 | This is the design approved by the client.A nice colour gradation throughout the mural with plenty of animals and plants. |
 | This was the site for the mosaic – the “blank canvas” if you like.It was very difficult to work with – it would have been much easier to have a flat base for laying the hebel blocks. I needed to carve the hebel blocks to fit on the ground. |
 | Scale model for the client – this was also my first sculpture!Thankfully hebel is really easy to work with.This really helped the client and I communicate. For eample, we decided to go thicker with the hebel after seeing this scale model. |
 | Unfortunately I wasn’t able to photograph the carving up of the seat. I worked alone the whole time.So this is end result. No straight lines. Compfortable to sit on & would hold no water – the two most important considerations. |
 | I planned to mosaic the sitting areas with the indirect paper-faced method as I wanted a very smooth surface – no sharp edges when you get out of the pool to sit on it.On the back I would use the mesh method as sharp edges were not really an issue.This photo is when I had the surrounding cutting area papered up. I then cut the paper in small sections to take back to the studio. |
 | Back in the studio laying the mosaic in reverse. |
 | Some of the cutout sections prepared for adhering to the paper |
 | Onsite now back-buttering the sections in preparation to adhering to the seat. |
 | Trowelling glue onto the chair. |
 | Putting a back-buttered section of the mosaic on to the troweled area. |
 | Later in the day – wetting the paper & peeling off. |
 | After a few sections had been stuck on. Notice the gaps between the sections? This was intentional. If figured there was no way I would get the sections perfect with the contours involved.Instead I left some gaps, which I immediately filled in directly before the glue started drying. |
 | Well on my way now – but still plenty ot go. |
 | The back of the mosaic was a much more regular contour, and the tile colours used were only slightly different thicknesses, so I decided to use the mesh method for the back – all 5-6 square metres of it.This back section was way easy compared to the front. |
 | Part way through laying the back section – it only took a couple of hours to instal. |
 | Finished and ready to grout.I spent a coouple of days doing things like peeling off little scraps of paper & smoothing off sharp edges with the dremel. No point doing that sort of thing once the work was grouted. |
 | Grout day – what a big day. Started at sun up & finished just before dark.I tailored how big a section I would grout & clean according to how hot the sun was. In the middle of the day I was doing very small sections as everything dried very quickly. |
 | Grouting one of the tricky bits – actually most of it was tricky. |
 | Even on such a large work – it still resorted to using fingers for the really tight bits and much of the edges. |
 | Same day I also grouted in the 2 insets – 1 shown here uncleaned. |
 | After School it became a family affair.Lucky as we only just finished before sundown & Lesley brought beer! |
 | Final cleanup – a VERY good feeling. |
 | All’s well that ends well. Very nice work & a happy customer! |
