Featured Artist of the Month: Barbara Napiwocki

Featured Artist of the Month: Barbara Napiwocki

Email: BNapiwocki at imagineps.com

What kind of mosaics do you make?
Glass on Glass, Sun Catchers as I call them, I love how depending on the light coming through the windows, the piece changes.

When did you start making mosaics?
About a year ago after meeting Sharra Frank at the Minnesota Tile Festival, and taking her one of her classes.

How did you get into mosaics?
My daughter Nicole was leaving for college and was worried about what I was going to do in my free time. She was the one that suggested that I start taking classes and get back into doing my art projects.

What inspires you?
Our families' scuba dives in Cozumel. On one of our first trips I immediately fell in love with the bright colors of the flowers, underwater sea life and with the people. Our whole family is into photography, and has taken some great photos underwater.

How did you develop your style?
I am all freestyle. I will start with a rough idea in my head, start to work on the piece and then before I know it, the piece is leading me down this beautiful path.

How did you learn to make mosaics?
I started about 10 years ago working with ceramic tile and doing outside pottery and flower boxes. But after taking Sharra's class I fell in love with working with glass on glass.

How do you work best?
In my studio, listening to my favorite show Bones. Once I start a project I get so wrapped up in it I forget about everything else. I find it very relaxing and therapeutic.

How do you approach a mosaic?
I will start with a large window and think of it as a blank canvas. Using our photos from Cozumel I will try to capture the scene with the colored glass.

What do you do with your mosaics once you finish?
Most have been given away as I feel I am still learning and see these as my practice pieces. My family is more than happy to oblige me by taking them.

What have you learned?
Patience and how to walk away from the project if I am forcing it.

How do you fit mosaics into your personal/family life?
This is a part time passion. It is very different from what I do in real life and that is why I love it, working on mosaics allows my creativity to come through. Our family is also very active, Nicole is a sophomore at St. Thomas, and Alex is a junior in High School, need I say any more.

Where do you work?
I finally broke free out of the damp basement, and have a studio in the main part of the house. My husband had built shelves for my glass and an adjustable podium to work on the windows.

What is your favorite thing about working with mosaics?
How relaxing it is and how it changes everyday that you work on it.

Have you ever done public art, community art, worked with children, etc...?
I would like to some day work with young children to inspire them to create. Both of my children are very creative individuals.

Featured Artist of the Month: Stacia Goodman

Featured Artist of the Month: Stacia Goodman

Website: www.staciagoodmanmosaics.com

Email: Stacia@staciagoodman.com

What kind of mosaics do you make?
My mosaic work is continually evolving. Currently, I'm focusing on intricate glass mosaic jewelry, tile spiritual altars, and tile and rock wall pieces. I've moving more and more toward what I call a "peaceful" mosaic style.

When did you start making mosaics?
I think it was about eight years ago. I took a beginning mosaics class taught by Sheryl Tuorila at the old Clay Squared to Infinity location. And prior to that, I had taken an assemblage class with the lovely Mimi Holmes.

How did you get into mosaics?
I was famished for a hands-on, non-writing (I'm a freelance copywriter by day) creative outlet and began taking various art classes. As a kid, I had loved making collage art, gathering shiny objects and using tools. As an adult, I had brief affairs with drawing, beading and pottery. Mosaics allowed me to merge it all. It was love at first break!

What inspires you?
Patterns in nature. Architecture. Great writing. Other artist-moms. The seekers.

How did you develop your style?
Hmmmm, I'm still striving for a style. Once I think I'm there, my work morphs and evolves, and I get distracted by another direction I simply MUST explore.

How did you learn to make mosaics?
A few classes and a lot of practice, band-aids and late nights. I'll never stop learning.

How do you work best?
In my home studio, listening to NPR, kids in bed ... and some good chocolate and my dog by my side for company.

How do you approach a mosaic?
As a possibility! I rarely sketch anything first. Instead, I gather my supplies and start piecing the puzzle together, arranging and rearranging, until I'm ready to glue. I have to touch my materials and feel how they'll work together. The design is in my hands not my head.

What do you do with your mosaics once you finish?
I've sold many at various non-juried shows over the years and had commissions. I've had my work in a few local stores, but not currently. I store the rest in my studio, until my next show.

What have you learned?
That getting discouraged gets me nowhere, and that I don't give up easily.

How do you fit mosaics into your personal/family life?
I have three school-aged kids, and my husband and I are both self-employed; finances are tight. Thus, my professional copywriting work trumps my mosaic time. I mosaic when my writing workload is slow or at night or on the weekends. My husband (who is in the creative field as a graphic designer and professional voice talent) is tremendously supportive, as are my kids (most of the time).

Where do you work?
In my basement studio, which just moved from a former cellar to a larger, open space. Hurray! But I still contend with centipedes and bad lighting. My dream: a studio on top of the garage flooded with natural light.

What is your favorite thing about working with mosaics?
1.) The quiet. 2.) Shedding my worries by making lovely objects that other people actual want to own. What a thrill, thrill, thrill!

