Sacred Shard Mosaics

INSTITUTE OF MOSAIC ART: Oakland, California

IMA is the culmination of Laurel True’s efforts to create a mosaic fantasy land where students can come to take technical classes from some of the most inspired artists of our day. It’s an incredible place just to visit but to take a class there is much like checking into your wildest dream.

My instructor for the week was Sheri Warner Hunter and the five day class was the Concrete Institute aka: Creating substrates using foam and concrete, armatures made from rebar and metal mesh, and casting of bowls.  I had been wanting to take the class for a very long time and thought I might end up at Sheri’s studio in Tennessee.  When the class was offered at IMA, I was thrilled. Two items off my bucket list in one fell swoop!

Laurel True & Sheri Warner Hunter

Without a doubt, the people you meet in the world of mosaics are simply some of the most generous and enthusiastic people in the world!

Our projects went from clay Mockettes…

to pieces of foam…

to carving…

to layers of mesh and slurries…

to finished substrates with a sampling of colorant…

Learning about armatures and casting was equally fun!

IMA itself was a real kick! Hands down, the kitchen was my favorite room but it was all fabulous!

Collections and interesting objects are tucked into every nook and cranny.  A tea tin is not a simple tea tin…

Cups are not merely for drinking.

If sweets are your thing, well, you have to try a bite of this confection that magically appears on the table each and every morning!

Did I mention retail sales?  Oh yeah, baby!

The hallways are an incredible gallery of mosaic art!

All this and I have to say, my favorite part of IMA, was seeing the impact that it’s had on the surrounding neighborhood!  The mosaics are spilling out of the place, into the community and there is a deliciousness to that which embodies the spirit of the people who live and work there.

It was over far too quickly. I was so grateful for the opportunity to participate and pleased that the West coast experience enabled me to bring my work home with me in my car!

Mt. Shasta had a lot tell me on this journey. Memories and mosaics to create and last a lifetime!

Thanks Sheri & IMA!

ANTONI GAUDI: Barcelona, Spain

My husband took a business trip to Spain and was lucky enough to spend a few hours touring some of the historical sites for Antoni Gaudi.

This was Gaudi’s residence from 1906 – 1926.

Great attention was paid to artistic detail.

The area is very well known for a series of mosaic benches in The Square. They begin in the mountains, on solid ground, but then extend over the columns of the Sala Hipostila

The steps down into Park Guell are guarded by a giant mosaic lizard.

Sala Hipostila was designed to house the market of the city garden. It is formed by 86 columns.

Overlooking the main entrance are two pavillions in Gaudi’s characteristic style: arched forms, a medley of lights and colors.

Gaudi is best know of course for his tenure as the primary architect for Sagrada Familia.

The cathedral is still evolving as evident by the combination of both old and new additions.

The scope and scale of the project must be truly something to witness in person. Bruce says it’s worth the extra euros to take the elevator to the top!

Enormous mosaics on a very grand scale are still being constructed on the exterior of the buildings.

Gaudi designed this entrance as well as many other carvings in addition to all of the sculpture and mosaic work.

Random apartment buildings and other Gaudi works are still vibrant additions to life in Barcelona. Can you even imagine being the lucky person who calls this place home today?

LAUREL SKYE STUDIOS: Arcata, California

Memorial Day weekend, my friend Wendy and I went down to Arcata, California for workshops at Laurel Skye Studios.

It was a beautiful drive including redwoods and gorgeous scenery.

After we had settled into our hotel, we took a walk to get a feel for the town. No further than the town square, we came upon our first inkling that we were in for a real treat!

What else can one do but offer blessings? Laurel is the Mosaic Goddess.

Her mosaics are amazing and it was so fun to see how her work has infiltrated the culture of her home town, even down to the tip jar in a great bakery.

Before leaving home, I had written a power of intent to be as open to new experiences as I possibly could, do absorb whatever technique she could offer and to enjoy the experience of travel, seeing new things etc.
It all left my head as soon as her daughter, Kiah, opened the door and welcomed us inside. Their home is mesmerizing. I literally had an out of body experience trying to embrace the reality of sitting in her living room. I vaguely remember taking notes, thank God she offered us a cup of tea and a handbook to accompany the classes.

