Category: Craft & Life

August 1, 2011

Creative Couple: Joy of Collaboration in the Art Studios of Nutmeg Designs

Stratoz with Stained Glass and Sunflower. Photo by Margaret Almon.

It was Stratoz’s birthday, and he asked me to take a photo of him in our front yard, by the brand new Sunflower, holding a sheet of glass destined for a lizard stepping stone for Snowcatcher. Gardens and glass are two of Stratoz’s favorite things, so this is an apt portrait, and also the final one in his Flickr Project 365, which he started the previous year on his birthday. The year has been one of growing creativity and more collaboration in our art, with our mosaic house numbers(observe the glimpse of “45” through the porch), and the Fruit of the Spirit commission.

When we met in 1986, Stratoz was already drawing intricate doodles with colored pencils, but starting Nutmeg Designs, and making art that expresses our spirit and brings joy was not what we predicted. We have both evolved into our “two-studio-one-bedroom-rowhouse” and my heart is happy that we were blessed to celebrate another birthday weekend(my birthday was July 29th, and July 30th is celebrated by annexation.)

Are you part of a creative couple? Tell me about someone who supports you, inspires you, and is creative with you. Creativity is not limited to art. It informs all joyful things.

Lizard by Stratoz, waiting for the earthtone glass

Sunflower Mandala Mosaic by Margaret Almon

July 30, 2011

Fruit of the Spirit: Refreshing the Roots and Bearing Fruit

Fruit of the Spirit Mobile by Margaret Almon(Age 12)

When I wrote earlier about my Fruit of the Spirit Mobile that I painstakingly stitched from polyester double knit, my mother emailed this photo to me, as she has it hanging in her dining room. I had forgotten how pleased I was with the pineapple of Goodness, and the plaid on a diagonal for texture! Self-Control is emblazoned a banana, my least favorite fruit, but I still enjoyed the curve. I may have had a jumper made of the pale peach of Self-Control, and the vibrant orange of Kindness is where my eye goes to now. Seeing it all in the flesh(fruit-flesh that is), brings back the tactile sense of making the stitches, lining up the fabric. This part of the root system that led to my life now as an artist, and my new manifestation of the Fruit of the Spirit via the commission from Suzanne Halstead. On Wednesday, Suzanne and I grouted Faithfulness and Kindness. The scale is much larger than my mobile, as is my excitement in seeing it all bear fruit! More photos to come as the process continues.

Margaret Almon and Suzanne Halstead Grouting Faithfulness and Kindness

July 21, 2011

Royal Couple and the Magic of Mandalas and a Hunger for Art at Inner-City Arts

There are times when I read something and wonder if I am having a particularly strange dream, such as the headline “Royal Couple Make Mandalas in LA.” Thanks to a post by mandala artist Lillian Sizemore, I discovered this actually happened at the Inner-City Arts Studio, a non-profit that provides art classes to students from some of Los Angeles’ poorest neighborhoods and encourages academic and personal growth by placing art within the web of all disciplines from math(making geometric designs), to chemistry(3-D design) to computers(digital arts).

Moon Spiral Mosaic Mandala by Margaret Almon.

These kids are engaged, learning, growing. Finding out that such an organization exists is just as magical as having royalty making mandalas with 75 members of the press there to witness it. Prince William is an advocate of the arts, and he chose to visit a place where art changes children’s lives. Does art in the inner city seem like another strange dream? We have become separated from the sustenance that art can provide to the soul, and to the role of the soul in finding purpose and life’s work.

Sunflower Mandala Chair by Margaret Almon.

What are mandalas? The word mandala is Sanskrit, and comes from the Hindu religion. It means “circle” and symbolizes the cyclical nature of life. Many spiritual traditions have mandalas as part of their contemplation and prayer, from Christian labyrinths to Tibetan and Navajo sand paintings. One of the first times I saw a mandala was on the cover of an album of early chant music composed by nun Hildegard of Bingen, but didn’t realize what it was. Lillian Sizemore writes eloquently about Hildegard’s visions, and the paintings that she was moved to make. Art takes me into prayer like nothing else, and I believe being absorbed by something outside of ourselves is a healing act.

