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Project begins: July 2020

I needed a new project because it was too hot to work in the sun and everything was pretty much still shut down because of the Coronavirus pandemic. I had this big, blank wall in the courtyard that cat's claw vines and honeysuckle was always trying to climb. Solution: Paint a portrait with a tile mosaic in the center and a fabricated trellis as a frame.

This is the BEFORE picture of the wall



I ordered a tile mural from The Tile Mural Store (https://www.tilemuralstore.com/). Besides having a huge variety of murals to choose from, they had size options for each. We chose a 20 tile mural on 6in tiles, which turns out to be 30in x 24in picture. This is the dry layout before installation.



After finding the exact center, I had to excavate stucco so that the installed tile would be flush with the wall. That, and it isn't a good idea to install tile right over stucco because if the stucco cracks or fails underneath, the tile goes with it.



During the wall prep, I started fabricating the frame. The idea was to have an 8x8ft trellis frame with a window in the center, slightly larger than the mosaic.



The problem with this part of the project was that it was 110F+ by noon. With the heat and having to wear a welding helmet and protective gear, sweat was pouring into my eyes and onto the work that I was trying to weld. The unfinished trellis sat on the floor of the garage until the weather cooled and I was able to complete it in January 2021.

Project completed: February 2021

After installing the mosaic, I bordered it with some simple black tiles that were left over from the Pizza Oven project. The last part of the project was the most challenging - Finding a couple of helpers to hold the trellis in place so that I could attach it to the wall. It wasn't heavy, it was just large and unwieldy.