My sister Tracy asked me to enter an art contest. I said, but I just started drawing. Look at it this way, she replied, this will push you to learn even more.
The contest requirement was to submit a self portrait, and anything goes as long as it was not photography.
I chose tile as my medium as I have always wanted to try doing something with tile.
I spent 2 weeks working on this piece.
My plan was to tile the back ground as well. But by the time I finished with my portrait I was running up against the deadline to submit.
I had no time to glue the portrait to the Masonite board.
So, I spread a line of clear glue around the edge of the face to hold it in place.
My sister and I discussed alternative background options in place of tile.
I went with a cold wax mixed with acrylic based paint to give the background depth and texture.
It was ready to submit.
The deadline is in a few hours and I am running late to appt.
All I needed to do was position the board in natural light to emphasize the shadow on the left side of the face.
Obviously, not remembering a very important detail before turning it vertical, I watched 2 weeks of work morph into a pile of multi-colored tile.
The only thing I could do was laugh.
So what valuable lesson did I learn?
If properly applied, glue could be what builds a strong relationship between tile and board.
