March’s birthstone, aquamarine, is a delight for mosaic. I love using the silver smalti, which has a thin layer of white gold under fused to pale blue glass, and gives a lovely glacial effect. Combined with metallic blue glass tile(made in PA by Vitrium), and iridized glass tile from Italy.
Aquamarine is made of beryl, otherwise known as Beryllium Aluminum Silicate. Chemistry is more beautiful than it is ever given credit for! This shade of blue is evocative of the sea, the sky, and of the deep layers of glaciers, and derived from the Latin aqua marina, meaning sea water.
I met Stratoz in the Fall of 1986, at Northampton County Community College, while we were both working at the Tutoring Center. He had transferred from NCC to East Stroudsburg, and once he graduated came back to tutor while figuring out what to do with his biology degree and his life. I was a student, tutoring Introduction to Philosophy. He heard me talking about Greek philosophers, and this gave him a way to introduce himself. He came up to me in the Library, and said there was a book he thought I should read–Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance–which has many references to Greek philosophers. I went on to become a librarian, so giving me a book to read was a sure way to catch my attention!
I read the book, still not catching on that he was interested in me. We started having long conversations in the cafeteria. In April of 1987, we attended a classical piano concert in NCC’s auditorium, and later that evening as he was driving me home, Stratoz confessed he was in love with me, and I was happy to be able to tell him I felt the same way.
A couple of years ago, we both reread Zen and the Art, and we decided it was quite amazing I was willing to give him a chance, since it was a mixture of intense existential angst and complicated excursions into Philosophy which led to insanity on the part of the narrator. But at the time, I was just glad to have found someone to talk to, who liked books, and who listened to what I had to say with intentness.
So we are pleased to be doing the NCC Alumni Association Spring Craft Show on March 12th, 2011, in Bethlehem, PA, and going back to where it all started!
**Note: When we went there, it was Northampton County Area Community College, abbreviated NCACC and pronounced Nack-Ack. The new name of N-C-C is quite sophisticated, but doesn’t have quite the same ring to our ears.
River of Life Cross Mosaic on Slate by Margaret Almon
Jenny Hoople over at Authentic Living has a cool post on The Beauty of Imperfection–Wabi Sabi, where she describes the Japanese philosophy of the beauty of our transitory world, where everything decays, and is all the more precious for it. I’ve explored the Navajo concept of Hozho, and like Wabi Sabi, it captures much of what I love about mosaics. Jenny uses natural materials in her jewelry, knitting and other arts, and loves the accidental veins of color in stones and I resonated with her question:
I think a lot of people feel this way, but perhaps we are a minority? If we weren’t, then diamonds wouldn’t be so popular. I’m always amazed by the gems and minerals collections in museums, those rough rocks with brilliant splashes of color and interesting crystal formations. What’s even more amazing is that the perfect, cut gems draw a bigger crowd, are kept in a special dark room with lights for better viewing, and are supposed to be worth more. That is so weird.
I am part of this probable minority. I love gold smalti, the fabulous Italian chunks of glass with an exquisitely thin layer of gold sandwiched under a layer of colored glass, but I love the gold smalti “nails” even more–seconds from the factory, and are irregular, chipped, scratched, crazed leftovers. They are hard to get because the smalti factories pride themselves on making firsts.
I started the River of Life Cross without knowing it would have a river in it. I was using gold nails, with a base of aqua glass. As I pulled out the most compelling pieces, I realized that some of the gold was completely missing in places, and could flow together like a river of pure watery blue through the body of the cross. I listened to the the missing places, the imperfections and flaws, and let them shine forth in their own Wabi Sabi beauty.
This is how I imagine God seeking us in our imperfections, seeking our creativity and human loveliness in the midst of decay. What is your favorite imperfection in your world?
Ruth over at synch-ro-ni-zing wrote about the Imported From Detroit Superbowl ad. I hadn’t seen it, and was moved by the acknowledgement of strength and beauty in the city of Detroit. I’ve never had occasion to discover the glories of architecture of Detroit, and the identity of Motor City and Motown seemed all encompassing, so I was delighted to see the art glass at the Fox Theatre, where the ad finishes. The restoration of the chandelier was done by Rocky Martina and his staff at A World of Glass: Detroit’s Premiere Art Glass Company. Martina remembers practically living at the theater for 7 months while working this restoration. The devoted historians of Detroit’s buildings, Dan Austin and Sean Doerr, maintain a site, Buildings of Detroit, with more photos of the Fox Theatre.
Geza Maroti Mosaic, Fisher Building. Detroit.
I always hope to see mosaics, and although the Fox doesn’t have any, I did find the Fisher Building, designed by Albert Kahn, and was awed by the work of Geza Maroti, a Hungarian artist brought to the US by architect Eliel Saarinen. The roots of this building are deep in the auto industry, as it was built by the Fisher brothers who invented the enclosed auto, so that driving could happen year round. Check out the amazing series of photo essays on the Fisher Building on dETROITfUNK.
