Winter Whites at Ciel Gallery

Kaye Iverson, Aspens in Winter

October 5 is the deadline for Ciel Gallery’s November/December juried exhibition, Winter Whites. With entries already in from Australia, Cyprus, Monaco, Canada, and the US, this show promises to rival our current Contemporary Mosaic Art 2009 in its international-ness. Primarily fine art mosaic, the exhibition will also feature textiles, watercolor, acrylic and photography. For a full prospectus, go here.

I’m avalanche-ally excited about this show. Last year’s Simply Red was a bonfire-al success. The artists loved creating the heat and visitors basked in it. This year we’ll put the chill on. With an almost total absence of color, Winter Whites will be a textural banquet, and a deliciously apt follow-up to our neighbor Charlotte Art League’s October exhibit, Art Beyond Sight — that which tickles the four less used senses rather than the rods and cones of our retinas.

I am an unabashed color slut, but these Winter Whites are tickling my fancies big time.

Submit; Partake; Revel; Glean; Go Forth.

Mosaic Mural Intensive with Laurel True

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.

Marian Shapiro’s Field of Dreams

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?

Mosaic Howl

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.

Call for Mosaic Art

Sum of All Parts: Contemporary Mosaic Art in North America, will be held December 4, 2007 – January 30, 2008 at the Walters Cultural Arts Center in Hillsboro, Oregon. Submission receipt deadline is October 15,

New Mosaic

A new piece, fast, fun, and happy. This one was made for a Tiny Art show and measures only 2″ x 8″ using a leftover scrap of wedi. Materials are millefiori, Italian and Mexican smalti, smalti filati, and glass. I call it “Baby Blues.” Larger image here.

Mosaic TaDa!

Well, she’s done. “My Mother Lived and Died” is 11″ x 23″ and uses Shell, Coral, Pearls, Transparent Smalti, China, Pyrite, and Ceramic. I made it as a stab in the dark at working through the death of my mother, but of course really as a way to order my mind around the concepts of life and death in general. The mosaic traces the concept of life from the central birth motif, through the varied passages of life, to the climb up the final mountain and release

Mosaic on the Move: Shipping

“Which way do the bubbles go?” she asks. Click here for a cute read on Protecting Your Package. Still worried? Airfloat Masterpack is a Very Strong Box with egg crate cushioning sized to your exact specifications, specifically designed for moving irreplaceable art from one location to the next. The only downside is that you can’t pop the egg crates for a satisfying BANG when you’re peeved at a loved one. Nor are the pants as cute.

2007 Orsoni Prizes

Winged Geode by SAMA member Lynne Chinn was a finalist for Orsoni Prize 2007: International Award for Mosaic Fine Art. This magnificent piece measures 9” high x 29-1/2” wide x 13” deep, and is made with smalti, 24k gold smalti, 24k colored gold, transparent smalti, piastrini, smashed smalti pizza, and vitreous glass, no grout. This giant-seed-pod of a mosaic is fantastically conceived and so texturally executed that it spins my brain. Thank you, thank you, thank you Lynne! Detail shots are here, and click here to see all the Orsoni finalists.