Every niche’ is filled with something interesting to see. After you’ve looked at the wonderous Asian statues for a few minutes, you suddenly notice a few little monkeys or frogs in their midst.

Students bring food to share potluck style and Kiah transforms it all into a feast for the soul amid mosaic teapots and plates.  It seriously reminded me of The Little Princess where the girls return to their attic to discover Divine gifts left by the observant Indian rajah next door.

I was eventually able to wrap my brain around the workshops and our reason for coming! Laurel has a wonderful space for classes.

Her teaching style is fantastic; encouraging but also task oriented which keeps the energy moving forward. We learned a great deal about efficiency, cutting techniques and design. One concept I heartily embraced was that of “spacers”, a place to rest the eye amongst more complex design elements. Kiah is a fabulous young woman, a gifted mosaic artist in her own right. She was a tremendous resource and patient mentor for us throughout the weekend too.

The Vetro tessuto is definitely a style I will embrace. I enjoyed working with all the bling on a small scale!

Just when you think it couldn’t get any better…
You’ve recovered from the beauty and intricacies of the Skye domain!
You’ve lavished in hours focused only upon your project in the workshop!
You’ve savored tasty morsels!
OMG! There are several rooms of retail sales! Laurel and Kiah have amassed an incredible assemblage of items that would cause any mosaic raven to burst out in song!  Millefiori, rhinestones, tiles and glass, oh my!  And yes, those rugs in the hallway are truly mosaics!

We’re talking bling bling and dyes from the Netherlands, and macaroni & cheese yellow tile…and frames! Ahhhhhh. Santa, just send me to Laurel’s house each year until I can tile no more!

And so our lovely weekend drew to a close. As Laurel has yet to adopt anyone permanently, we had no choice but to return to our own studios…enchanted, perhaps a little wiser and completely unable to sleep as zillions of new project ideas now swirl in our brains!

Laurel Skye is a gracious, wise sage of a woman with a glass obsession beyond compare. Thank you, Laurel, for sharing your talents with the planet.  Highly recommended: Laurel’s wonderful book, Mosaic Renaissance, 10/09!

DALE CHIHULY: Desert Botanic Gardens Phoenix, Arizona

This was such a fabulous experience. The show runs through May (?) If you go, get tickets for the 4-8pm viewing. You can watch as the glass changes colors as the sun sets and again as it becomes backlit with exhibit lighting in the dark. Lots of wildlife to observe in the garden at twilight too.

THE MAGIC GARDENS OF ISAIAH ZAGER: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I honestly don’t know how to even start this entry other than to say that I feel as if I have just returned from a pilgrimage to mecca.

All week long people at the SAH (Society for the Arts in Healthcare) conference kept telling me that I had to get to the Magic Gardens but I wanted to wait until Saturday to share it with my two friends who were coming up from DC, Beth & Kristen. We set out on a very warm day and got distracted by fabulous murals and urban garden programs. Just about the time I was beginning to wonder if we had missed it by a street, there it was:

Wine bottles, found objects, bicycle tires, broken plates, hand painted tiles with messages…

Once you enter the magic gardens, you wind your way through a series of arches, stairwells, niches, and weave in and out of rooms. It literally feels like the journey of a neuron through the mind of one man, Isaiah Zagar.

Whether visitors “get it” or not, everyone could agree that the man is prolific. The entire basement is thoroughly mosaicked as well as the small hallway between row buildings.

It took awhile to sit and absorb the complexity of it all. And people were sitting to enjoy it, to discuss their political views, the glorious sunshine of the day as it shimmered through the glass. Thought we had seen it all.

Nope! Isaiah’s energy carries on throughout the neighborhood, the alley way, a nearby church…and into the rest of the city…

Loved the batman garage door!

Throughout it all; Isaiah Keeps Working!

An urban pioneer who does his own thing and brings joy to the planet…

LILY YEH/THE VILLAGE OF ART & HUMANITIES: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

One of the stops on my Wednesday afternoon tour was to the Village of Art & Humanities in NE Philadelphia. A woman named Lily Yeh decided that she would paint a mural on the side of a building. Her activity drew the curiosity of the neighbors and she soon had children who wanted to participate. She eventually got them involved in mosaics and their collective efforts soon created a beautiful park in an area that had once been a neighborhood dumping ground. Today there is an active community where art classes are taught, students study film making, gardening and of course mosaics!

