{"id":3610,"date":"2014-12-21T00:01:29","date_gmt":"2014-12-21T06:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=3610"},"modified":"2014-12-21T10:28:58","modified_gmt":"2014-12-21T16:28:58","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-411-featuring-christine-brailler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=3610","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #411: Featuring Christine Brallier"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“The children were nestled all snug in their beds …”<\/em>
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\nI’m handing the site over this morning to artist Christine Brallier<\/a><\/strong>, pictured right, for something totally different — stained glass mosaics. (Have I ever<\/em> posted about stained glass mosaics? I actually don’t think I have.) Last year, Christine released her first picture book (Brownian Bee Press), The Night Before Christmas<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. I read it last year, but did I post about it? Nope. I had intended to, but I got busy. When I contacted her about it this year, we decided better late than never. So, she visits today to talk about how she makes her mosaics and to share process images, as well as some photos of the stained glass pieces from the book. <\/p>\n

Let’s get right to it. For those who are interested in even more information, Christine blogged here<\/a><\/strong> about her process from start to finish. <\/p>\n

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Christine<\/font><\/strong>: Before I discovered mosaics, I had always wanted to illustrate a children’s book but never felt very confident about my painting abilities. Once I found mosaics in 2005, I thought, what a unique idea it would be to illustrate a book with my mosaics. About six years ago on Christmas Eve, my family and I were reading “The Night Before Christmas,” as we always do, when suddenly I thought, “I would love to illustrate this book, personalize it with my family in it, and read it<\/em> every year!” So, I began the process of designing and creating fifteen stained glass mosaics over the next four years. <\/p>\n

The first thing I did was draw quick 2×3\u201d thumbnail sketches, not thinking too much about it — really just getting the idea of it down, the side story of the cat, etc. Here\u2019s one I did of the reindeer, which—don\u2019t laugh—look much more like donkeys! <\/p>\n


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Some of my ideas changed dramatically, once I started the mosaic process, like eliminating the reindeer altogether when Santa is flying over the house. I simply couldn\u2019t fit eight reindeer in the design, let alone one, since I wouldn\u2019t be able to cut the glass tiny enough for all the detail that would require. I found such limitations to be a fun challenge — that is, for me to come up with something different, which often led to more creative choices and end results. <\/p>\n

From there, I did hours and hours of research on pretty much every element in the book. For example, I didn\u2019t know how to draw reindeer (as you can see), so I spent a lot of time looking at photos to find the qualities I wanted to express. In my notes, I wrote \u201cjoyful, playful, not dainty, sturdy and strong.\u201d I found what I was looking for in images of reindeer races. What got me was that they run with their tongues hanging out, like dogs riding in a car with the top down \u2013 they look so happy! I knew I had to include that detail in my design. <\/p>\n

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I planned for an 8×10\u201d book in the end, so I drew my final designs at 5×8\u201d. (I draw more accurately when I draw small; don\u2019t ask me why!) I do only a line drawing for the design and then work out all of the details, once I get to the glass cutting stage.<\/p>\n

The preparation for the mosaic work goes like this: enlarge the design to the final mosaic size of 15×24\u201d, tape down on cardboard (so I can move it if necessary), tape plastic wrap down over the design, and then tape fiberglass mesh down over the plastic wrap. I can see the design through the plastic wrap and will then glue the glass onto the mesh. The plastic wrap keeps the glass from being glued to the design underneath. This process allows me to make changes to the mosaic with ease, as opposed to trying to remove glass that has been glued to a board. And I made some major changes throughout, as you will see. In this image, you can see how it all works:<\/p>\n

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(Click to enlarge)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t generally color my designs in advance, as I like to work with the glass to see what looks best together. Once I have the design taped down, I play with glass colors like this. The colors on the top are too harsh. The ones on the bottom are softer and much more appealing to me, so I went with those. <\/p>\n

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\nDeciding on colors for the quilt: <\/p>\n

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(Click to enlarge)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

A big part of my process is printing out the design small and using it to play with a few different things: color, value, and andamento (the visual flow of the mosaic that is produced by how the glass is cut and how it is placed in the design). In this one, I worked on color and value: <\/p>\n

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On this one, I worked out how I wanted the reindeers’ blankets to be designed. I sometimes tweak a design at this stage, too; for instance, here I decided the tongue needed to be shorter. <\/p>\n

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In this example, I\u2019m working out the andamento in the cat, the guitar, their clothing, and their faces. You can see the direction lines of how the glass will be laid, as well as shapes of the cuts.<\/p>\n


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\nIn progress, working with my guides: <\/p>\n