I am drawn to the circular form in many incarnations: the halo in Celtic Crosses, the Rose windows in Christian churches, nautilus shells, flowers, as well as Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes, and Frank Lloyd Wright’s circular Guggenheim Museum. My first mandala in mosaic was inspired by a close-up photo of an eye on the cover of a National Geographic Magazine. The circle speaks to my heart, and to the hearts of many of the people who have purchased my mandalas to be part of their prayer spaces, homes and lives. I started reading a book on the interpretation of mandalas, but I realized that there is no one dictionary or key of what a mandala means. The meaning evolves out of the relationship between the one beholding it and what they witness in the light shining from within.

Eye Mandala by Margaret Almon.

More Photos of Mandalas by Margaret Almon

I’ve written about my introduction to drawing mandalas with white pencils on black paper using Judith Cornell’s book in Healing Mandalas: Our Bodies as Conduits of Light.

June 14, 2011

Margaret Almon Mosaics is Moving to WordPress

Mosaic Welcome Sign in Orange and Blue by Nutmeg Designs. Glass on slate, 12×6 inches.

If at some point in the next month you can’t get to my site, don’t worry! I am moving to WordPress, and there will be some transition days. I’m excited to move to a platform that allows for readers to subscribe to comments and encourage conversation. The address will still be https://www.margaretalmon.com. See you there!

June 6, 2011

Birthstone Inspiration for June: Pearlescent Mosaic Pendant

June Pearl Inspiration Pendant by Margaret Almon.

I come full circle with the June pendant, the last month of the birthstone series I started in July, 2010. Pearl is close to my heart since my name, Margaret, means “pearl.” I was interested to read that pearls are the only gem that can be made into jewelry as soon as they are found. No cutting or polishing is necessary. A pearl reveals itself to the world as a treasure from the very first.

As much as I love pearls, I remember being baffled in Sunday School by the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price in Matthew Chapter 13. A wealthy merchant goes seeking fine pearls and when he finds one of great price, he sells everything he has in order to purchase it. I am good company though, since the disciples were usually baffled by Jesus’ parables too.

If June is your birthday or pearl is speaking to you, I’d be glad to make a custom one for you.

May 30, 2011

The Fruits of the Spirit: A Commission for a Wall of Mosaic

In March of 2011, Stratoz and I received our biggest commission yet. Our friends Gary and Suzanne Halstead had a wall in their yard, overlooking the labyrinth they created. The space was host to retreats and labyrinth walkers, and Suzanne had a vision of the wall mosaiced in the style of our Nutmeg Designs’ signs, in the qualities of the Holy Spirit: Joy, Love, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Self-Control and Faithfulness.

We were honored to be asked to create these words in mosaic. I remember being in Sunday School in the 7th grade, at Edmonton Moravian church, and studying the fruits of the spirit, from the passage in Galatians 5:22. In true Sunday School style, the lesson included an exercise in creating a mobile out of paper, a different fruit shape for each quality. Over the course of the week, I felt compelled to recreate the shapes out of scraps of fabric(the 70’s were good for polyester double knit, which didn’t ravel), hand stitched together, and stuffed with cotton batting. Bringing the mobile to class the following Sunday, I felt conspicuous, and felt embarrassed by my excess, and yet I loved the soft forms, and still have them in my memorabilia.

Stratoz began the project by designing and cutting out the letters for Faithfulness. He was going to start with “Joy” but Faithfulness gives us a running start with many more letters! I will be gluing the letters down and mosaicing around them, and I can freely give myself to this big, bold, colorful incarnation of the Fruit of the Spirit, with abandon!

Here is a video by Stratoz introducing Faithfulness:

Over at Stratoz: Scraps of Faithfulness: Doodling

May 10, 2011

The Rainbow Connection and Gratitude that the Storm is Gone

Saturday it started to rain. We were at the Skippack Spring Fest, in our tent, and started gathering up my mosaics and Stratoz’s stained glass. We had some twinges of anxiety, but most people seemed to be leaving their tents, and we were tired, and the tent was soggy, so we headed home. We stopped at our favorite diner, West Main, in Lansdale for pie and coffee. Seated in a booth by the window, I looked over and saw a rainbow. I joked with Stratoz that it meant God would spare our tent.

The verse from Genesis 9 is one I remember learning at church camp, from the story of Noah’s ark, and God destroying the world by flood, but then putting the arc in the clouds as as sign of a covenant to never destroy all creatures by water again. This spoke to me, in the midst of being depressed as a 14 year old, flooded with sadness. The theme song of that summer was The Rainbow Connection, and even now I feel magic listening to it.

