My love of trees can be a work in progress as I try to bring the outside environment inside. I love the way trees grow, sway in the breeze and feel to the touch of my fingers. My fixation bringing the outside in works with plants and cacti but a large tree just would not fit in my smaller sized rooms. I decided having a mosaic tree would be something beautiful to look at as you pass through the hallway that connects my entryway to our living and dining rooms. It won’t grow and it won’t sway but you would be able to touch it.
I took porcelain tile and broke it into pieces for the tree bark. Dozens of plates, bowls and anything else green were smashed with a hammer into pieces for leaves. Some pieces I continued to shape with tile cutters to look more leaf-like. I started at the bottom with the tree trunk and decided which way the tree would grow. I added pieces of mirror so it would help in the ‘movement of swaying,’ as you walked by it would catch the light or your image in the mirror and would look like it was moving. I continued to put all these pieces on the wall, piece by piece, with mastic, ‘growing’ my tree. As the tree became more full with different size, shape and green color leaves, it became my Tree of Life. My tree was finally large enough. All I needed was to add the 5 hearts out of clay that signify members of my family. I hand formed and glazed them and then added them to my tree.
In my own little way I have achieved my goal of bringing the outside in as well as being reminded of the ones I love. My Tree of Life may actually grow in size in the future and continue to be a work in progress. Whenever that time comes, I will have an extra green plate or two and extra hearts to add to it.