Have you ever done public art, community art, worked with children, etc...?
Yes, last spring I completed a two-story interior installation at Kenwood Elementary School in Minneapolis. It's made entirely from tile, school supplies, and hand-made ceramic leaves that the students made. It's super cool, and I still can't believe I pulled it off.

Featured Artist of the Month: Gil Gragert

Featured Artist of the Month: Gil Gragert

Email: gil.gragert@state.mn.us

What kind of mosaics do you make?
I work primarily in picassiette (broken pieces art) on three dimensional forms, but I often incorporate stones, glass, beads, ceramic tile and even plastic toys. I like the art of reconstituting objects into other forms.

When did you start making mosaics?
I have been doing various sorts of assemblage for as long as I can remember. During my grade school years I remember coloring pieces of paper, cutting them into pieces and pasting them in my coloring book, likely influenced by the stain glass windows of my Catholic Church upbringing. About six years ago I started doing mosaic in the more traditional sense.

How did you get into mosaics?
Six or seven years ago I happened across "Clay Squared to Infinity", a tile maker's shop in Northeast Minneapolis. It was there that I began looking at materials and seeing the work that was being done. I talked with them about materials, substrates, etc. I also talked with folks at commercial tile stores. I started collecting second hand ceramic objects and experimenting in the media on various surfaces. Once I started, I couldn't really stop.

What inspires you?
By far, how people relate to our world inspires me. I try to understand what they pursue and why; how they impact and designate their places in the world; what their desires, emotions or aspirations may manifest. The forces, elements and colors of nature also inspire me. I more often work in muted, earthy tones rather than bright colors.

How did you develop your style?
It seems that I tend more toward design rather than imagery. I'm not sure that I have a real specific mosaic style; it may be a style that I often use in all media I work in. Because I like flowing lines and muted colors a lot, some of my work has been described as Art Nouveau-ish, but I think it's hard to nail down anyone's style these days as experimentation and approaches change and artists evolve with different influences and media possibilities.

How did you learn to make mosaics?
Although I have consulted some with experienced mosaic artists and tile experts, I am primarily self-taught. I've never taken a mosaic class, but have applied technical knowledge from working with various materials for other purposes. Some things I've learned by trial and error, often a sloppy process, but one can learn a lot by trying different things and observing why they fail or succeed.

How do you work best?
On more complicated projects, I find myself pondering the various structural challenges, and design and color theory for quite awhile before I start. I may or may not draw out my idea before beginning execution. I just like to have ideas running through my head. I most often work with music on in the background. When I work with others, I like to work in very small groups of no more than four or five.

What do you do with your mosaics once you finish?
Much of my work I give to friends and family. I've had a few commissions. I also donate to silent auctions. Most of my latest work has been incorporated into our garden.

What have you learned?
I have learned a lot about the range of qualities and characteristics among materials, adhesives, substrates and grouts that could be used in mosaic. Over time, I've developed a preference for those that will stand up to the elements in Minnesota's climate, as I'm working more on larger pieces for our garden.

How do you fit mosaics into your personal/family life?
While I work a regular job full time and have the usual family obligations, I try to work daily on mosaic projects. Friends and family enjoy and often praise and encourage my work. I try to influence everyone to pursue art in their own way as I know that experiencing the arts add significantly to our quality of life.

Where do you work?
Spring through fall I use a studio above our garage; during the winter I use my basement studio. For some of the messier processes I try to work outside.

What do you like most about working with mosaics?
Mosaic adds color, design, depth and texture to sometimes drab surfaces. In the last several years, I look at everything differently. I often think about how objects can be transformed by being mosaiced or how they may be reconstituted in parts. My world has been expanded through mosaic.

Have you ever done public art, community art, worked with children, etc...?
In the process of teaching mosaic to others, I've worked on some group mosaic projects. I've also worked a little with children and disabled adults in various media. Once my time is freed up from a regular job, I hope to work on public art projects and/or volunteer in schools.

Featured Artist of the Month: Judy Sell

Featured Artist of the Month: Judy Sell

Websites: www.judysell.com
www.judysellmosaics.blogspot.com

Email: selljudy@yahoo.com

What kind of mosaics do you make?
Sentimental.

When did you start making mosaics?
1991

How did you get into mosaics?
I saw my first piece of Memoryware, which is a form of American folk-art. Jugs, jars, bottles and other vessels were covered in assorted findings such as buttons, shards of old dishes, you know, priceless personal tidbits. LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.

What inspires you?
Outsider artists and things that have been horded then sorted.

How did you develop your style?
I use mostly found objects and objects chosen by the recipient to be included, that's what really dictates how to proceed.

How did you learn to make mosaics?
Self taught really. Trial and error. First with a glue gun and now with ApoxieSculpt. I have taken classes in the last 4 years to find out some tricks. It gets real old making mistakes. I like having it demonstrated too. All of the info is in books and online but I don't retain much of what I read but I love seeing it happen.

How do you work best?
When I have too much stuff and having really great choices for the projects.

How do you approach a mosaic?
With sheer joy!

