tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095471789546544852012-01-24T15:55:08.490-08:00A collection of Mosaic and Glass work made by Mel Miller, Cape Town, South AfricaMel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.comBlogger241100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-60420072332143637392010-10-04T08:32:00.000-07:002010-10-04T08:33:29.769-07:00

Introduction When I set this topic I knew that it would be more difficult than usual. I wasn’t surprised therefore to see that the number of entries were fewer than in previous competitions. I have no regrets and make no apologies however - because as the word ‘challenge’ suggests - I want to keep ‘upping the ante’ in order to stretch CMA members. My hope is that you may produce work that

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-79696162204141857432010-04-21T08:56:00.000-07:002010-04-21T09:10:12.816-07:00

It's been some time since my last blog entry. But I'm back. To announce a couple of things.Firstly, my website went live today. And tho it's not yet complete, as there's lots to do still in the Gallery, it's live at last.So take a look...... www.melmiller.co.zaLet me know what you think.Secondly, Luc just built a most amazing frame for the Horse Head Nebula mosaic that you all watched growing in

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-52027781944763802482010-01-31T15:32:00.001-08:002010-01-31T23:07:44.967-08:00

Anyway, the Fat Lady is Singing folks.And we all know what that means.It's all over.A sweet and quiet weekend spent working on the endings.Three of us were left in the Guest House and studio. We worked lots, but I also went out for a couple of delightful walks.In the end, Nancy and Gerard left mid-afternoon. I cleverly went walking at the same time. All the way to Rialto bridge. Venice has an

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-68935875888960236642010-01-29T23:23:00.000-08:002010-01-30T00:03:48.475-08:00

1. The Maestro, Mel and Antonelle2. Dominique and her Picasso3. Nancy and Tibetan prayer flags4. Gerard with his stunning gold Christ piece. G aspires to working in the Vatican Mosaic studio5. The street where I live.A chaotic strange day.The Maestro came for the presentation of certificates. See pics.I'm surprised to say, I felt a bit emotional holding the paper that says I have a Master in

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-49868830019290646822010-01-28T14:48:00.000-08:002010-01-28T15:32:13.727-08:00

Pics:1. My mosaic, tonight.2. Fur coats. Outside the train station.3. I succumbed. Dark chocolate. Uff! Italian icecream4. You see! Fur coat.5. Do you believe me?6. The exit from our little lane onto the canal. Love it.7. Antonelle's studio. I want one just like this. She showed us how to cook glue.I think everyone is starting to experience separation anxiety.A strange sadness and distance is

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-26592187700814668882010-01-27T14:45:00.000-08:002010-01-27T16:13:17.550-08:00

Pics:1. Placing the last piece.2. There she is. On the easel.3. That's the fab restaurant. 2 people sitting outside.4. Here we go again.5. Same same, but different.I've packed 3 quarters of my clothes into a box which I bought at the Post Office today. Most of them are dirty, and I have to say that I think this plan is a stroke of genius. I'm posting them to Holland where I'll be for 2 weeks when

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-34182796626894026542010-01-26T22:50:00.000-08:002010-01-26T22:56:39.656-08:00

Got to bed way too late and way too tired to write anything. But here's a latest pic of the Horse Head at midnight Tuesday night. I just couldn't see clearly enough to finish the last little bit. It will be finished today and a couple things changed before I start on my next work.From Celestial, I'm going Terrestial.Wait for it.

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-88825836432197066562010-01-25T15:20:00.000-08:002010-01-25T16:27:20.270-08:00

Note to all: NEVER think that you'll be able to lose ANY weight when you're in Italy. Even if you are living like a student. A diet of high carbs and sugar just doesn't do it in the weigh-less world. (Micky will understand this)Note to self: Do NOT go for a cholesterol test for at least 6 weeks after getting home. (be quiet Vic, if you reading this.)There's a reason why the 'Eat' part of

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-37660001881904673452010-01-23T16:02:00.000-08:002010-01-23T23:43:42.930-08:00

It was kind of obvious that at some stage I'd fall over and have to sleep instead of sitting in bed writing blogs after working for 12 or 14 hours a day.Just in case anyone was wondering, that's what happened on Friday night. I just fell over.So, Friday went like this. Up at 07h00. Ignore alarm clock and headache for as long as possible. Crawl out of bed, open the bottle of headache pills that