I never expected to take a detour into the beauty of Detroit thanks a television commercial aired among the weirdness of Superbowl ads. I am heartened when art and the beauty of human creativity and spirit appears in a place I didn’t expect, and breathes into the constricted images we have of a place that is written off, as the narrator says, by people who have never even been to Detroit. The etymology of advertise is from the Latin advertere, “to turn toward” with a connotation at first as a warning, but then as a public notice, bringing attention to goods for sale or rewards. I haven’t been to Detroit, but this advertisement brought my attention to this city, and makes me want to go there.
February Amethyst Inspiration Pendant by Margaret Almon.
February’s amethyst birthstone inspired pendant is violet and purple. I always liked how the word sounded, and had no idea it was from the Greek word “amethystos,” which means “not intoxicated.” Some ancients made the association that since amethyst was the color of wine, that somehow it could protect from intoxication.
The geodes that fascinated me as a child, with their purple crystal insides, were amethyst. The outside was ordinary rock, and broken open to reveal a whole magical world inside.
If February is your month, or you love purple, I’d be glad to make one for you.
I was excited to be interviewed by Wendy Edsall-Kerwin, Metals Artist extraordinaire, as her featured artist for February. Go to her post on Hammermarks to check it out!
I also wanted to send a shout out about her Super Bowl Challenge 2011. In 2009, Wendy challenged herself to make a bowl on Super Bowl Sunday, and then in 2010 invited her readers to do the same, and for 2011 she wants it to be a party!
The bowl can be made of anything, metal, wood, plastic, bread, papier-maché, and you can start before the day, but hopefully finish it on Sunday, February 6th, 2011. Go over to Hammermarks to read more about it, and link up with other folks who are taking the challenge.
January Garnet Inspiration Pendant by Margaret Almon.
I’m being as slow as molasses in January on getting this pendant posted! At first I couldn’t remember the gem for the month, but then I wondered how I could forget. My sister was born in January, and garnet was her stone, and I coveted the deep dark red rather than the brighter red of my July ruby.
Some stories say garnet comes from pomegranate, and the seeds do indeed look very garnet-like. When the Goddess Persephone was abducted by Hades into the underworld, her mother Demeter, Goddess of earth, became distraught and searched for her, and life was a dark cold place where nothing grew. When Hades finally relented, and said she could return, he tricked Persephone into eating several pomegranate seeds, which bound her to go back underground for winter each year, the earth once again and harsh and brutal place. I can see why Persephone would have been tempted to eat the pomegranate seeds with the their vital red color, their link to the sunshine she loved.
Commissions are welcome if you want to order a month that is already gone.
This fortune came with my Chinese lunch(at the tasty Chong’s Dumpling House in Lansdale, PA). Rarely does my fortune cookie resonate with anything in my life, so this was a surprise. This is indeed what I want to do: use my creativity in making mosaics as my vocation and a way to prosper. Prosper is from Old French roots, and has connotations of “cause to succeed and render happy” as well as hope and flourishing.
2010 has been quite a year. The biggest leap came when the library I worked at was closed without warning in July. I was shocked and disoriented and sad, and librarian jobs scarce, but my art was always there for me, and I am very grateful for that source of joy, and for the opportunity to imagine a life where I am a full time mosaic artist. 2010 also brought:
The premiere of my mosaic pendants. I had people asking if I made jewelry and at first I couldn’t imagine myself as a jeweler, but then I found square pendant trays, and it was like making trivets on a tiny scale and I loved the challenge.
Film Noir Mosaic Collection. My friend Joanne Leva created Poetry for her Montgomery County Poet Laureate Program, culminating in a showing of Sunset Boulevard at the Ambler Theater, along with a reading of poems inspired by the film, and my Film Noir mosaics in black and silver in the theater lobby.
For those who enjoy Etsy, thank you! Nutmeg Designs reached a hundred sales in 2010.
I taught a Glass Mosaic Basics class at the Goggleworks in Reading, PA and enjoyed talking and making mosaics all weekend with enthusiastic students.
Taking the plunge and buying a tent and doing outdoor summer shows for the first time this year. This helped increase Nutmeg Designs total shows to 17 for 2010. Both Wayne and I are very grateful to our friends and fans who come by our booth and for all the cool people and crafters we’ve met.
The encouraging commission of 25 patchwork photo frames my job. I had trouble sleeping the night I said yes to the commission but I am so glad I did.
The opportunity to see a retrospective exhibit of Hildreth Meiere‘s work, my first mosaic inspiration.
When I was first laid off, I wanted to know right away how everything would work out. It was a challenge to let things unfold when the sense of urgency is overwhelming, but the irony is that the more we push to know the future, the more we erode the present moment which is the only truly functional moment we have.
For 2011 I wish all my readers the vision to see what is emerging in your lives, and the courage to stay in th present moment. I would love to hear your stories of what has unfolded for you in 2010, and how your creativity in whatever form contributed to your prosperity.
December’s turquoise is one of my favorite gems. When I was little, I would visit my grandparents in El Paso, TX and we’d drive to New Mexico(the state I was born), to the little town of Mesilla, for Mexican food at La Posta Restaurant. I loved the gift shop with the silver and turquoise jewelry. The pure intensity of the blue caught my eye. I have a necklace that I remember always having, a cross made of small dots of turquoise set into silver.
I read that the Navajo believe turquoise is a piece of sky fallen to earth. I like that image of something beautiful as blue sky coming to where we are on the earth.
