Gila Mosaics
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Master of Horse - Installed at The Ruins!

10/3/2020

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Rachel wasted no time in getting my portrait of John Moskal, Master of Horse on the wall of The Ruins.  It's the first mosaic to be installed in this room, now dubbed The Stable.  Follow the project to see how this important aspect of the mining story develops with additional workhorses, mules and such. 
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Unpacking the pieces, 7 in total.  The torso & portrait were the first to go up.
& here we see the the final piece being put in place!
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Tada - Master of Horse complete!
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Read about & see more on the backstory of this mosaic's origin & creation here.
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Behind the Scenes ~ Master of Horse for The Ruins Project

9/25/2020

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Earlier this year I was invited to create a portrait for an ongoing, international collaborative mosaic installation at The Ruins Project in Western Pennsylvania.  The project, located on the Great Allegheney Passage, at an abandoned coal mine site, celebrates the rich history of the coal mining industry.  
My subject, John Moskal, was born in 1887 in Poland, and immigrated to the United States in 1907.  He joined other family members who already lived in Whittsett PA and began working in the coal mines.  He, and other members of his family, worked in the mines, until it shut down in 1946.

This small black and white photo is the only one I received of him with a horse, to use as my reference.  Definitely a challenge!
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These are a couple other photos of a younger John with his daughter
​& later in life with his wife, Kathryn.
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I began by drawing several freehand sketches, coming up with a simple "cartoon"
from which to begin the mosaic work. 
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details of the work & color pallet
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For his face I used Italian, Mexican & Chinese Smalti.
I started with the eyes, and worked outwards from there.
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Next I moved on to creating his hat, altering the cap from the original image into a hard hat. I used the bottom of a crystal glass to represent the the miner's light.  Ceramic & crockery shards were used for the remainder of the hat. I love the texture & interest that the crockery rims creates.

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Next came his shirt & sweater, using a combination of marble and unglazed porcelain, to create additional textural contrast.  I was delighted to find this horse image, in my stash of dishes, to button up his shirt. 
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Next came the all important horses, flanking the portrait/
Again starting with simplified drawing as my guide.
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I felt the need to use some metal pieces for the horses' bridles​.  I was thrilled when Rachel, the proprietor and creative genius behind The Ruins , found & sent me a few wonderful rusty bits (below) that were scavenged at The Ruins.  Equally fun, was finding a way to incorporate them into the mosaic.
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Rachel sent 3 small rusty circles, but I needed one more. I created a 4th, faux rusty ring, using metallic Mexican Smalti.  The horses themselves are all marble and stone, cut by hand ​with the traditional hammer & hardie.  I also found glass taxidermy eyes in my stash, which give them a realistic look.  One in particular, is forever staring back at the viewer!
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Once the horses were complete, I moved on to
​grouting the hat & sweater sections.
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The portrait of John Moskal, Master of Horse, complete & pieced together!
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It was my intention to visit The Ruins in early September to install the work myself, but due to the ongoing pandemic situation, alternate plans have been made. The mosaic will be shipped to The Ruins & installed by Rachel, before the cold sets in!
To get ready for shipping, I laid out all the pieces, taped & marked them for installation alignment, and wrapped each section for safe shipping.
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Next time we see Mr Maskal, he'll be part of The Ruins Project landscape!  

Thank you Rachel for inviting me to be a small part of your larger vision.
It's an honor to hang with the ever growing international list of artists
​whose work is already, and has yet to be, installed there!
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​I anxiously await what comes next & being able to visit in person!
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Bon Voyage! ​

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Behind the Scenes - Endless Abstract, Pt 2

9/7/2020

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My meditative mosaic continues to grow.
Here is where I last left off... (see previous post)
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A few details thru the magnifying glass!
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As I run out of material, which is quickly happening with most of the materials I started with, the search for additional materials intensifies!  With each new material I try to find a way to create smooth transitions.  All the while, working intuitively on one area at a time. 
In this section I introduce polished hematite stones.

