This spring my exploration in mosaic work is turning towards the sculptural and more spontaneous.
A small series of work came out of a favorite broken pot. I call it the shaman series. I had planned to show a friend how to make the lime plaster surround I use in my mosaics and needed to design something to plaster around. I had been saving this favorite pot to use in a mosaic for quite a while. It was created by a friend’s uncle, nationally known ceramic artist J. David Broudo. He started the arts program at Endicott College.
I placed the pot in a big brown paper bag and started hitting it with a hammer, all the while imagining the interesting shards being created. I started to assemble the pieces. There was a spontaneity about the creation of the work. I thought it looked shamanic.
In no time I had a composition I liked that would work well with the lime plaster surround.
Click images to enlarge
As I was ending my work for the day I saw a little face looking back at me from a small pile of shards.
Spontaneity again took over and the face was soon adorned with a headdress of colorful feathers.
The last piece of the series resulted from my interest in the Zen circle, the Enso. modernzen.org. I’ve started painting Japanese ink circles and plan to create one in Mosaic for my garden.
The sculptural interest has me creating undulating surfaces on which to mosaic. They are created by thin-setting together four layers of fiberglass mesh and then draping it over objects when still wet to harden.
My first completed work on the undulating surface is called “Blue Fish”. Fish is the theme for this years Gallery 53 on Rocky Neck opening Member exhibition, Gloucester being known by the locals as Fish Town.
As the season warms I’ll be adding to my tree carving with another mosaic insert. I hope you will come see it during the open studio tour.
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