So here we were, on Saturday, looking at a rainbow, and my phone rings. The storm came through, and some tents were damaged and could we please come check to see how our tent fared. Stratoz dropped me off at home and headed back to Skippack. He called after finding it in a heap. Other tents were standing untouched but others were knocked over. I came out and together we were able to fold the frame up, and put it in the car. 5 trusses were bent or broken. Although exhausted, I felt gratitude that we were not in the tent when the storm came through, and our art wasn’t in the tent either, and that we can get replacement parts. Stratoz said I was his sweetie, and that made me happy in the midst of the damage. I’m not certain what to make of the rainbow at the diner. The tent was not spared. But we were.

May 9, 2011

Birthstone Inspiration for May: Emerald Green Mosaic Pendant

Emerald Green Pendant by Margaret Almon

May’s birthstone is emerald, which is even more rare than diamonds. It is a beryl, with just a bit of Chromium Oxide to turn it green. I read that the same Chromium Oxide turns corundum red in ruby. Such a small addition makes amazing color changes!

I associate emerald’s with L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz, which I loved reading as a girl. The Emerald City was the capital of Oz. I also lived in Eugene, OR while attending graduate school in creative writing, and the University of Oregon newspaper was the Oregon Daily Emerald.

Emerald is the green of greens, intense, vibrant. If you are a May birthday or green is calling to you, check out my Nutmeg Designs Etsy Shop.

April 7, 2011

Birthstone Inspiration for April: Sparkly Diamond-Esque Mosaic Pendant

April’s birthstone is diamond, and I must say this one was a challenge! What is the essence of diamond? It sparkles, but the most common image is of a clear gem. Diamond is made of carbon, as is a graphite pencil! If you took geology in school, you may remember the Mohs scale of hardness of rocks, and Diamond is at the top of the scale, with a 10. In fact, diamond comes from adamant, unbreakable, invincible, unshakeable. It’s hard because of the way the carbon has crystallized in a different formation than graphite. Same substance, different shape. I’ve never felt diamonds are a girl’s best friend, or that they are forever, but I do like sparkle, and glass does that quite well for me!

Pendants on Nutmegs Designs Etsy

March 25, 2011

Visiting Vitrium Tile Company: A Glass Oasis in Bucks County, PA

When Dawn Federico of Vitrium Tile Company emailed me, I felt starstruck! She found me while googling her company. Vitrium tile is one of my favorite glass materials to work with. The textures range from swirls to pebbly bumps to brushstrokes, and the colors are intense and iridescent. My old supplier had stopped selling them, and here Dawn was asking if I lived in PA, and did I want to come buy overstock and discontinued tile. Did I?? Oh, yes! It turned out I only live 1/2 hour away. I knew Vitrium was made in PA which I thought was cool, but I didn’t know the company was practically in my backyard.

I pulled up in front of a tiny warehouse, next to a construction company in the woods of Bucks County, PA. Dawn greeted me, and showed me around, and I quickly knew I had met a kindred spirit in loving glass tile and iridescence. She was excited that I was so excited. Sometimes it’s hard to convey love of something that seems utilitarian. It’s just tile. But for tile geeks like myself, it’s a whole world of beauty, especially when what is imperfect for big installations, where colors need to match exactly, and one speck can mar a solid color, is perfect for a mosaic artist. I love the expansiveness of mosaic, the ability to use what is lost to the utilitarian world, and create something new out of imperfect fragments.

I have to love a place that has a huge jar of something called “Super Orange” since orange is my favorite color. I also love that Dawn started as the business manager 12 years ago, and eventually ended up taking over the company when the previous owners were floundering, and I can see how much she cares about her product, and creating something handmade, in the United States, keeping people employed, and continuing the tradition of artisans in Bucks County.

Update: In Spring of 2012, Dawn sold Vitrium to Tohickon Glass Eyes, and they are now called Tohickon Glass Tiles. Tohickon has long been known for their exquisite glass eyes for taxidermy, and are located just a little ways from the former Vitrium factory in Bucks County. I am glad that they are able to carry on the making of these beautiful tiles.

Wordless Wednesday: The Fabulousness of Vitrium Tile

Iridescence

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