Mosaics

When I lived in Philly- doing Mosaic artwork was my favorite (only) artistic past time. I brought some of my basic tools to Thailand and have been hunting for good mosaic supplies ever since...I've been able to find a lot of great plates and tiles here, but have not been able to find translucent glass. Here's some projects I've done recently with small amounts of glass I brought from the states and have been rationing...




This one is a work in progress, still needs to be grouted but I made it for my coworker Louisa for her birthday this weekend.





I tried something new this past week....painting my own glass to be used in mosaics....I found the idea and the directions on this blogsite : http://abrokenart.blogspot.com/2009/06/hand-painted-glass-tutorial_5066.html

I went to a frame shop on Sunday to find a piece of regular cut glass, but the glass cutter wasn't in. Since I really, really wanted to do it that day, I ended up buying a large piece of glass and cutting it myself in my house ( I think next time I'll be more patient!). The painting technique involves making 3 different applications of paint, using 3 different colors - all applied in different squiggles and designs using your fingers....




The pictures aren't great, but I think you get the idea. I was disappointed that I couldn't make the glass translucent, no matter how light I applied the paint, unless I left gaps. So, not sure if I"ll be able to use this glass for candleholders or not, I'll keep experimenting! I wanted to use waterbased paint, since I'm using my fingers to apply it....and I haven't been able to find any interesting paints yet, like metallic, which I think would add depth and texture.

At first I didn't really like it, but I think it looks much more interesting when it's cut up. I'm trying to decide what colors to use to make this cross.

Kid's Club

One thing I really miss about my old life in Philadelphia was just being involved in the everyday lives of the kids on the block. I haven't been able to establish the same kinds of relationships here in my own neighborhoods and it seems like most of my work is farther away. But recently I've been able to help out a bit with the Kid's Club that's run in the neighborhood of my church. There seem to be tons of kids just hanging out on the street, and Friday nights and Saturday mornings are opportunities for them to have a safe, loving place to hang out. They can study English, Bible, do arts and crafts, cook and play musical instruments (or bang on them really!)

It's kind of funny, but lately I've been teaching guitar. I'm sure some of you are saying, "Wow, I didn't know Deb played the guitar!" Well, I don't really, I'm barely a few steps ahead of these kids, and they are gaining fast!

Here's our class picture (Is, the boy on the left is way to cool to smile with the rest of us!). Even though these kids can only play once a week, or every couple of weeks, (because they don't have their own guitars, but borrow from the English Center) they are actually doing pretty well. They are always eager to play.....



Sometimes I wonder where to spend my time, it's so easy to get involved in a lot of different activities. But I realized how important it is to these kids after I taught them guitar just one night. We had a great time, but then I was traveling and out of town and didn't see them for almost one month. One Sunday evening as I was leaving church 2 of the girls ran up to me and asked, "Teacher Deb, will you teach us guitar this week?" I figured that if they were still so eager after one month (I was surprised they even remembered my name!) that it was a pretty good activity for me to be involved in. Sort of one of the basic principles of community development "start with what people are excited about doing - that's the open door to seeing lasting change and growth!"

But I think I'll find that as I spend time with these kids....I'm the one being changed the most along with way...

Welcome Wobbles....

Well, in order to help alleviate my sadness at losing my amazing housemate Stacy, I decided to get a cat. There's a great organization in Bangkok called "SCAD" (Soi cats and dogs) who take in strays and help them find good homes. So, I went there and immediately like Wobbles (so named because one of her back legs is completely paralyzed, she kind of drags herself around on her front legs). They found Wobbles stuck in a drainage grate outside the center, and thought that maybe she had been previously hit by a car. So, with a story like that, how could I resist?

Anyway, she's no longer a city cat, but now a country girl. She's only been here a week and is still pretty nervous, she hides most of the day and comes out more at night. But she'll get there....



Daytime Hideout:


Nighttime - she owns the bed!