Zephyr Art TN: Grouting Our Large Sculpture

Thursday was the big day for grouting the 'Vision, Action, Prayer' Women's History Month sculpture for the Fly Cultural Arts Center. Above is the piece before the grout.

Sherri Warner Hunter

Mosaic artist, Sherri Warner Hunter, led us through the grout process with the aid of the world's largest roll of super sticky tape and the world's largest piping bag. 

Preparation is the key to any well done project. To prepare the sculpture for grouting we began by applying super sticky tape designed specifically for affixing to concrete. We then taped plastic on top of the mementos to protect from any grout spatters. 

The top of the sculpture, before grout.

Before grouting, we wiped the tiles down and spritzed them with water to assure the tiles would not absorb all the water from the grout. When the tiles were dampened and blotted, we rubbed the sanded grout into the spaces between tiles, making sure the grout was uniform and level. 

Top after grout during buffing.

When the grout was in, the tiles were then buffed to remove any excess grout and then buffed again to remove the grout film from the tile.

Side of sculpture after the grout was applied and before buffing.

Removing the plastic and tape.

My favorite part came next: taking off the plastic! Removing the plastic revealed the mementos and the grout line. We pressed a slope where the grout met the purple thinset adhesive to smooth the transition.  After taking off the plastic we buffed the tiles again.

Grouted top and sides.

Detail of mementos, photographs and grout line .

Clean up is as almost as important as the initial preparing of the area.

The next step in completing this sculpture is printing more photos, affixing them to tiles and placing them on the piece. We will then fill in the left over open spaces with more of the mementos. 'Vision, Action, Prayer' is almost done!!