Yosemite Tree of Life Mosaic Mural

The Yosemite Valley School "Tree of Life Mural" now hanging in the front of the school. It's 6 feet in diameter and weighs quite a bit because it's all glass and clay and has an iron frame welded onto it. Thank you to my wonderful husband Steve and his buddies for hanging it. What a relief! 3 years in the making. This was a collaboration between the students, staff and the Yosemite and El Portal communities under my direction. I also created quite a few pieces for it. Special thanks to Laurie Smith, her dad Bill and daughter Rachel, Oliana Reynolds, Catherine Soria and Henrietta De Groot for all of their hard work in helping to complete this project.

I've included some close ups of various areas of the mural. Laurie's Quail and her daughter Rachel's River Mermaid are in the lower, center of the mural.

 

Besides being a "Tree of Life" piece it also depicts the four seasons.  The photo at left shows part of the spring section.

 




This is a branch from the Pacific Dogwood
tree.

This section of the mural shows the Miwok people and The Yosemite Valley School.


I'll be posting more closeups soon.  Right now I'm off to the Vashon Island Garden Tour.

Handmade Bookmarks by Darlece J. Cleveland

Here are some samples of bookmarks I’ve been making and selling for a number of years now.  Currently, they’re being sold by The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite National Park.  These are the smaller size which, with the ribbon, measure 2 inches by 11 inches.  The larger size are 2 1/2 inches by 14 inches and are great for hardcover books.

UPDATE!!! 10-28-11
The bookmarks are no longer available.  That means they're now collectors items so hold onto them!

Yosemite Valley School "Tree of Life Mural" Update

We finally got all of the pieces glued down and then grouted the whole mural.  Five different colors of grout were used because we have a four seasons kind of thing going on.  We had to tape all of the adjacent areas to keep the grout from spreading.  It took us two days to grout the whole thing.  Now Laurie's going to clean it up with some vinegar and water to get the slight haze left by the grout off the tiles and glass.  Then my husband, Steve, will move the piece outside and mount it on the wall above the site of the native plant garden.  Steve actually welded the frame for the mural and the pieces are glued to cement backer board. It's taken us three years to get to this point!  Mainly because the majority of the labor on this was volunteer time.  Once it's mounted outside a border of ceramic leaves will be glued to the perimeter.  The whole thing measures six feet across.  I'm still working on finishing up the Half Dome and Valley View donor plaques which will be mounted next to the mural.  If you're in Yosemite Valley you can view the mural at the Yosemite Valley School which is located in the NPS housing area below Yosemite Falls.

Chickadoodle! Pot

This is a pot I made for my friend Bridget who lives near the summer camp I used to teach at.  I went to visit her at her beautiful f 1800's farmhouse during the summer of 2009.  While I was there she showed me her new chicks and kept calling out "chikadoodles!" while we threw them Japanese beetles, borage and nasturtiums to feast on.  This inspired me to create the Chickadoodle pot pictured here.  There is an inscription that says "For Bridget" on the bottom but I told her if she wants it she has to come visit me in Washington.  It's a bribe to get her out here.  Bridget hasn't seen the piece yet.  This will be her first chance to view it.  Thanks for the inspiration Bridget!

The pot measures 6 3/4" tall and is low fire clay with under and over glazes.

Summer Pots

These are some ceramic pieces I did the first and second summers I taught at Camp Chateaugay in Upstate New York.  They're lowfire and I love the bright colors.  They're small, the tallest one measuring 6" in height.

Micole as Siren

Here's a painting I did of my daughter, Micole.  For some reason birds are attracted to her.  There is a metaphor here but I'm not going to explain it.  I'll let the viewer figure it out for themselves.  It measures about 10"x11" and is acrylic on paper.  I was thinking of it as a study for a larger painting.

Monarch Polymer Clay Chrysalis-work in progress

I was doing some research on polymer clay as I'll be incorporating a piece into one of my mosaic murals. The new work will be based on the monarch butterfly and the Spanish word Mariposa which translates to butterfly.  I sculpted a polymer clay chrysalis for the center of the piece and then painted it with acrylic paints.  The finished work measures about 5 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches.  Under the chrysalis will be a light fixture so that it glows.  I don't really care for the plastic look of it.  I think I'll overlay the piece with another very thin layer of translucent polymer clay which is what I've been using for it so far.  Then the painted piece underneath will show through and look more like an actual chrysalis does without, hopefully, looking so plastic as the rest of the piece will be glazed clay and glass.  This is new territory for me as my work in polymer clay has been tiny to say the least.  Just some fun stuff in the past with the kids.  A couple of years ago I saw some work on the internet by an artist who makes lamp sconces out of the clay that were amazing.  Can't find the stuff anymore.

While researching polymer clay I came across a Canadian artist named Marina Bychkova, http://www.enchanteddoll.com/,who creates incredible porcelain doll/sculptures.  She's from Vancouver and is showing at the Dragonspace gallery on Granville Island during the Winter Olympics this year.  I'd love to go up and see her work as I'm just south in Washington state.  I hate to even call these dolls as they're each an incredible piece of art.  She also has a blog, http://www.enchanteddoll.com/blog/, where she talks about her process.  I'm not really into dolls in general but like I said these are pieces of art.  Makes me want to try something like this.