Artist Watch: Laura Harris

Laura Harris of Melonhead Gallery, was first “introduced” to me by Carol Shelkin. An email from Carol, read, click and… POW! I was literally blown away. That hasn’t happened to me, to that extent,  in a long time. Her work is magnificent. To be perfectly honest I grapple for the words that describe how I feel when I view her work, and that is all in a photo on my trusty ol’ computer, so I can’t imagine what it would be like in person.  She is in my mind a Mythmaker, to borrow a term from the righteous James Hubbell.

Born in Wisconsin she is the daughter of late Midwest sculptor/painter, Walter Lenz.  Laura has been working in mixed media, including fiber art, acrylic art and mosaic art for over 25 years.  More recently, Laura has concentrated on mosaic portrait art.  Using a preferred direct method of application, her choice in tesserae include venetian and dichroic glass, 24 Kt. Italian gold smalti, porcelain, ceramic tile, mirror, stone and salvaged or recycled materials.

Laura’s career was not always limited to the field of art.  She worked as a speech-language pathologist for over 15 years and was recognized in 1998 as one of the top 5 teachers in Wisconsin for her efforts in the field of Assistive Technology and voted New Berlin Public School Teacher of the Year in 2001.

Laura got into mosaics in 1985 after having to quit teaching due to her worsening Multiple Sclerosis. She has risen above her physical limitations, as her artwork shows, but also in her attitude towards her MS: “I can’t feel all of my cuts so I guess there is a silver lining in everything, you just have to look for it.”

Her father has played a vital role in her life as she states: “I have been involved in art my whole life. My dad was an artist and a strong influence. I remember even as a young kid that my dad banned coloring books, he felt they were too restrictive and didn’t challenge the imagination. He also died from complications of MS in 2006.”

“Today, the world can appear fragmented and its people disconnected,  mosaics allow me to fuse the pieces  together to create something cohesive and beautiful , what I wish the world could be.”  –Laura Harris

The lovely Laura in the Cave of the Mounds on a family holiday, before exhibiting in Madison’s Art on the Square.

Artist Watch: Linda Hooper

On to the next artist!! Meet Linda Hooper aka lyndalu_fla. I came across her lovely, lovely pots one day. They’re big and impressive! Then I noticed her mushrooms. Well… I have a bit of a thing for mushrooms so this was right up my alley and the tingles began! Here is her story…

Linda has been mosaicing for 4 years and believes that the wonderfully colourful mosaics in Mexico is what originally inspired her to start. Like most of us, she has always had her hand in something creative: sewing, crochet, cross stitch, decoupage, beaded jewellery, to name but a few. “Watching all the craft, gardening and home improvement shows on HGTV gave me the interest and the courage to try all types of things. I was inspired to take a Woodworking class and fell in love with working with wood – making all kinds of small decorative items, mainly with a scroll saw. I thought that was going to be my big passion, but then I got into mosaics, and discovered that THIS was definitely my big passion.”

Linda promptly read every mosaic book she could get her hands on at her local library, and then bought those she felt were valuable reference material. She realised that pique assiette was her “thang” and that it also gave her the excuse to peruse the thrift stores that much more. “I love the hunt and I love finding bargains. It’s really insane how much “stuff” I have collected for mosaics – both tesserae and substrates. My work area is in the garage, and my poor car no longer fits in there.”

I’m sitting here chuckling to myself while I write this just because I think at some point we all get taken aback by the hook! It’s quite a powerful sensation and the realisation that life has, from this moment on changed can be a little startling, as Linda mentions: “I still can’t believe how quickly mosaics became an obsession. I saw every object as something to mosaic, and even dreamed about mosaics! The first couple of years, I worked strictly with broken china, and then I started working with some vitreous tiles, and more recently have been working with stained glass and tempered glass.”

Her love is garden art and so everything she has created has been done for the garden. She has also been working with concrete, making or modifying bases for mosaic. Lucky Linda attended the SAMA conference earlier this year and took Sherri Warner Hunter‘s class – making lightweight mosaic bases out of polystyrene.

The sharing, camaraderie, support and inspiration she has received from Flickr pals and those from the Mosaic and Stained Glass Forum are an enjoyment to her and spur her on to keep creating! “What an amazing and talented group of people! I was so happy to discover that I was not alone in my obsession – and that I wasn’t crazy after all – or at least if I am, I’m in good company!!!!”. lol!!! 😉

Linda resides in Cape Coral, FL USA where she has lived for the last 8 years.

