Mosaic and Mom-Zebra

I am now a part-time zebra.

I’ve been up to my elbows in a mosaic project, and to make space, I had to move a lot of dirt. When you spend hours shoveling dirt and mixing concrete, a certain percentage of these materials land on your skin. And they settle into the generous layer of sunscreen you have applied. Hours later, when you are sitting in the bath, scratching layers of grime off your arms, you’ll notice that the lines you scratch appear gray (dirt-sunscreen mix) against the light brown of your arm. Faintly zebra-like.

My summer theme: Got dirt?

This idea was inspired by two friends: Sam and Veronica. Sam is my artist friend who personalizes her yard with mosaic she makes. Veronica led the art camp in which I taught kids to make mosaic stepping stones. Mosaic has been on my mind, and I decided I would make stepping stones at our place. First, I trimmed part of the Jasmine vine to the right of the door, while leaving all of the vine to the left. This was followed by moving a lot of river rock, shoveling loads of dirt and pulling tons of weeds. Yard re-dos aren’t crucial the way faulty plumbing issues are, but for a Do-It-Yourselfer like me, they give a gal a boost.

There have been multiple trips to the home improvement store, hefting 60-pound bags of concrete mix. (Yes, that was me, yelling a Tarzan/Jane roar and beating my chest.) A man behind me at checkout said, “It’s not every day I see a woman with a cart full of concrete mix.” To which I replied, “It’s very satisfying!” What does all this concrete-mixing, dirt-shoveling and rock-moving do for a mom’s manicure? Who cares? These things at the end of my arms are not decorative. My hands are tools!

We have an unusually-shaped garden patch to the right of our front door, the result of a room addition that predates us. Over the years I’ve tried different ways to use it. I planted things, and I added potted plants. I rearranged. I pulled weeds. I ignored weeds. I have three kids to keep alive, so sometimes yard projects wait. A long time. But I wanted to try to make the area different. I wanted the weeds gone. I decided that a colorful mosaic “floor” was an option. There were a few dozen bricks available for free, when renovation was complete at our neighbor’s house. I wasn’t sure what I wanted this area to look like but I wanted change, and figured I could adjust it later if I wanted to. Eventually I decided to make a curved path of bricks, with mosaic stepping stones and ground cover. 

BEFORE. This is our garden patch before my re-do.
I didn't end up buying new plants, because we have plenty.
Simply rearranging the potted plants gives the area a new look.

AFTER. Here is the same area. Who knows?
I may change it at some point but it has given my soul a boost to try a new look.

  

  

If you’re thinking of making some stepping stones, you can map out your design first on paper. I traced the outline of a plastic garden saucer onto paper, because I was going to use this saucer for my stepping stone mold. I found the center of the circle and divided it into four, so that my stepping stone would have a symmetrical design. I had a lot of the materials on hand already, so these pieces were not only easy on the wallet, they were also satisfying because I made a dent in my giant collection of PAMs (Potential Art Materials).  

  

I repurposed an old kitchen drawer for my paver mold.
It's an original drawer from our 1956 kitchen.
This drawer was sitting in our garage for years.
I knew it would come in handy someday!

Here's a photo I took during my re-do.
Leveling the area involved moving more dirt than I expected. 

I used chalk and a tape measure on our driveway to map out the shape I wanted to create.

The "Aloha" mosaic I did on our wall is one of the first mosaic pieces I ever made--probably ten years ago.
The weed cloth above will keep the weeds out (or to a minimum)--I hope!

This photo isn't really a Before Photo.
I'd already trimmed a lot of the vine before I took the photo.
The vine hung almost to the ground and really blocked a sight line to the front door. 

So far I'm liking the pavers I made.
I love that the space is now more open.
But now I see lots of areas where I need to touch up paint,
so I guess that the To Do list is never truly finished!

The bulk of this work was completed before the recent major heat wave descended on us. This was coincidental, but the timing was good. It’s sweaty work, even when it’s not a million degrees outside.

The summer is off to a good start. In addition to all this yard work, I've spent more time with our kids. They have needed a break from the hustle-bustle of the school year, and it's a win-win to have a different pace. 

Sweating in the sun and scraping layers of dirt off each day may not be your cup of…lemonade--but it’s quenched my thirst for a re-do. Personalizing my space always feels so satisfying. My mosaic projects may not save the world—but they are bringing more color and joy into my world, and that’s worthwhile.

Mosaic Gives the Past a Future

Art can help us heal. I was reminded of this truth when my friend Gladys gave her late mom’s jewelry to the mosaic workshop I led recently.

The mosaic lessons were part of a local art camp organized by our friend Veronica. It was at the church where I participated in the community garden for a number of years. It’s where my kids did preschool. So I have positive feelings about the place, and immediately agreed when Veronica asked if I would teach the kids to make mosaic stepping stones.

We brainstormed about what to ask people to donate for the stepping stones. With mosaic, you can mix and match, and the components don’t have to be expensive. (This is a great way to repurpose things you may have kept for sentimental reasons—a single earring, a broken necklace, old keys. This is also an excellent way to bring whimsy to your garden—because mosaic can involve things as random as hard plastic toys, extra scrabble tiles or almost anything made of a hard material that can stand up to outdoor elements like rain, wind and sun.)

The camp was possible because lots of volunteers came together to make it happen. Gladys was there every day, helping. After the kids finished their stepping stones I learned that some of the bracelets and necklaces we used in our mosaic pieces belonged to Gladys’ mom, Ida. Ida passed away recently, and Gladys has been sorting through her mom’s possessions. The timing coincided with our need for donations for mosaic projects. Gladys told me that it was more meaningful for her to give the necklaces to the camp rather than to donate them to a thrift store. She liked that she would know some of the kids who created something unique from Ida’s jewelry.

I divided the items into groups so that each camper would get a variety of items.

I love that Gladys wanted to give new life to her mom’s jewelry by giving it to the kids for art. In their grief, some people cannot bear to part with a parent’s things, and I’m not judging that because we all grieve differently. But I think that Gladys saw the potential for a little bit of healing in donating Ida’s jewelry to the kids. These items are from Ida’s past but they now have a future. Since I cut the necklaces up, the beads went into more than forty different mosaic pieces. Maybe it is because Gladys and I knew each other through the community garden, but I feel like turning those necklaces into dozens of art pieces is similar to how gardening works. You take one seed and it becomes a plant, which makes seeds, which turn into many plants.

The campers had fun making their stepping stones. (It led me to want to make some for our place, which I began doing a few days later. Stay tuned for Part 2 of this mosaic theme.) The kids had different approaches to their mosaic art: some were meticulous, and formed symmetrical, detailed designs. Others placed the pieces randomly, and finished in minutes. But they all created a stepping stone. Some kids may not have back yards for keeping a stepping stone, but these mosaic pieces can be a colorful welcome at the front door to an apartment. Each stepping stone is unique, just like the kids who made them.

And now Ida’s jewelry pieces are in stepping stones throughout San Diego, twinkling in the summer sun. Scattered seeds. And Ida shines on.