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(Click each to enlarge)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

The biggest part of making this book was to be able to include my family in it. I worked from photos of my husband, myself, our son, and our cat. My husband posed for all of the pages he was featured in and even posed for some of Santa’s body positions, so I could get them just right. <\/p>\n


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\nThe process of creating our cat, Raymi: <\/p>\n


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Sometimes I wouldn\u2019t have a photo of Raymi that matched what I wanted her to be doing, so I\u2019d do a very extensive search online for a cat in the pose I wanted. Then I\u2019d adapt it to her colors and markings. <\/p>\n


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When I finished all 15 of the mosaics, there were changes to be made. Some were minor, but others were huge. The interesting thing is that by the time I got to the final mosaic, it had been four years since I started and my technique had changed and improved. I needed the earlier mosaics to match the quality and style of the later ones. In this mosaic, I changed the wall from dark random pieces of glass to lighter, straight cut pieces and added a darker frame around the mosaic on the wall. Much better! <\/p>\n


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\nThis one went through a lot<\/em> of revisions: <\/p>\n

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(Click each to enlarge)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

Other changes were a matter of aesthetics. I originally did the house grey, because I wanted it to be personal to us and our house is grey. It just looked so dull against the snow, so I changed it to brick. It was an additional 17 hours to change — but worth it.<\/p>\n

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(Click each to enlarge)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

This change was a necessity \u2013 I had made Santa\u2019s bag green in the fifth mosaic, but when I got to the ninth mosaic, I realized it wasn\u2019t going to work, because the green bag was sitting right in front of the Christmas tree and was disappearing. This is downside to not planning out all of the designs in advance. So, I had to re-do the bag in both mosaics. <\/p>\n

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(Click each to enlarge)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

Sometimes I\u2019d get partway through an area, only to realize the colors weren\u2019t working. Fortunately, I didn\u2019t get too far before I decided this one didn\u2019t work for me.<\/p>\n

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(Click each to enlarge)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

Finally, I\u2019m satisfied with the mosaics but there is still a lot to do. I have to cut the boards, attach hanging hardware, transfer the mosaics to the boards, grout them, finish the edges, and paint the backs. When I went to attach the mosaics to the boards, I found that they were too floppy and unmanageable, so I had to first apply glue to the backs of the mosaics and let them dry so that hey\u2019d be rigid enough for me to hold onto without all the pieces of glass falling off.<\/p>\n

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(Click to enlarge)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

Once they were glued to the boards, my favorite part was next, filling in all those gaps with grout. I spread the grout all over the mosaic and then wipe off the surface so that only the grout in between the glass remains. <\/p>\n

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(Click to enlarge)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

I love grouting and seeing how the mosaic changes, how it becomes cohesive and complete — and even softens the mosaic. Here is a detail from one of the mosaics, before and after grouting. <\/p>\n

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(Click each to enlarge)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

One of the last steps is finishing the edges of the mosaics with thinset to match the grout. [Ed. Note: This is pictured above in the photo of Christine that opens this post.]<\/em><\/p>\n

I did it! Thanks so much for reading about my process.<\/p>\n

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Finished mosaics<\/em>
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All images are copyright \u00a9 2013 by Christine Brallier and used by her permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome. <\/p>\n

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
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1)<\/strong><\/font> The girls are off from school for the holidays, and this always means more time to read together. We’re reading a handful of good novels right now. <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> I’ve graduated to Level Two in my piano lessons, meaning book two in the course I’m using. My teacher would veer from book one an awful lot in order to let me do what I wanted, so it’s been a while with book one, but now I’m moving on. It feels good to “graduate.” <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> I so super bad wish I could see this show<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> Last Tango in Halifax<\/a><\/strong><\/em>. <\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> A kicker shared his writing with me, and it was a pleasure to read it. <\/p>\n

6)<\/strong><\/font> Last weekend we saw a stage production of A Christmas Carol<\/em>, and it fake-snowed on us inside the theater at the end. (Well, it only snowed on some rows, so we had extra-great seats.)<\/p>\n

7)<\/strong><\/font> My husband was in Portland this past week and snapped this picture of our book in Powell’s. That was fun to see. <\/p>\n


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\nWhat are YOUR<\/font><\/strong> kicks this week? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The children were nestled all snug in their beds …”(Click to enlarge)   I’m handing the site over this morning to artist Christine Brallier, pictured right, for something totally different — stained glass mosaics. (Have I ever posted about stained glass mosaics? I actually don’t think I have.) Last year, Christine released her first picture […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seven-good-things-before-monday","category-picture-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3610\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}