And finally meet the artist!

My son’s mosaic #3 – Waterworld

So after a beaut weekend with my 3 charming children I thought I’d post my 6 year old’s latest mosaic effort. This one he made on mesh – definitely the way to work I think!!! – and I’m so proud of him. This is the child that I will have a conversation with every other day about the need to go to school (he doesn’t particularly enjoy it…) because it’s the only way into Art School 😉

Original picture that he drew..

Final mosaic that he called Waterworld 🙂 He always comes up with groovy names for his pieces… Next up for him is a giraffe that I think we will put up on the house this time… in their secret hideout!

I dig the sunnies on the sun, lol!!! Kids are the best…

On another note, I didn’t do any mosaic work over the weekend. I can hardly believe it! It was incredibly cold and incredibly miserable so yesterday we all decided to do nothing but have a movie-marathon. It snowed, albeit as much as “snow” can mean to us Canberrans… We did awake this morning to snow up on the mountains though… always a pretty sight. So I am proud of myself for sitting on my behind all day and doing nothing… I don’t “do” nothing. I’ll admit to being someone who can’t sit still, can’t go on vacation somewhere to lie around on a beach or wherever and, do nothing! I’m hopeless at it! 😉

Artist Watch: Ulrike Martinez

Next on my list of thoroughly interesting people is Ulrike Stancil-Martinez, better known to most of us as Ully, or on Flickr as Ullybby.

Born and raised in Germany, Ully went to Dental School and received her Bachelor of Science degree before moving permanently to the US. She first moved out to Georgia in 1969, choosing to live in Atlanta and Savannah, where her daughter – who seems to have not only inherited her good looks, but also her creative abilities – was born. Nowadays she can be found residing in Palm Springs CA, where she has been living for the past 18 years. Previous to this, though, she lived in Avalon on Catalina Island for 4 years – which I must say is a curiosity as I have ties to the island aswell! She claims that her time spent on Catalina were some of the best years of her life.

Ully dabbled in fashion design even sewing the clothes themselves, modeling, painting murals, some interior design and also has a license in manicure and desktop-publishing.

Ully discovered mosaics quite by accident about two years ago (this is becoming a theme with us all!). Her husband brought home large marble tiles that were left over from some houses he was building. “I just did not have the heart to throw them away and then it hit me! I went on the internet and looked at mosaics but had no idea how to make them…”. Ully was so anxious to start that she just jumped right in. Her first mosaic was a seahorse that she installed in the shower of her bathroom.

She found that her experience as a dental technician came in handy with her mosaics as both take a huge amount of attention to detail. In 1999, Ully suffered extensive injuries to both her arms, preventing her from continuing her dental career. She was well known as a great dentist and her clients, still to this day, tell her she’s the best! 🙂 “I was a mess until the magic marble appeared and mosaic came into my Life”.

Ully is entirely self-taught. Can you imagine that?! When I asked her if she’d taken any courses, her response almost seemed self conscious that she had in fact not and has solely learned from books and “lots of bloody fingers from the hammer and hardie”… Conversely, I would have to say that it makes me that much more in awe of her work!

Inspiration for her comes from things that are around her. Not necessarily directly either, some things around her will evoke a memory – her time spent when she used to walk in the woods, the certain colour of a stone, the layout of a magazine, even a TV show! They can all inspire her in some way where she must immediately put pencil to paper and sketch the image in her mind.

When I asked her what her advice (if any) would be, she replied , “If I could give advice to somebody about anything and I can with 61 years – I have lived a little – follow your heart, but do not forget to use your mind also. These two go hand in hand. If you follow your brain only, you end up unhappy and same goes with only following your heart. If you use both heart and mind, happiness is guaranteed.”

You can find more of her mosaics on her website and I’ve included some of my favourites below.

And some pieces that have not (yet?) been finished, but that I just adore!

Finally, meet Ully:

Artist Watch: Janine Irisarri

I came across Janine’s work on one of the many mosaic forums I’m a part of. Her work is gorgeous, as is Janine… Here is her story…

Janine’s path to Mosaic Art was not without a detour or two along the way. Two major curves in the road were a career in foreign language education (specifically teaching Spanish) and raising two children in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.

Although Janine had had no formal art training, she always had a deep desire to create. During the 80’s when her kids were young, she became involved with folk art painting on wood and quickly became an expert at wielding a jig saw to cut forms suitable for the desired paintings. “Could there be a connection here with cutting shapes?”, she asks.