Where once there was an empty lot, mosaic trees sprang forth…

There is a meditation garden with a beautiful mural and mosaicked floors.

There is a celebration wall of angels…

A healing garden with a collage of hand painted floral tiles…

A memorial for the nearby high school which lost more students in Vietnam than any other high school in the country…

I especially love that there is one angel to represent all of the world religions. Hindu, Christian, Buddhist etc. In between each section each individual has their own memorial tile.

The vibe of the neighborhood continues to develop as people gather together to create new works of art and to maintain what is already in existence.

On Friday, April 18th I had the extreme pleasure of listening to Lily Yeh as she spoke of her work to create a national memorial for the bones of genocide victims in Rwanda. The words and the images of her slide show photos will stay with me forever.

She spoke of broken people and broken pieces (tesserae) coming together in power. She also brought a gentleman from Rwanda with her to speak of the healing of his people as a result of this project. In addition to the temple, buildings were painted with large rendition of children’s art from the village, water cisterns were placed where previously only one faucet served 100 families, and women are banding together to form job cooperatives for the sale of artistic and household goods. “Shift happens when people become engaged in artistic process.”

Twibuke’ means REMEMBER but Lily also reminds us that “the flame of fire is in all of us. We all have the Divine in each of us.”

CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
On Wednesday afternoon we had the option of signing up for a tour for the SAH conference. The first stop was CHOP. This was a tremendous mobile that hung the entire duration of all six stories of the hospital entry.

They split the group in two and allowed half of us to contribute to a mosaic mural while the other half toured. It will eventually be on display in a new center for children who are grieving. Finally, finally hospitals are beginning to treat more than physical symptoms and are beginning to recognize that people heal when attention is given to body, mind and spirit!

This is part of the six story poem that had been so intriguing in the tour description.

THE CITY OF MURALS: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is known as the “city of murals” and I believe there are 30 – 40 of them?! Absolutely stopped me in my tracks as I would turn around a corner and come upon one of them! I saw some of these while out walking, others from my shuttle or while on the tour bus.

On a school depicting the importance of education:

Celebrated leaders of a NE community:

Important historical figures:

Equality:

And my favorite which celebrated the theatrical arts. (My hotel was on Broad Street, Avenue of the Arts. Three big opera houses and theaters across the street.)

It was the only one I saw with a 3-D effect. The woman with the rose costume was undulating out of the center of her flower. The central figure was wearing mosaic neck rings with glass accents in her peacock feather headdress. Gorgeous! And in the parking lot of a convenience store!

The Kennedy School: Portland, Oregon

The Kennedy School is an old elementary school that was purchased by the McMenamin Brothers. It has been converted into a roaming pub and hotel. It  features the many mosaics of artist, Mary Topanga as well as a fascinating collection of paintings and Asian art.  Without a doubt, you get the eerie feeling that the ghosts of former students still roam the hallways, utterly bemused by the new occupants.

Mary’s mosaics whorl around the hallways in all directions.

They designate drinking fountains and even skylights…

This one is an interpretation of a found love letter that was exchanged between students.

Some of my personal favorites are the portraits of teachers that were created based upon their classroom photos!

Throughout the building there are unique discoveries to be made!  This photo portrays a group of girls who are dressed for the May Day celebration.

Just down the hallway, an artist has rendered one of the girls to welcome you into the restroom!

Even the plumbing pipes have been transformed into little works of art!

Various areas of the school have been designated for special use. The auditorium is now a theater showing current films. The cafeteria is one of the main pub areas. The library can be rented for special parties. Some of the former classrooms are now available as hotel rooms.  My personal favorite is the principal’s office which has been converted into a red velvet smoking lounge for cigars. The Asian art is prolific and truly adds to the ambiance of each room.

The light fixtures are also amazing!  Many are from the 1970′s and embellished with mosaic glass and gems. No two are alike in the entire establishment!

The outdoor garden area features a beautiful mosaic fireplace!  It’s a lovely place to enjoy a beer on a warm night!

We highly recommend a visit to the Kennedy School on your next trip to Portland. The pub is fantastic and the atmosphere, well, it’s an A+   Kudos to the urban renewal happening here!