San Francisco’s Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church Mosaics

Heading back to the Bay Area, an old friend I hadn’t seen in almost 10 years got news of some mosaics being installed in a church. Not one to miss anything mosaic-related, we went over to the church to see what we could and Bob Andrews, the artist happened to be there. Anyway, we introduced ourselves and I told him I made mosaics and was interested in having a quick look-see. He was more than happy to let us have a look around and talk a bit about his career. The church was closed, well and truly so it was really lovely that he let us in. Firstly you need to understand that the man is 83 years old and has been working on this particular church for 60 years, if memory serves me well. He looked no more than 60, truly! The dome measured 60 feet in diameter. IT WAS MASSIVE. {Oops, sorry hit the caps button, but actually it’s appropriate…} This particular install was set to take 3 weeks. We got there half way through the third week and they were just finishing up. He seemed to think about another few days and the install would be done. It was the dome that they were installing – a mosaic of Jesus Christ. The mosaic had taken 2 years to make and was made of smalti – lots of it and alot of gold! He did actually tell me the exact number of tesserae and I forget now. I thought it was amazing in and of itself that he would even count!? How does anyone do that? They can’t possibly count as they go can they? Really is it possible, or is it an estimate?!

Nevertheless, the entire project was made in the reverse indirect. I was in awe! Just the sheer size of it and then having to work it upside down and back to front… Really I’m not one for religious icons but this was simply amazing. Bob made the mosaic with his son in his studio in Italy. They had a three person team come out (from Italy) – 2 men and a woman – for the installation and Bob’s son took the paper off and scrubbed it all down… Alot of work!

He let us climb the scaffolding, 100 ft into the air, on really rickety stairs… I was freakin’ out! Going up is worse than coming done. I never used to be afraid of heights until I had kids. It really does change a woman! 😉 But it was well worth the effort. I’ll never see it that close again and it was stunning, simply stunning!

Andrews has made mosaics in 21 different churches throughout the US. As a Greek Orthodox himself, I got the sense that most of the mosaics were in Greek Orthodox churches… When I asked him how he got started in this medium, he said he came out of Art School having done ceramics and pottery etc… Someone at a University (that he ended up becoming the artist in residence for) suggested that he make a mosaic and that’s really how it all started. Then he mentioned that his church in his hometown had burnt down and the priest asked him to make a mosaic after the rebuild. It all rose from the ashes, as they say…

He was such a lovely man, incredibly fit – he said he works out 3 times a week. That’s 3 more times than me 🙂 and so modest about his work. He was really very humble.

Please understand my photos do not do any of this work justice – you just cannot imagine the magnitude and scale of what these mosaics are like! I also couldn’t choose which photos to put in, so most of them are here! You might just have to go and visit it…

And here he is 🙂

Some mosaic in Sydney

I just returned from a trip to Sydney – love that place!!! Feel rather lucky, really, to live so close. I suppose moving has crossed our minds many times, but Canberra works too well for us right now. Maybe down the road… Anyway, as I was there for other business associated stuff, I didn’t have time to go out of my way to check out all the mosaic. There’s too much to see in a weekend anyway… but a little here and there goes a long way, right?

So I photographed what I did see. One was a sign for a restaurant in Darling Harbour. Interesting decor in there actually. I get easily bored by restaurant interiors because most just look the same and could easily be so much more interesting at not such a great cost, but they made the interiors stand out a little more from the usual.

The other one was a floor installation at the Circular Quay train station. It was all made from ceramic, and I can’t tell you who the artist is or when it was installed, but it has been made out of ceramic and the design was made in several areas of the station. Quite a clever design as it really improves the overall appearance without the feeling that it is so beautiful you don’t want to step on it!

Last but not least, is the Sydney Opera House. I suppose it is not the mosaic that people find attractive with this building but I was looking at it and realised that the technique employed of using grout to create the scalloped look is part of mosaic technique. And the entire roof is made of ceramic tile. I can’t fathom how it was done, it’s just amazing! But I love that building. It really is an amazing piece of architecture, also because acoustically it is home to one of the best halls in the world! And of course I, as a sound engineer, have an interest in acoustics too…

Apologies for the terrible photo. It was drizzling and I was on a “fairy” boat, as my daughter implied. 🙂