the remaining grout - still dulled the tiles. Ahhh

Next will be the final polish and seal … hmmm almost done.