Thursday, July 30, 2009

Creation of a Mosaic Mirror...

Well here I am flying in here at the last minute. I have sealed my board with black paint. Now I will start to play with the tiles to see if I can come up with a design scheme.


Ok now I have to seal the wood-I use black paint because it was the closet to me. I decided on design 2 as you can see. It just felt right. As you can tell, I am pretty easy and have found to follow my intuition. That could turn out really scarey though. YiKeS! For some unknown reason I cannot design a piece with bright bold Matisse colors!..It is very annoying to me. I love fun funky stuff, but can't bring that all together. You know, the folky stuff. I am just about to give up on even trying. Oh well, I am off to draw and color now. Oh the time it took me to do all of the stuff above was about 3 hours. So right now that is about 3.5 hours into the project.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The Creation of a Decorative Mosaic Mirror





I was reading one of my favorite mosaic artist's blog yesterday (Barbara Keith). Barbara was explaining the stages of a mosaic piece and how long each stage takes. I loved her idea of sharing this and thought I would do the same. Thanks Barbara for the idea!

The first part is rather slow, it involves deciding what to do with what you've got. Since most of my work is by commission only or by client I don't keep a lot of substrates to use. I did find a Gothic shaped mirror and pulled it out from hiding. I knew right off what colors I wanted (kinda) I looked in my stash and saw these beautiful tiles that Beth Norton from TigerLily Treasures had made for me. That would be my jumping point. From this point I started searching for other colors to coordinate. I don't know how I find anything in my studio, it's really really messy right now. So my time for this was about 30 minutes. Not bad! This will be a fun project without worry if someone will like it. I love the color choice too. I will try to post my progress tomorrow.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The Art of Mosaic 2009-Somerville Museum



The Art of Mosaic 2009
New England Exhibition of Contemporary Mosaics


Somerville Museum
1 Westwood Road, Somerville, MA 02143 617-666-9810
www.SomervilleMuseum.org

September 10 – October 31, 2009
Thursdays 2-7 pm, Fridays 2-5 pm
Saturdays 12-5pm, Sundays 2-5 pm

Oh how I wish I could be apart of this event! Let me tell you if you know Bill Buckingham you know that anything that Bill does, he does it right. I can promise you that you will be amazed at the mosaic artistry that you will come in contact with. If you are a mosaic artist then take advantage of the classes that will be offered by the most talented artists.

I look forward to reading more on this wonderful event! Thanks Bill, sponsers, and all the folks who have made this New England Exhibition possible. I can't wait!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

The women of Gee's Bend

"Get Ready," an aquatint print by Mary Lee Bendolph of Gee’s Bend, Ala.
Photo courtesy of Tinwood Media

The women of Gee's Bend
Quilts and artwork from a collective of rural African-American women will be displayed at the Schneider Museum


By Katherine
Hannon
for the Mail Tribune
July 10, 2009 6:00 AM
"I remember when I was 6 and I tried to do my first Nine Patch. I didn't know what I was doing," recalls Mary Ann Pettway, 52. "I was just trying to be like Mama. That's when I started learning how to make quilts. We didn't have any beds to sleep on. We used quilts on the floor, four or five layers."

Pettway was one of seven Alabama women in Ashland on July 4 for the opening of "Visual Jazz," quilts and works on paper by the women of Gee's Bend, on exhibit through Sept. 14 at the Schneider Museum of Art on the Southern Oregon University campus. The women are members of a collective of rural African-American quilt makers who show their work in museums around the country.

The quilts of Gee's Bend are easy to appreciate, with their bright bands of color vibrating with an exuberance that can't be contained. Appreciation increases, however, when you understand that this exuberance grew from the poorest, least hopeful of places.

A sharp turn in the Alabama River all but surrounds the small peninsula of Gee's Bend. Most of the 700 residents are direct descendants of the slaves who worked on the Pettway plantation, and many still have the Pettway name. After emancipation, they stayed on as sharecroppers and tenant farmers, living a life decades behind the rest of the country.

"We quilted by kerosene until the 1960s and toted water until the '70s," explains China Pettway, 57.

Their geographic and cultural isolation allowed a unique multi-generational art form to develop. Likened to the works of Henri Matisse and Paul Klee, and hailed by the New York Times as "miraculous works of modern art," the quilts of Gee's Bend are acclaimed for their honesty, ingenuity and spirit.

Despite their success, the women of Gee's Bend still make quilts the way they always have.

"We make what we want to make, not what the world expects from a quilt," says Loretta Bennett, 48.

For generations, their design choices were dictated by poverty. Using worn cloth and work clothes, "old shirtsleeves, britches and dress tailings ... every little good spot you could find," says Nettie Young, 92, in a documentary interview, they played with placement and patterns until, out of necessity, beauty emerged.

The quilts of Gee's Bend shine with the spirit of women who are larger than their limitations. They are a celebration of innovation in the face of deprivation, a testament to creativity unfettered by life.

Today, Gee's Bend quilts and prints hang alongside the works of well-known artists. When asked whether they feel like artists, the women of Gee's Bend answer with a long, drawn-out "noooo."

"But," admits Louisiana Bendolph, 48, "when I go to our exhibits and see our quilts on the wall, I realize I'm part of something bigger. I'm learning how to use that word 'pride,' to know that some things I do are worthy of being proud."

Bennett agrees. "I'm beginning to learn. I saw a quote, 'Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.'

"I'm starting to learn that."

Katherine Hannon is a freelance writer living in Medford.



If you go
What: "Visual Jazz," quilts and works on paper by African-American women of Gee's Bend, Ala.

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, through Sept. 14

Where: Schneider Museum of Art, Southern Oregon University, 1250 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland

Admission: $5 suggested donation

Call: 552-6245

WOW I wish I could go!!! Do not miss this.
Original article from: click hereMail Tribune - Oregon

Friday, July 3, 2009

Wine me up and watch me go!




Don't you just love this mosaic wine bottle and glass holder? You will never see this anywhere but here! This fun art retails for $45, but I only have one. What colors would go well in your home? I love to create custom work.

These tiles area beautiful blue and white china, sorry but I don't know the name of the pattern.

This makes a great wedding gift, too

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

I bet you didn't know!

Are you lost for mosaic or drawing/painting inspiration? Bored with your own ideas? Well then, Dover Publishing has a cure for that. They offer free samples of line art and color art for download. It has helped me over the years with my own ideas, so they might just help with yours. Plus you can order online or buy the books at your local bookstore. I like that cause I want everything right this minute. So, take a look and enjoy.
Laura.
ps: I am not affiliated Dover Publishing, just love their books.

Portraits in Contemporary Mosaic Exhibit

Get a taste of mosaic eye candy! Here are photos from the Chicago Mosaic School's, "Portraits in Contemporary Mosaic Exhibit" Incredible work!
Enjoy.

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