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"Hematite grounds and protects us.  It strengthens our connection with the earth, making us feel safe and secure.  It endows us with courage, strength, endurance and vitality.  A "stone for the mind", Hematite stimulates concentration and focus, enhancing memory and original thought."
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Finally, I stopped by our local Earth Products business, fortunately its just down the road from me, for more slate.  I collected several types, each with its own properties and learning curve when it came to chopping it up.  The lighter color is the most flakey, and the darker, much harder.
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I started with an outward burst using the soft, sandy colored slate, interspersed with colorful smalti (glass). 
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Most recently I've begun introducing some larger chunks of slate, layed flat, and at last, pottery shards are thrown into the mix.  I still don't know where this is headed, & I'm fine with that. I'm enjoying the process and being in the moment as I select & set each piece.
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Endless Abstract - Part I

8/18/2020

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What I'm working on now has become a meditative process.   Moving intuitively from the center outwards, I set up one simple rule, to form a border, in grey scale, around each piece.  Beyond that, I'm enjoying making choices piece by piece.  With minimal cutting, the chunks remain, for the most part, in their organic form, juxtaposed with the very regular straight lines of the manufactured border tiles. 

The idea for this piece came as a direct outgrowth of the series of small works I created just before starting this work.  See - Etude series
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The predominant material is home-made "rocks", which I created a couple years ago, with variously tinted mortars.   Once they are fully cured, I cut them with a hammer & hardie into smaller workable pieces.  For the most part I am using the riven edges, which exposes the color & provides  textural interest.
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Want to learn how to create your own mortar tesserae? 
I suggest you check out Julie Sperling's online course.
A bit more explanation, show & tell, directly from my work table.
Apologies for the clunkiness of my video editing, as I attempt to climb that learning curve!
& a little peak at that transition beginning...
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Thanks for stopping by.  
let me know you were here, by leaving your thoughts in the comments. 
Until next time..... ciao!
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Garden Installation Visit

7/31/2020

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At long last, one year after my mosaics were installed, I've finally had a chance to visit the garden & see them in situ.    It was a very hot summer day, but I wanted to take the opportunity for a short visit.  The garden at this time of year was overgrown, yet still vibrant with colorful flowers.  ​
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A quick stroll thru the garden.
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Photo by Mark Morris
​Here I am, with Vaughn, who commissioned the mosaics.

​Hopefully I'll be able to visit again in the spring and get an unobscured view of the mosaics from a distance.  In any case, I'm very happy with how they look and were hung, as is Vaughn, which is really most important!
See previous post on the creation of these mosaics
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Our Beloved Mascot, Poldo!

10/11/2019

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I caught my first glimpse of Poldo, at the top of the hill, in the small town of Ploaghe, where I enjoyed my morning cappuccino each day.  
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Soon, he began showing up to the ex-convent where we, the artists of the 3rd Contemporary Mosaic Art Symposium, Ploaghe worked.   He quickly become a constant companion to all.  ​
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Sometimes Poldo didn't want to go home,  and had to be carried out of the building at the end of the day!
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He even followed us around town, joining us for drinks!

Thus, the inspiration behind my latest portrait . . .
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​The large chunky pieces in the background, are sea polished tiles, collected on an unforgettably glorious day with my mosaic companions, on this, Sardinia beach.  Each one connected to the other by a golden glass thread.
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The heart, is a play on the symposium logo, seen in the center of this sign.
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Our Beloved Mascot, Poldo
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New Portrait - Reverse Engineered Substrate

9/23/2019

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For my latest portrait, I used a method I learned last year at the Mosaic School in Spilembergo Italy.  

My reference was an original drawing, I  did earlier this year for Julia Kay's Portrait Party,  in graphite, water soluble ink pencils, and a touch of white acrylic paint.   

I began by enlarging and printing the image onto six 8.5x11 sheets of paper.  The image was then covered by clear plastic, allowing me to see the image as I adhered my tesserae (pieces), with a polymer modified mortar, directly onto the plastic.

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My materials were a variety of colorful Italian & Mexican smalti, including some luscious large riven chunks which I love, dishes, and slate.
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Once I finished laying all the tesserae, the real experimentation began.  Flipping the work & reverse engineering a hangable substrate.  Here's a time lapse of that process....
& Tada! 
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​I wanted to go BIG, and this portrait is indeed, the largest mosaic portrait, of just a face, I've created to date.
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Quiet Influence

9/3/2019

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Thank you Zack!
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Zack Baisden was a wonderful and prolific abstract artist.  When we met, soon after I'd moved to Florida, he had recently retired from teaching art.  We often gallery sat together, and chatted about all sorts of things;  travel, relationships, and everything art.  
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Rest in Peace, dear Zack.
You will be missed!
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One quiet morning at the Gallery, not long after I'd begun my daily portraiture drawing, he explained to me, in quite some detail, how to approach the human eye.

I've never forgotten those words, and refer to them often.  His gentle voice and influence will always remains in my heart, hand, and mind.
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Double Commission - Behind the Scenes

7/25/2019

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For the past several months I've been working on a commission for the garden of a private residence.  

