Friends Help on the Sundial

Friends are really important! This is a tile that Rita made.

There were so so many friends who helped work on the Mosaic Sundial.









Here's Catherine--a ceramic artist and Naropa student who showed up to help for a few days.

And Walter happened to ride his bike by the mosaic one morning--stopped to watch, and ended up helping wonderfully for four days!

Cynthia has been keeping an eye on the mosaic all summer, encouraging the workers and sending out reminder e-mails. Her daughters (BCSIS graduates) both helped one day, too.

Work Days-- on July 18-22

The week of July 18-22 is going to be the big crunch for the Mosaic sundial. I really didn't think I would be working on this all summer! I will be working on the sundial Monday through Wednesday from 9am-2pm and Thursday and Friday 9am-4pm (weather permitting).

When I am there, you will see my car (2002 Honday Civic) or truck (little blue Toyota with a worn paint job) parked on the street near the sundial every day.

Please come and help!
I especially need help on Thursday and Friday, as we will be grouting. No experience necessary.
Wear clothes you can get dirty ---and bring water, hat, sunscreen and snacks.
Bring gloves if you have them.

If you can't help. just stop by and say hi! Suzanne Schmidt brought by cold drinks for workers one day--that is always welcome.

If you bring a marguerita I won't tell.

New Tiles Being Made for the Sundial

We have run out of hand painted tiles for the sundial so Rita Vali has generously offered to fire some more tiles for the sundial.

Here are some of the new tiles, bisque-fired and glazed and waiting to go into Rita's kiln.

Rita's kiln!

...And the pieces loaded into the bottom

Wet Sundial

As you walk by the mosaic sundial site this weekend, you might see this:


What is this ? Does it look like I am attempting a Cristo-style installation of wrapping the sundial? No, actually, it is wrapped up with a weighted-down tarp to keep the sundial dry.





There has been an inch or more of water on the sundial every morning. We have not been having lots of precipitation: it seems that the sundial is in the rain shadow of the powerful sprinklers that are used to water the bluegrass. The lawn that had been damaged by the construction of the Outdoor Classroom has been re-seeded, and the baby grass seedlings need to be watered twice a day. Unfortunately, the Sundial also gets watered heavily twice a day.


Why does that matter? Well, we are affixing tiles to the cement base with a thin-set morter that needs to dry for at least 24 hours before it gets wet again.







The tarps that were lightly covering the sundial were not weighted down enough, and the jet of water from the sprinkler found a way under the tarps and soaked the tiles. The tiles are now popping off randomly, and I am concerned that the tiles we set on will not be secure.












In a week or two I hoped to grout and seal the entire sundial. Obviously this is impossible if it gets soaked daily.

So, until we can change something about the direction or frequency of the sprinklers, the mosaic sundial will NOT be available for viewing--except when we daily unwrap it (a process which takes at least a half an hour of hard work).

Sundial Tiling is Cruising Along

As you can see, we have made great progress on the tiling of the sundial.

The end is in sight!

We still can use help, though, and love to have people of all ages stop by and help out.

All you volunteers: I cannot thank you enough!

You have helped greatly with the tiling, and even more with keeping the energy happy and moving forward. Rah RahRah! I LOVE having the help fo so many people--parents and school kids, neighbors and friends have all helped. It has truely been a community project.

I will be at the site most weekdays from about 9am to 12 noon, sometimes later.
I am a fair weather mosaic artist, though, and will probably not show up on rainy days!

Detail from seven o'clock.

new Photos of sundial

Work on Sundial resumes June 8

The mosaic isn't done yet, but I will be out of town for a few days, so the work is pausing. The work on the sundial will resume Wednesday June 8. I sure enjoyed working with many different people and getting to know them. Helpers include parents and kids from High Peaks and BCSIS, as well as some friends and neighbors who stopped by to visit and ended up helping out. Photos soon!