Mosaic of Love

You already know how cool my mom is.  Now, I would like to introduce you to the coolness that is my dad.  Yes, Dad, I called you “cool.”  I spend so much time telling him how cheesy he is, that he may not know what’s going on!  Ha!

For Valentines Day, Dad wanted to do something extra special for my mom.  He rocked out the usual flowers, card, and chocolate.  And then he produced this amazing work of art:

Is your mind blown???  Because mine sure is.

My dad is an amazing carpenter/painter/handyman/electrician/diy-er, but he’s never dabbled in mosaic making (mosaicry?).  When he told me what he was planning I was like “say whaaaat?!?!”  And get this, the idea just “came to him” in Menard’s.  Hmph.  I need to go walk around Menard’s and see if any thing this brilliant comes to me.

This is a pretty big undertaking!  Plus, it’s a pretty big risk.  My dad made it for this empty wall in their kitchen that needed something dramatic.  The risk is that he didn’t let my mom know anything about it.  This thing probably took about 40 hours.  And it’s HUGE.  Like four feet tall.  It’s not something Mom could have just hung in the bathroom.

Thankfully, she loved it!  I mean, who wouldn’t?  It’s the first thing your eye goes to when you walk into their kitchen.  It’s extraordinary looking in person.  Want to see how he did it?

He bought some wood – 3/8 plywood base to be exact.  The middle piece is 24″ x 40″ and the two side pieces are 12″ x 40″.  Then he picked up a few different types of tiles.  He got some multi colored glass tiles, along with some floor tiles that he broke into pieces.  When he couldn’t find the certain shade of purple that he wanted, he went to Goodwill and bought some purple dishes and then broke them into pieces.  Gotta love that Goodwill!

He decided to make a swirly “G” for “Gill.”  (Their last name, in case you didn’t know.  So if I would have hyphenated my name it would be Gill-Gothra.  Gorgeous, no? Ha!)  He drew out several ideas of how he could lay out the mosaic, and finally chose a natural, flowy design with a strip of the square glass tiles going from side to side for a modern feel.

He primed the plywood then printed out a G with a lovely, swirly font to use as inspiration and freehanded it out on the board with a pencil.  Then he applied some tile glue along the pencil lines and laid out the tiles to make the “G”, piecing it together as he went along.

Here’s an in-progress shot.  He did all the details first and left the main color for last.  After all the glue was dry, he grouted the whole thing.  The grout really made the difference – I love how it matches the tiles that he used to make the “G.”

Oh it just blows my mind every time I see it.  I would tell you how he hung it on the wall, but then I’d have to kill you.  Okay, not really.  Dad just said that he came up with an interlocking system.  The pieces were so heavy, he really had to develop something heavy duty!  If any of you have any questions and would like know his brilliant hanging scheme, just let me know. I’ll see what I can do for ya.

Those black iron scrolly things you see are from an old wall hanging I use to have in my room.  Even though it was his idea to use them, I like to think that if it weren’t for me this mosaic wouldn’t have that extra ooomph.  You’re welcome, Father.

Here’s a close-up of the gorgeous glass tiles.  I love how their straight lines look next to the jagged lines of the broken tiles.

These purple pieces are my favorite.  They feel so glossy and smooth.

And look how thick this baby is!  Dad wisely painted the sides of the wood black to complement those aforementioned black scrolly things.  And look how straight those lines are between the square tiles!  Have I mentioned that I love this thing?

I want to stare at it all day.  Dad, you rocked this Valentines present out!!!

And he made my day when he told me that he’d be glad to help me make one for our own house!  Oh yeah.  I’m thinking this would look amazing on the top of a table, covered in a layer of some kind of clear resin like stuff.  Or a mosaic for our wall with our wedding date?  Oh, the possibilities.

Dad, you’re awesome!!!

~Whitney