In February I gave a talk to a local art group about my experience attending The 3rd Contemporary Mosaic Art Symposium in Sardinia Italy (subject for another post - long overdue).  The following day I was contacted by a woman who had been at the talk,  who commissioned me to create 2 mosaics for her beloved garden.  She'd been introduced to a variety of materials during my talk, and as a result decided on Mexican Smalti, as her material of choice.  OK by me!    
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I composed the second design from a selection of pics the client sent me, of her favorite flower varieties.   This final painting,  was done after several drawings, revisions, and chats with the client.

​The first directive I received, was for lots of color!!! An osprey and flowers.

As the osprey would be comprised of neutral colors, I wanted to create a dramatic and colorful background for him to soar above.


The Smalti Arrives!

Mexican smalti is absolutely luscious.  Every tesserae  unique, with lots of color variation, making it both exciting and complicated to work with. 

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​I chose to use a lightweight, waterproof, substrate which comes in a variety of thicknesses.  The Osprey was cut out of the 1 inch substrate which was latter attached to the 1/2 inch background substrate.  I was thrilled to find that the 1/2 boards come in 4'x5' sheets, the size of the flower mural.
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Here I am holding the completed osprey, so you can get a sense of its size.
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Finally, with all the materials in the studio, I started by cutting out the osprey shape.
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& the adhering begins!
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I really enjoyed working on the dramatic seascape, folding each colorful band into the next.  Slowly, cut by cut & piece by piece, surrounding the osprey.
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​Adding some white caps... and more color!
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The Osprey flew off to his new garden home .... On to the flowers!

I started by transferring a cartoon of my design to the substrate, and began the setting here....
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You can see how much variety there is in the Mexican Smalti color mixes.  The red is more  burgundy.  I was hoping for a bit more of a true red, but that didn't seem to be available. As ever, I enjoyed the challenge of improvising and experimenting with lots of different color combinations.
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​After many weeks of work the mosaic is ready for grout!





​The Flower mosaic is now ready for installation in the garden, along with The Osprey.  Stay tuned for photos of both works in situ!
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Australia - Final Stop!

3/15/2018

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​Finally, the day arrived when I met Belinda, the amazing woman who organized my entire Australian tour.  She performing heroically to pull it all together!  We had an incredible time together, definetly kindred spirits!

Belinda & her husband Ian, have a beautiful property out in the country.  The have greenhouses where they grow vegetables, an orchard with all types of fruit trees,  plenty chooks (chickens) and a couple of very cute fur babies!

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One of my favorite things is fresh off the tree figs.  I was really disappointed that they didn't ripen in time for me to pick and eat them.  I kept checking, but no figs for me!
Being out in the country, Belinda assured me that I would see some of Australias unique wildlife.  Sometimes, they just appeared in front of us, and to see others we had to go out hunting in the night.

This is an Echidna - a slow moving porcupine like creature with multi colored spikes!

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There were always a wide variety of birds at the feeder.  

It was an exciting day when we were lucky enough to spot a kangaroo at the edge of the property.
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​The kookaburra really does laugh, loudly!    The ladies in my workshops sang many rousing choruses of the old song, Kookaburra sits in an ole gum tree, for me ..... I  hadn't heard that song since I was a child.  
​& It's true!
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Gaia - Belinda's super stunning mosaic studio guardian







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Two portrait workshops and one flower workshop ensued.  All full, with amazingly friendly, fun and talented people.    Here are some of the works in progress and results of their hard work.
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It was super exciting when I found out that my good friend and colleague Freya, that I worked with in Malaysia, could drive over for a visit.  We hadn't seen each other in 20 years.  We had a lovely few hours catching up, with endless giggles as we tried to get one acceptable photo!
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Another fun excursion was taking a ride on the Puffing Billy Railway.  The line is one of the most popular steam heritage railways in the world and is kept in operation through the efforts of volunteers of the Puffing Billy Preservation Society. The railway aims to preserve and restore the line as near as possible to how it was in the first three decades of its existence, but with particular emphasis on the early 1920s.
I was told that normally everything is lush green, but unfortunately what I saw was mostly brown, due to the recent drought conditions.

We were lucky to have Conductor Fraser, a friend of Belinda's, ride with us, as our  personal guide.
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Though I flew in and out of Melbourne, this is all I saw of the city, driving to and from the airport.  Hopefully next time I'll get there!
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    Artist

    Gila Rayberg
    With precision and spontaneity, I strive to create texture and movement; something you want to reach out and touch!
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