Owls and Tiling

I've added an owl to my mural. I have this thing for owls. They're so retro and cute. Not like, actual owls. But the cute little ones in funky colors, with too big eyes or stitched with funky fabrics. Awesome.

I started with a chalk outline. Remember, the tree is whimsical. It's not supposed to be a realistic owl. I finger painted a dot onto the body to check the color.
I think he's fun!

Then I painted the first coat. I used a smudgy brush stroke. I used a tangerine orange and a brick red, alternating between the colors. Then I touched the owl and pushed up. That way the layers are kind of feather-like.

This is after a full two coats on the body and some yellow around the eyes and a darker, mustard yellow on the body and beak/feet.

Kinda looks like I know what I'm doing.

I totally don't. I'm just having fun and learning as I go.

See, other than the shape of the owl, I can't mess it up. I could decide, the owl needs to be dark purple and blue and change it tomorrow. I'd just paint over it until it's covered.

No biggy.

Another coat on the yellows. I think it still needs just another coat in a few spots and I need to reline the white of the eyes. I had to bring the orange close to the white, even overlapping a bit to cover the green, so I can touch it up after.

The center of the eyes is a violet color, I may lighten it up a bit to see the color better.

Next up, some fun, different shaped and colored coffee cups hanging from the limbs.

I really love the whites of his eyes staring at me. It really kind of cracks me up.

The fireman's doing amazing things with out bathroom as well.

Here he's got the shelves all up and the tiling cut and fitted. He used a tile saw that runs water over the tile to keep it from cracking. He also used a level to ensure the tile's placement.

When adding the shelving he tipped the shelves so that the level was a quarter of a bubble off so that any water would run out the front of the shelf and not puddle at the back. Any standing water will eventually cause a leak in the wall.

I love how it looks at the top. He had to cut the tiles to fit and it looks like a nice border. He built that soffet at the front of the shower, you can see it on the top left of this picture. It's just 6 inches deep, but it frames the shower and will keep some of the warmth in the shower.

Plus it just looks nice.

Here's another picture of the soffet. He's drywalling to the left of it, and then we're going to repaint the bathroom walls a light gray. It will transition here with a bead of caulk.

Here is the other edge. He's tiling the end-cap with longer bull-nosed tile. The edges are rounded to create a finished look. See how he cut tiny strips of the tile for the right edge to transition to the wainscoting? THis green will be painted light gray as well.

Here's the front of the edge.

Here's the front of the corner. He's grouting with a gray grout. It's got a bit of brown in it, which works nicely with the wood, I think.

This is called floating. The tool he has in his hand is a floater. It has a thick spongy cushion on the bottom and he pushes the grout in each direction and then smooths it over.

See his masculine hand? hehe

Grouted!

So pretty! Now, we have to wait a week for it to cure. Most of the time you have to seal the grout. It's a paint on sealant that has to sit a week or two as well to cure, but this grout came with sealant included!

 After grouting, he had a big bucket of water and sponged the grout off the tile. You have to continue to do this every 30 minutes or so. The grout that's left on the tile is diluted by the water and dries to a filmy coat, which you then wipe off again. This dilutes it more and more until it all is wiped off. This also wets the grout line, which is part of the reason for the week long curing process.

Now all that's left is the hardware! We have new brushed nickel hardware. Pretty.

And that drywall and wainscoting on the left to finish it out.

And the painting.

Pretty close to being able to put a big red x on the bathroom remodel!

Next week? First bath in the new tub. *sigh* I cannot wait.

If you haven't entered my Christmas Giveaway, please do. I'm leaving it open this weekend. Monday morning I will pick a random winner using the random number generator online and announce the winner!

I bought a cute extra to add to the giveaway. I couldn't resist, I'm a sucker for Christmas...