Of Brickwork and Butterflies...
One day while laying a new tile floor at my "Bush Palais"
I looked up to see that I had the most beautiful house guest...
A bird wing Butterfly...
Can you see him hanging under the bottom sail on the 'boat kite' hung from the ceiling...
I coudn't resist whipping out the camera and snapping him.
This is what he looks like with his wings open
And I knew he was a male from his flashy iridescent green..
The Female Birdwing Butterfly looks like this...
Drab and Booring...I know...
I just don't know how she ever gets her man?
She must wear an exotic perfume..
But enough of visiting house guests...
I was in the middle of Tiling my foor wasn't I...
And having recently been quite taken by Boxers Tiling Artistry
And her amazing Chair...
I mentioned to her that I would post some pics of my flooring effort.
After much rummaging through boxes of stuff I finally found them..
This was my house in Alligator Creek near Townsville in Queensland
They are not that great but are all I could find
The incomplete floor without grouting,
The tiles were outdoor terracotta in mixed tones originally 10"x10"
But... after being taken to with my trusty hammer
ended up as crazy paving.
Interdispersed with taratzzo sun and moon designs
various random sized coloured and patterned tiles
and tiny "precious' little Cobalt Blue 1" square tiles...
I say precious as they came from an old tiled coffee table
that my Gandmother had made and given to me as a moving house gift...
But due to the humidity in my new abode... the tiles had fallen off the table... And thinking that I would be stying put in this beautiful place...
incorporated them into the new floor..
It was like working on a huge Jigsaw Puzzle but without a Blueprint as the design just evolved as I went...
And so.... I Created my Amazing Floor.
Not bad for a first attempt!
Princess don't do anything by halves!
I lost track of the number buckets of rubberised glue I mixed,
and the number or the hours spent crawling around on all fours or sliding around on my bum when the knees had given out!
And piles of tiles lugged from one point to another around the 20'x20' foot space...
I do remember that I went through 5 pair of leather gardening gloves over the course of the project...
which took me about three months to complete...
And here is the finished product...
Ta Da!
People said I was mad...
They said "You're Mad Princess...Get a man in to do it for you!"
'No' I said...
'I have been given a vision which I am driven to see made real'
"But you're Mad Princess' they said....
'Why buy perfectly good tiles then spend all day smashing them?'...
'Surley you have lost your sense of reason?'
'No'... I said...gleefully smashing tiles and making them cringe...
'This is one of my must do life moments'
I'll admit that yes...
Halfway through the project I amost started to sway to their side of the argument, with muscles and bones aching and fingers rubbed raw from grouting....
But I gathered my resources and saw it through to the end...
And I was very gald that I did!
'Oh' they said...'We really thought you had lost the plot Princess when you started on this vision quest'...
'But now we can see what you were on about'...
'And it is Spectacular!'
A year or so later.... When I very reluctantly had to sell up and move...
I was so pleased that I had invested so much love and creativity in the new floor ... it became the clincher for the sale of the house...
The young couple that bought the palce loved the floor so much that they were already planning to take their vows standing
right in the middle of the room!
They came back with both sets of parents just to show them "Their" floor!
I was extremely proud of my effort and that the house was going to couple that loved it as much as I had done.
I don't think they realised just what a bargain they had...or perhaps they did.
Oh...
And Grandmother's tiles?...
I kept a few of them in reserve... just in case...
They now live on a shelf in my new abode in a special little trinket box
that belonged to her...
Just for safe keeping
"'And it is Spectacular!'"
ReplyDeleteYes. Yes it is. Wonderful work you did there.
PS: I visited Townsville in my first trip to Oz in September 1971.
Spectacular for sure but you are mad Princess darling.
ReplyDeleteThat's what we have maintenance in tiny pants for.
Dear Princess,
ReplyDeletewhat an exhausting task - but worth every minute. I doubt that I could do this - not for the actual work or for the puzzle-aspect of it (au contraire!) - but I simply have "two left hands", I do not believe that the tiles would stay where I want them to be. Even by nature harmless or inoffensive objects awake under my hands and show their ugly side. It's the Hulot in me ...
You must have the patience of a saint. It does look attractive though.
ReplyDeleteI feel inspired to smash up a few Clarice Cliff plates gather up the fragments and mosaic the bit-bin.
That is spectacular and sensational tile work! Fantastic floors indeed!
ReplyDeleteI luv how you made two circles in the middle to create an exciting focal point in the mesmerizing patchwork of tiles. Good call on mixing in the tiny precious color tiles to add sparkle to the lovely floor. That couple did get a great deal, and that floor was probably the best wedding gift they ever got!
Good for you for bringing your artistic vision to light and making your dream floor come to life! Wonderful!
Wow! I LOVE the floor!!
ReplyDeleteI'm fairly handy myself but I have to say I've not had the courage to try tiling. It looks fab.
You have a keen eye Princess.
Oh, Princess, it's just lovely! Normally, I'm not a fan of crazy paving - but that's here in Britland where payshos were rife with smashed up concrete back in the 70s and 80s (and some still linger today).
ReplyDeleteDear Xl
ReplyDeleteThankyou. I loved my 9 years in Townsville. Possibly something to do with the hot tropical climate and hard bodied servicemen scantily clad when not in uniform... Ah the memories...
Dear CP
Thankyou for confirmation of my momentary insanity... but I have to say that it was well worth all the effort... the champagne was flowing for days after it's completion...
Dear Mago
The whole project was physically very demanding, but as you say, extremely rewarding.
Dear Mitzi
Patience to the point of having the chinese character tattooed on my left titty...
Go for it... there is nothing more soothing than smashing some old bits of crockery and turning them into a masterpiece of modern art!
Dear Eros
The circle in the centre of the room was inspired by the American Indian Medicine Wheel.... using coloured tiles to mark out the directions and compass points
But altered to suit the southern hemisphere... And subtituting Ausie animals on some of the tiles... Probably very culturally innapropriate but it worked for me...
Dear Hayward
There is something about working with your hands...creating something beautiful from the small spark of an idea...I find it very therapeutic at the same time...
Dear IDV
I know exactly what you mean... they were like a creeping disease over here too and there are many that remain as legacies to the eyesores in pebbled concrete that they are...horridly so...
I'm about to hyperventilate from Mitzi threatening to smash the Clarice Cliff!
ReplyDeleteDear MJ
ReplyDeleteI was hyperventilating but didn't want to spoil a girls fun...
I was gone over the weekend and missed this amazing post! What a huge amount of work and talent. I KNOW how hard this AND how satisfying, too when it was complete? Did you just feel wonderful and proud of your hard labor? Thank you for saying how long it took because that was my big question. I'd love to do a floor and this is very inspirational. I'm sorry you no longer live in the house, however. :-(
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work. You are a true artist.
Dear Boxer
ReplyDeleteThankyou for your comments i do appreciate the feedback.
I have to admit that I did have a feeling of elation when the floor was complete and the last piece was finally grouted.
I do miss the house, but hey, life moves on...
I'm just happy that the young couple that bought it will enjoy it as much as I did...