One of the challenges of the book mosaics...

Last week I started the 8th mosaic for my children's book and have just come upon this particular challenge I have been expecting since I first started making the book. This is one of the reasons I haven't been grouting the mosaics as I go - so I can continue to make changes.

My challenge is this: re-creating an object from one page to another, but in a much smaller size. I have been consciously aware of this as I've created each design and have therefore attempted to make it work in advance. But some things are bound to be unexpected! So I can't show a photo of what I'm talking about, but three mosaics ago I made an intricate design and now I am stuck because I can't repeat that design at such a small scale. So I will have to go back and redo that first design so it will work in this mosaic. The good thing is, I didn't particularly like the first one so now is my chance to make it even better!

The clock was okay to do since there wasn't great detail in the first place and eliminating a couple of details doesn't change it too much. In the photo on the right, the clock is about 5 inches long. In the first photo, as you can see, much smaller! And check out the teensy tiny millefiori that I am using for this mosaic. It gives you an idea of just how small some of the elements are!!

I'm having a great time, by the way!!

Another Santa Barbara Mosaic Artist

Since I started making mosaics in 2005, I have been looking for other mosaic artists in my area. I know maybe four in town, in the five years I've been looking! This is an area that is in serious need of a mosaic community! I didn't even have a place to go to learn how to make mosaics when I was first starting out. The closest classes were 90 miles away.

Just last year I found Tami Macala, who lives only a few miles from me! We visited each other's studios and have quickly become friends. Today an article came out about her in our local online paper, the Noozhawk. Yay Tami! A year ago she opened the Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art so now there is actually a place in town to learn mosaics! So if you are living in or near Santa Barbara, CA, (or want to visit!) and wish to learn the beautiful and incredibly addicting art form of mosaics, sign up with Tami. And contact me, too! I'd love to meet more mosaic artists!

My mosaic won 2nd place!

I entered my mosaic, "Please, Can I Come In?" into the humor competition on the mosaic forum, CMA (Contemporary Mosaic Art), and was awarded 2nd place. I won a $50 gift certificate for Maryland Mosaics, of which I spent immediately, haha. The judge, Martin Cheek (who has long been one of my favorite mosaic artists!) said this about my mosaic:

"I’ve long been an admirer of Christine’s cats - of which, this is a great example. I love the limited but PRECISE palette that works so beautifully here. The wavy lines in the sky add an interest to the background andamento- which must represent about 90% of this piece. This would have been a worthy contender for the earlier challenge: Comp 1 on SPACE because compositionally it fulfills that brief...AND it would also qualify for Comp 2 - which was 20 x 20 cm. (8 x 8 inches.)
I love the way that the cat’s paws are lined up with his eyes - the whole face is completely symmetrical - which is what gives him(?) such a humorous look. The little paws overlapping the simple frame are an inspiration.... which reminds me: What is the difference between a cat and a comma? One has the paws before the claws and the other has the clause before the pause."

If you are a mosaic artist and are not currently a member of CMA, I HIGHLY recommend you join (it's free). There is an enormous gallery of beautiful mosaics to which you add your own, as well as an ongoing competition (current one is Medieval beasts), discussion forum, and a great place to network. Check it out!

2010 in review

At Flickr, it is a tradition for some mosaic artists to post a compilation photo of the work we did that year. Here is mine. In 2010 I made 16 mosaics: 5 trades, 4 commissions, 3 sold artworks, 1 gift, and a partridge in a pear tree, haha. Three of the mosaics have not yet sold. Two are in galleries and one will be coming with me to Austin, TX for the SAMA Conference and Mosaic Salon. So I'm pretty happy with this year's accomplishments!
In addition to these mosaics, I also made some progress on my book.
Here is a compilation photo of my book progress. I was able to finish four mosaics for the book, each 15x24". I'm hoping to get at least that many completed this year, if not more.

My other successes for 2010:
I exhibited my artwork in 10 shows, and for the first time, two of the galleries were outside of California (Ciel Gallery, Charlotte, NC and Maplestone Gallery, Ontario, Canada).
I attended my 2nd SAMA Conference in Chicago where I took three workshops to further my art education.
I received two people's choice awards, one for Beautiful Anyway and one for Toby the Goby.
My mosaic, Portia, was published in the new book, Mosaic Fine Art Portraits.
And I am awaiting the next steps after learning I have moved on to the design phase of a project I applied for at my local hospitals! Will keep you posted. :)

All in all, 2010 was a great year. I look forward to much more success and many more accomplishments in 2011 and I wish all of you the same!!