The motivation to pursue some sort of art was cultivated further by her children. Both son and daughter took several art classes in high school. “Their work”, she says “as any mother would say, was phenomenal! I figure…, they have my genes…I must have some artistic ability too!” So in 2004, Janine retired from teaching, children were graduated and on their own. She was ready to embrace art and unleash her creativity!

Janine began her artistic endeavors, full speed ahead, with a variety of drawing classes, design classes, and watercolour classes at several of the local art centers. All have been an integral part in her artistic journey.

“Early on I realized that the key to all art is the ability to draw. Therefore I have really dedicated myself to drawing.”

It wasn’t until a year and a half ago that one of her drawing friends told her about a mosaic class that was being offered. “I decided to try something ‘different’. I became instantly hooked! I was captivated by the color and reflective qualities of the glass that we were using. Furthermore, I was and am intrigued by the use of shapes…… somehow reminiscent of my jigsaw-wielding days!”

Janine further states: “Mosaic art has become a way to breathe life and color into my drawings. I found early on that mosaic art is quite forgiving….. quite like drawing…… don’t like the line you drew, erase it. Don’t like the shape you cut….. cut another.” {Hmmm… wish it were so easy for me 😉 }

Janine is stimulated by the challenges that are presented in mosaic art…..what shapes to use; how to create colour gradation with glass; how to create texture in the work; and one of the most important to her: how to simplify. “The challenges are endless. I often find, perhaps in a concert, or even in a conversation, that my mind drifts to the details of the mosaic I’m working on…. trying to solve a problem with shape, color, or pattern.”

Janine mentions how fortunate she has been to have had some great teachers along the way…. teachers that have really helped her to see with new eyes. “I still am taking classes or workshops to develop my skills in drawing and mosaic. My newest endeavour with mosaics will be in September when I will take a mosaic sculpture class. Going from 2D to 3D , yet another challenge!”

I find this story so inspiring… let’s have a peek at her incredibly detail-oriented art now, shall we?!

Finally, meet the Artiste in question, Janine:

Artist Watch: Ewa Chirkowska

Up next is Ewa Chirkowska, who hails from Poland. The moment I laid eyes on her work my breath was taken away, goosebumps had risen… she’s simply amazing!

Ewa’s mosaic adventure started a few years ago, during her summer holidays in Tunisia. In Sousse, Ewa went to the local museum and it was there that she was enchanted by the wonderful ancient mosaics – “colourful time capsules”, as she says.

She was also impressed by the ornamental tiles, which she found everywhere. The year before her trip to Tunisia, she had seen azulejos used to decorate houses in Majorca, Spain and she was fascinated by the beauty of the Moorish style in ceramic wares. “All those summer ‘experiences’ as well as my encounters with the mosaics and ceramics became my great passion. My intuition, my ‘inner voice’ told me: mosaic – this form of artistic expression is for you! You must do it!”

Following this inner voice, Ewa started looking for available materials in her hometown of Poznań. She created her first mosaics almost 3 years ago. It was made of pebbles bought in a nearby IKEA. She was astonished to find out that there in Poznań was a small manufacturer that produced hand made tiles, ceramic borders and colourful square tiles (1cm x 1cm). “What a coincidence!”, she says “Or the evidence of ‘synchronicity’ (as C.G. Jung would say) which had strongly influenced my life…”

At this time, Ewa had been working in a soul-less job for a large corporation going on a couple of years. She realised that this was the moment in her life that she needed to quit her job, to change profession and fully devote herself to her mosaics. Both husband and daughter were fully supportive of her making this change.

Soon enough she discovered stained glass and fell in love. “Oddly enough, I found out that there is a warehouse in Poznań which offers glass of various shades of colour. I could spend hours watching those wonderful sheets… Was it more evidence of ‘synchronicity’? There are only three warehouses in Poland where you can buy stained glass – and one of them is only two miles away from my house!”

Ewa has found her support for mo-love through the yahoo groups: MAO (Mosaicartistorg) and MAG (Mosaic Addicts Group). “They have always provided me with support and kind words!”

She is inspired by the works of such artists as Antonio Gaudi (“I dream of a journey following in Gaudi’s wake!”), artistic team Hans Unger-Eberhard Schulze ( Unger-Schulze Mosaics ) , Mia Tavonatti and Carole Choucair Oueija.

