Ah, April in Oakland! Tried Paris once and it was cold and rainy, but eight days of brilliant sunshine set the perfect stage for my venture cross-country for Laurel True’s Mosaic Mural Intensive at the Institute of Mosaic Art. Click here to see the completed mural for Kefa Coffee.
Steely cold in Charlotte, forecasts for five days of rat-wet rain in Miami, newly-planted palms shriveling on the porches, bikinis in iminent danger of being tossed from suitcases to allow room for more smalti and perhaps the far more practical Gryphon Grinder, where can I find even the tiniest hint of spring on this 30th day of March, wholly bereft of bunny clouds and beckoning starflowers? Read the rest of this entry »
Ta Da! Just finished this one in time to pack up for Mosaic Wonderland in Miami. I didn’t enter a piece for Mosaic Arts International this year, but I did manage to complete a small work for the Mini Salon, where members and guests will have the opportunity to peruse and purchase each other’s art. Read the rest of this entry »
I am not a speed artist. I don’t do anything in three hours, let alone a 9′x12′ wall. The great joy of this class for me was learning to work against my grain, with no time for obsessing, Read the rest of this entry »
Love or hate The South, it just doesn’t get much lovelier (or haunting, haunted, seductive, or psychically altering) than this. I took the above photograph along a back road on Edisto Island. There’s no resort around the bend; in fact, Edisto Beach doesn’t boast a single hotel. Rent a cottage, a cabin in the woods, or snare a beachfront campsite and stare into these trees for an hour or a day, and tell me your soul hasn’t been abducted, pinned and wriggling to the wall.
A friend recently mentioned the idea of an art show on the theme of The Protest Song, and I immediately began this mosaic. It perfectly ties together my love of folk art and my ever-burgeoning social conscience. Read the rest of this entry »
As we hobbled out of the Blumenthal in ill-advised but oh-so-lovely shoes, my 20-year-old daughter said, “I will never again in my life see such incredible bodies.” We were leaving another Alvin Ailey performance, and I couldn’t help feeling oddly surprised that we weren’t flying. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m using again the fabulously illustrative art of Patricia Helsing, because it so perfectly sums up my thoughts over the past week. No doubt it was inspired by John Donne’s famous quote written over 400 years ago, but in this age of Every Man for Himself, It’s All About Me, What About My Needs, and Dog Eat Dog, what is out current concept of the Self in relation to Others?
If you’re a Lostie, and I am, you know that Other is a synonym for Evil. Read the rest of this entry »
Here’s to an artist whose wit and vision ran circles around my own, always nudging me to aim a little higher, Patricia Helsing. To see more of her work, look here, and nudge your own self a bit today.
. . . As they say. The Enormous Tiny Art Show was a smashing success, raising $3,000 for the Community Mosaic Project. The Project is coming along well, with about 25 artists submitting designs on Art in the Everyday. And the kitchen is about 85% done and totally, unconditionally fabulous. I will, I will be back. I hope to get back to mosaics soon, and will post some pics of all that you’ve missed in the time I’ve been curiously absent. Bad, bad me.