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-73290149515478919162010-01-21T14:10:00.000-08:002010-01-21T15:33:51.661-08:00

Have you ever wondered what happened to all the fur coats in the world? Remember Bridget Bardot's animal anti-cruelty campaigns in the 60's? Calling for the banning of animal pelts for fashion indulgence purposes. Clubbing of baby seals and blood covered fur etc etc.? Suddenly all those unbelievably expensive warm coats disappeared from womens wardrobes. Even my Bobba was not allowed to wear hers

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-69510324520407357632010-01-20T14:34:00.000-08:002010-01-20T15:12:49.940-08:00

It's very late night. Just finished working, and I'm going to try not to ramble in this blog. I really need some long hours of sleep.So here are some highlights from the day.Antonella made the rounds to see what we'd been up to the night before. I got a "Perfecto!" which of course felt grand. Not every one was so lucky. Some people had to undo their hours of work, and rework it. Hard

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-33165282748118080532010-01-19T13:55:00.000-08:002010-01-19T14:45:27.647-08:00

Sadly I dropped the piece of gold back into the bag, and left it on my work station.When Mirta handed me a 1kilo bag of rough-cut number 10 (the best!) gold smalti today, well....... I felt damn fine! HUGE chunks of gold on glass. Then she waved goodbye, and shouting 'Ciao' from the door, left for the day. Yummy!Not that I didn't already have gold on my desk. I've got 5 boxes of different

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-31986970179238410872010-01-18T14:16:00.000-08:002010-01-18T14:24:37.265-08:00

Day 1Orsoni Master Class. January 2010For a creative Romantic, arriving in Italy is like basking in a warm friendly ocean. For a lover of visions and history, arriving in Venice is like reconnecting with a part of yourself that you’d almost forgotten.For a Mosaic artist, arriving at Orsoni is like reconnecting with the Mother-ship. Like dying and feeling no pain or fear, and being instantly

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-86409513269616586262009-08-18T04:27:00.001-07:002009-08-18T04:28:25.564-07:00

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-12520327111641249862009-08-18T04:20:00.001-07:002009-08-18T04:24:52.118-07:00

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-28635864024764504972009-08-18T04:17:00.000-07:002009-08-18T04:19:54.137-07:00

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-91854422277722463282009-08-18T04:15:00.000-07:002009-08-18T04:17:07.656-07:00

From a drawing I made as a teenager.

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-48633904723696522742009-08-18T04:12:00.001-07:002009-08-18T04:15:07.615-07:00

Orion Nebula. Made for Luc Lassche.

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-40806811678769624462009-06-11T10:20:00.001-07:002009-06-11T10:20:26.945-07:00

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-61933955318382058222009-06-11T10:12:00.000-07:002009-06-11T10:16:52.743-07:00

Made in 2004Built onto an old table that belonged to my Grandmother.I used broken china from both my parents as well as my inlaws, weaving in all the broken parts from all the broken families to form a beautiful, healing mandala.

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-34246781131320107332009-06-11T10:04:00.000-07:002009-06-11T10:11:26.919-07:00

Made in 2005, Thai Buddha MandalaGlass Tesserae, stained glass, gold

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-35322315752734759882007-09-21T14:25:00.000-07:002007-09-21T15:00:12.564-07:00

Also one of my earlier pieces. I made this for my daughter Jesse. She turned 21. I was very inspired, and worked under extremely difficult conditions. I had very little space, and had to keep moving the piece out of the way when I was working with clients, and then put it back onto my massage table when I wanted to work on it. Insane. When I grouted it I was quite disappointed in the colour of

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-37513073709295496592007-09-21T14:06:00.001-07:002007-09-21T14:21:40.544-07:00

One of the first pieces I ever made. I used the old brass table that belonged to my Grandmother. The glass top was cracked and had the imprint of an old fashioned iron on it. The centre is made up of broken china from both sides of my family, Mother's and Father's side. It's surrounded by a passover plate that came from my In-Laws family home. I also used glass mosaic tiles for the radiating

Mel's Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00320623013376676136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209547178954654485.post-51760359426500902682007-09-21T09:03:00.000-07:002007-09-21T09:06:45.299-07:00

Before you see mosaics, see glass beads. All hand blown on the propane torch by Mel. Designed and made also by Mel. This particular one was made for Caroline who loves these colours and asked for something in this combination.

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