Here's a link to photos of JT's Junk Train days that fellow junker Purple Moon put together. I haven't looked at them for so long I don't remember if the entire trip is there or not. Either way they are fun! Here is a link that might be useful: JT's Junk Train travels

Hi texasfern, thanks for the info - I know what you mean about heat. It's blistering here in summer too. The two bowls I am doing are also ceramic bisque fired. I got them at the thrift shop and just couldn't resist them since they were a nice big size of 15 inches in diameter. I didn't know what cone I could fire them to so I couldn't glaze them for fear they'd melt. So I decided to mosaic them. I should have used a plumb bob when I marked the center instead of just eyeballing it from above the rulers. I'll do better next time. I also work in ceramics - handbuilt pieces from slabs to Cone 10 thus far. You can see some of my work at the link and I have a ceramic blog under the same title. I took a ceramic bead class - now that's really fun, because beads are small and easy to deal with. Right now I am getting my kiln (skutt) connected up so I can do the ceramics at home instead of just at the college and a friend is building me a slab roller, but that is a whole other topic I guess. Do you seal your pieces after you grout them - particularly the birdbath? If so what do you use to seal them? How do they do holding water, does the grout stain or get any algae buildup with use outdoors? You've given me an idea about going to the tile store I used for remodeling my house (2 bathrooms and our living room) and seeing what they throw away. They threw away 4 pieces of slate when I did my living room right in the trash can - I wasn't doing mosaic then so I didn't even think about it. I could have done something really neat with all those pieces. And I have a wet saw - not sure how easy it would be to cut the pieces real small with a wet saw though - I might try it though. Well I have all my ingredients and tools set out to start grouting the turquoise bowl - so here goes. Wish me luck. Here is a link that might be useful: Blue Starr Gallery

I've changed grout color three times in my life. Once, literally drilled out black grout. Uggh. Never again. The second time we were in Korea and the oily soot from the oil heat was in the grout in all the tile. It would not come clean even wtih muriatic acid. SO.... I cleaned it as good as I could then carefully painted all grout lines with primer and then with oil based paint. It looked perfect even when we left. Everyone marveled at how clean our house looked compared to theirs. And lastly, my kitchen was as yours. I put a page up online to show how I darkened the the grout and since I've done it, I've sealed it and it's wonderful. I didn't choose the wrong color, the charts just didn't produce what it said the product color would be. Link to the page is attached. Here is a link that might be useful: Photos and directions of how I changed my grout color

I learned to take better photos by studying the ones here. Back then digital SLRs didn't exist and people were mostly using $400-$500 Nikon, Canon, Olympus and Sony. Nowadays some of the best pictures come from Iphones and digital SLRs. Borrow your family/friends' cameras. Some cameras lean towards red, others to blues. Look at the same flower on the LCD panel while you change the white balance (sunny day, cloudy day, florescent, etc.) if your camera does that. I often use 'florescent warm' to capture accurate color. A friend uses his Canon SLR on automatic. A good camera is important. Time of day is essential. Or rather, certain light. In my area I capture the best pictures in late afternoon. Unfortunately when visiting a grower it's often mid-day (strong Calif. sun) and then editing can help. I use the freeware program called IrfanView. Or Photoshop Elements if a fly on the bloom needs removing. Take pictures throughout the day to find the sweet time. Try different crops. Try sharpening to see how that affects the image. Darken the image. In other words play, play, play. If one image out of 20 is a keeper, congratulations!