Dogwood mosaic, 17" x 14", each piece put in place just before I put the face adhesive on top to hold it all together
Hello friends, this small commission is nearly finished!
Once I am a day or two away from completion I send a bill along with photos showing the piece to my clients and this morning when I did this, the client wrote the following:
“I love, love, love it! The goldfinch color turned out perfect, don’t you think? Thank you so much!!”
I really couldn’t ask for a better response and it’s always such a good feeling to know the client is happy! Creating commissioned pieces always involves some mind reading and although I’ve gotten much better at deciphering and creating someone else’s ideas, I never quite know if my execution works until close to the end.
setting each tile into exactly the right place
When clients come to me either independently or via their designer, they have a vague concept, a seed of an idea. I ask questions to learn about anything they know about what they want. Often they also know what they don't want and this is equally useful to hear about. I ask about the feel, the color palette, the aesthetic, the subject and most importantly the style they are imagining. All elements are really important but if I don’t get the style right - abstract, illustrative (like this piece), natural, a particular era (arts & crafts or old style mosaic) - the piece won’t work regardless of whether I get everything else right. They of course seek me out for my aesthetic, but they almost always have a direction and concepts that they would like for the art piece they are commissioning. (thank you 
It's very similar to when a family commissions an architect to design their home; they chose that particular architect because of his/her eye, aesthetic, talent but of course they also know what kind of house they want, the size, and how they want it to function for them.
At the drawing phase I show my sketched up idea that embodies the ideas we've discussed and try not to put too many hours in before getting some feedback to make sure I’m heading down the right path. Often while drawing I’ll ask clarifying questions.
Once I have approval of the drawing I begin cutting the piece from wet clay. I make sure to send frequent process photos to the client at key junctures of cutting, and partially glazed pieces. So far I haven’t had anyone ask for a change in direction after the drawing phase, but this gives the client the chance to be involved and give feedback if s/he should choose.
some of the mosaic cut from wet clay, darker areas are wetter and lighter have dried
parts glazed and fired, ready to be put together
Over the weekend I put the face adhesive over all of the tiles. Notice the crease in the tape at the top...this can happen but as long as I make sure it sticks to itself it's fine.
And at that point I decided that I didn't like the large space next to the Chicadee's tail. You can see in the above photo I tried filling it with tiny pieces but once the piece was taped I knew I would need to recut this piece. Because it can be tough to get the sizing right for one piece I'm adding in after the fact, I made 3.
Today I took these out of the kiln and found the best fit of the 3:
Although it was the best fit, it felt tighter than I wanted so I sanded the sides a little:
Next I glazed it and now as I write it's firing. Tomorrow the piece will be officially finished and ready for the client to pick up!
My last post on this on this mosaic will address the economics of a commission like this and I hope you will return to my blog for this and more coming up this week!
Previous posts on this project:
https://steemit.com/art/@natureofbeing/dogwood-mosaic-comes-alive-through-the-glazing-phase
https://steemit.com/art/@natureofbeing/cutting-phase-of-the-dogwood-mosaic-from-wet-clay
https://steemit.com/art/@natureofbeing/more-about-the-drawing-phase-within-another-commission
As always, I am deeply grateful for your support of my blog, it makes it possible for me to do this work!