While I was searching Pinterest for pics of shingled Nantucket cottages, I came across this gem. I thought “Wow! This would be perfect on the large back wall of my cottage”, so I searched for a website that does this artwork.

And I came across Mosaic Shingle -they have a bunch of ideas they can recreate on your shingled house. I was interested in how they built these marvels. If you look closely below, the fish is 2 dimensional because the top is covered by laser cut shingles that fit the design, while the bottom half of the fish actually lays over the top of the shingles.

They have a bunch of cool designs, but obviously I wanted to recreate a whale, since that is the theme of my cottage.

So, I thought to myself “Self, you can do this. A little beforehand planning, a few cuts here and there and Voila! Perfection!” Well, not so fast. I did a lot of staring and I still had brain block. I finally decided I had to trace an image of a whale, then build it from thin roofing shingles so it wouldn’t create a lot of bulk. Glued the shingles to brown packing paper, then traced the whale outline onto the shingles.

So, I cut the excess paper and bottom shingles away around the lower body, and determined the exact placement on the shingles wall I had already started. I temporarily glued the whale in place so I could adjust it as I worked on it.

Hope you enjoyed this. I know I didn’t. Sooo glad it’s done, because I don’t like to give up!