(2) Installation progress

August 10, 2011

I spent the entire day at the nature center installing more butterflies.

I started by grouping the butterflies by size. I mostly used the smaller ones today because the butterfly cloud needed filling out.

Any butterflies that were left over were grouped into a second bunch that will be used on the other two walls.

I took my big alligator template along today so I could judge how everything would look once he is added to the mix. So far so good!

The little half finished mosaic in the left corner is my son's rendering of a "Dragon-fly" - I brought it with me so that I could save a spot in the cloud for it. Just have to finish making it!

After a few hours of installing, the butterfly cloud is starting to take shape...

I still have a few tiny gaps that need to be filled with baby butterflies. I'm going to whip some up soon to coordinate with the colors that are already on the wall.

Here's a look at the cloud after today's progress...

The gap on the left hand side will be filled with the Dragon-fly. I think the concept will start to make more sense once the big alligator is added to the bottom.

About a half hour from quitting time I started on the side wall.  The butterfly with the painters tape covering it is Yvonne Yaar's fused glass donation. It was super heavy and I wanted to be sure that it didn't slide down the wall while I was waiting for the thinset to set up.

The circle that is traced out on the wall (look closely!) is a placeholder for a sign I made for the project. I still have to finish that too. (Seems like I have a lot of unfinished pieces of this project!)

I'm going to add more butterflies underneath these tomorrow and then start on the wall next to this one.

I still have many, many more to install.

Today's observations

It poured for the majority of the day. This morning I thought I heard the weatherman say that the rain wouldn't arrive until 2:00 PM. Maybe he really said that it would rain straight through until 2:00 PM...because it did.

Actually, I love the rain. Even though I was sick of it after the fourth straight hour, it was awesome to be outside in it without getting wet. It sounded like I was in a waterfall...but with birds, a tortoise and a very fat feral hog named Elvis.

I had planned to get some more photos of the animals today but I only managed to get a photo a tiny frog that I spotted hopping along behind me...


And I spotted this little guy on a leaf. He's about the size of my thumbnail. So tiny!

I'll be back at the center tomorrow morning to work on the rest of the installation. The mosaics that I put up yesterday and today need to dry thoroughly before I grout. I'll likely start that next week.

Stay tuned for more progress...