Mosaic Sign Commissioned By Alden State Bank

The drawing below is my next big project after the bear. The sign will measure 8 feet wide by a little over 4 feet high, and will be done in vitreous glass tile over Durock adhered to a steel frame. I've been really wanting to do a large trout like this for a long time… with a real budget for materials I should be able to achieve an almost photorealistic sheen to the trout. The trout itself will be about 50" wide by 40" high. It's gonna be freakin' amazing!

The background of the sign will be black glass mosaic and the lettters will be done in a really great irridescent copper glass tile that's one of my favorites. I'll be using the SICIS Iridium line of glass tile for the fish, supplied by my pal Kristen at KPTiles. Irridium is by far the most beautiful glass tile I've ever seen… it's enough to make anyone want to mosaic full time. Back when I bought my SICIS supplies in Chicago, they used to have to mop under my jaw after I stood transfixed by the colors of the tile on display for an hour or two. Heh. I just want to plug Kristen as a supplier here because she's one of only three US importers of SICIS, and she prices it a lot more affordably than the others. Mind you, it's still not cheap. But it's the best. Oh, and besides that, she's really nice and a fun person to talk to.

The deadline is lenient on this piece, but I'd like to have it completed and installed by the time August 27, in time for the Alden Depot Art & Craft Fair. It'd feel pretty sweet to point it out to art fair patrons and say, "yeah, I made the most beautiful thing you drove past to get here except the lake."