What do you do with your mosaics once you finish?
Remember when you got that great dress for prom and you tried it on every night, before bed, for a month? I go look at it a couple times at night before bed and delight. I do commissions so I have to get my peeks in before they go home.

What have you learned?
People like to save little tidbits.

How do you fit mosaics into your personal/family life?
I work part-time at Star Tribune so I have Thursdays and Fridays to dedicate to mosaics.

Where do you work?
An 1888 basement. Spooky!

What is your favorite thing about working with mosaics?
Searching for the perfect thing to put in that one spot that will delight.

Have you ever done public art, community art, worked with children, etc...?
Check the www.judysellmosaics.blogspot.com site, that shows a lot of different community projects.

Featured Artist of the Month: Suzanne Demeules

Featured Artist of the Month: Suzanne Demeules

What kind of mosaics do you make?
All different kinds right now. I'd like to experiment with contemporary next.

When did you start making mosaics?
I took a class with Sheryl Tourila about 6 years ago. Did not do anything after that but always wanted to. Since then about a little over a year ago I took Sharra Frank's glass on glass and have been working on mosaics ever since.

How did you get into mosaics?
Years ago I was looking for some kind of artistic outlet and picked up a Martin Cheek mosaic book and loved the colors and textures. I always wanted to do it but did not have the time or space. Now I do! (At least a little more time)

What inspires you?
Colors in nature, contemporary artists, going to museums and taking classes keeps me motivated.

How did you develop your style?
I'm finding I love movement and color so I'm still exploring with that concept.

How did you learn to make mosaics?
It's been developing over time. Years of taking art classes at Minnetonka center for the Arts. Also I dabbled in needlepoint because of the texture and colors, and finally coming to the medium I like the most-mosaics!

How do you work best?
In my studio with no one around and MPR on. It's such a peaceful environment to work in.

How do you approach a mosaic?
I make a sketch then several copies of that sketch. From there I try different colors using colored pencils. I then make it to the size I want by either taking it to a photo shop or using a overhead projector. I then trace it on my substrate and go from there. (I have not made that many but the last few I have used this technique and it's worked well)

What do you do with your mosaics once you finish?
A few are in my studio some are around our home. (I'm still building up stock of finished pieces)

What have you learned?
I have learned a little more about time management and how important it is to set a routine.

How do you fit mosaics into your personal/family life?
I'm still struggling with this since I have two teenagers that are busy in all sorts of things that I make it a priority to attend and help with. During the school year I have a routine of working from 10am-2:00pm.

Where do you work?
I have a studio above an unattached garage on our property. We just finished this space last summer.

What is your favorite thing about working with mosaics?
The design process. It's funny that when you're in the "mosaic frame of mind" you can get inspired by the oddest things.

Have you ever done public art, community art, worked with children, etc...?
Not yet but would love to be part of it.

Featured Artist of the Month: Connie Glynn Cohen

Featured Artist of the Month: Connie Glynn Cohen

Website: www.spizzimosaics.com

What kind of mosaics do you make?
I work primarily with either Italian or Mexican Smalti, but I'm starting to add stained glass to the mix.

When did you start making mosaics?
I've been making mosaics for about 7 years.

How did you get into mosaics?
It all happened by fluke - a friend of mine saw a "do it yourself" program about cutting plates and tile and said that we should start doing mosaics. We started making our mosaics out of ceramic tile and I was hooked. A couple years later, my mom and I took Lucianna's mosaic course in Ravenna, Italy. That was my introduction to using smalti and I've been head over heels about it since.

What inspires you?
Anything, everything

How did you develop your style?
Do we actually develop a style or is our style just what we do and how we do it? Whether I'm studying someone else's technique or free-forming on my own, I think my hand and personal sensibility comes through without really thinking about it.

How did you learn to make mosaics?
I started just playing and experimenting with materials and tools on my own. I've taken a few classes to learn either some basics and tips or have the experience of learning from a particular mosaic artist.

How do you work best?
Before I start a project, I have to clean and organize my studio and, in a sense, transform my space into a clean slate. Generally, I work alone, especially during the design phase of a project. When I'm in production, I love when other artist friends bring their work over and we create and work on our own projects together. Sometimes I listen to music while I work and many times I just work in the peaceful quietness of nothing.

How do you approach a mosaic?
I write or sketch in a journal almost every day. That's really were all of my projects start.

What do you do with your mosaics once you finish?
I do a happy dance!

How do you fit mosaics into your personal/family life?
Mosaics are what I do.

Where do you work?
I have a studio in my house and a studio in the California building in Northeast Minneapolis . I love the flexibility of dancing between the two.

Have you ever done public art, community art, worked with children, etc...?
I've done several projects with children - a couple of Artist in Residency programs at Lake Country School and an Artist in Residency for a local Girl Scout Camp. I love the energy of working with kids and the collaborative outcome. I have also done an Artist in Residency with Kulture Klub Collaborative. KKC is a non-profit that offers art opportunities to homeless youth. The project was a community art "totem" that celebrated the individuality of each person within the context of the community. It was part of the 15 year celebration of KKC and was shown at the SOO-VAC Gallery.