“I am very happy that I have found my own way of artistic expression through mosaic! It happened so unexpectedly…”

Now time for the eye candy 🙂 Ewa seems to work in large scale, so I can only imagine how amazing these are. I’ve included dimensions for each pic underneath…

“Africa” – Mosaic inspired by “The Watering Hole” by Jonathan Sanders; 119cm x 68cm or 47″ x 27″

“Crocodile” 58cm x 250cm or 23″ x 99″

“Klimt, My Inspiration”67cm x 200cm or 26″ x 79”

“Kangaroo” 70.5cm x 103cm or 28″ x 40″

“Lizard I” 60cm x 40cm or 23.5″ x 16″

Meet the lovely Ewa:

Artist Watch: Gila Rayberg

I’ve been looking forward to writing this post – Gila is such an interesting and amazing person and I just got goosebumps when I read over the info she sent me about herself. And then of course there are her mosaics!
As the youngest of 6 kids, most of whom are artists and/or musicians, Gila was exposed to art and music at an early age. She counts her sister, renowned mosaic artist in her own right Elizabeth Raybee, as being one of her earliest influences. “By the time I was cognizant”, says Gila, “there was already plenty of music & art around. I remember my bedroom as a little girl, painted (by Elizabeth & perhaps some of her friends) chartreuse & covered with jungle animals and trees. On another wall was this bony woman with long skinny arms & poky fingers. Even though she looked kind of scary, I always thought she was way cool.”

The summer prior to her graduating from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, she spent that time with Elizabeth in San Francisco. She was taking a couple of art and geology electives at SF State to complete some requirements before graduating in ’89 (BA in Music). It was at this time that Elizabeth was just beginning in her mosaic adventures and it was in her studio that Gila got her start in mosaics; grouting Elizabeths’s first mosaic no less! Gila’s first actual mosaic was a table that she made in 1990.

After earning her Masters Degree (MM, Trombone Performance) Gila spent a year traveling around the world solo, followed by several years of teaching & more travel throughout SE Asia. One of the most memorable & life altering adventures of her life was spending time on the remote Indonesian Island of Siberut with the Mentawai people. Her time there is often a source of inspiration, both figuratively & in the abstract. Here’s a picture of her host & medicine man, Tarason, the inspiration for one of her first attempts at mosaic portraiture.

One of the more interesting positions Gila found herself in was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where she was helping to organize a National Marching Band. Here she is directing the trombone choir during one of their music camp concerts. (1992)

After that experience, Gila joined the Faculty of Music at the University of Malaysia, Sarawak (Kuching, Borneo) where she taught instrumental (winds & brass) music & directed the orchestra. Throughout all her travels & adventures, she had an image in her mind of one day owning a place of her own where she could mosaic everything in sight. It was a very strong feeling & persistent.

In 1999 Gila returned to the USA & settled in New Orleans, where not long after, she met her partner Mark. It was for his birthday that she decided to make him a mosaic table. Gila had no tools, no materials & hadn’t made a mosaic in at least 6 years. “It wasn’t easy getting everything together without him knowing! When I gave it to him, he was speechless!! Believe me, that’s a rarity!”, she states.

That table really started her on her current path. Mark is way beyond supportive of her mosaic mania. Plus, he REALLY loves her work. There is rarely a piece that he wants her to sell. He prefers, & Gila concurs, it would be great to win the lottery so they could have a spacious gallery for her mosaics and the artwork they’ve collected over the years. Don’t we all?! I love how supportive her partner is. It’s a base that I certainly need in order for my creativity to really flourish, so I really admire them for this.

Gila goes on to say, “I feel as though through mosaics I’ve finally found my improvisational voice while continuing on of my life’s adventures; exploring materials & continually experimenting keeps me fully engaged with plenty of space for spontaneity.”

Gila teaches workshops between other projects, on an irregular basis. She usually holds 4-6 workshops a year with up to 6 participants. She has always been passionate about teaching & enjoys discovering the similarities between music & mosaic in the process. “I guess, since I love to learn, it makes sense that I love to teach!”

“It’s my aim for each participant to leave equipped to do something similar on their own. Among other things, we discuss tools, materials, design & inspiration.” One thing that everyone loves is the wide range of materials in her studio, from which they can choose to create their mosaic.

If you are interested in the classes, email Gila and you should check out her website as well as her Flickr account. Her portfolio is so huge that I can’t possibly really show it off here to its fullest potential… But here are some of my faves:

details of her kitchen window… it’s just stunning!!!

Finally, meet Gila 🙂