Featured Artist of the Month: Lisa Arnold

Featured Artist of the Month: Lisa Arnold

Website: www.flickr.com/photos/xolaarts/ and www.flickr.com/photos/lisaarnoldresidency/
Email: xolaarts@gmail.com

What kind of mosaics do you make?
Mostly stained glass on glass but I like playing with tile too (especially Royal Mosa). I’m also a sucker for colored mirror.

When did you start making mosaics?
2006ish

How did you get into mosaics?

I was trying to avoid writing my dissertation! I was teaching theatre and film at the University of St. Thomas and College of St. Catherine in St. Paul and working on my PhD at the U of M. A friend who made stained glass windows took me to the glass store and I was hooked. I didn’t get my degree.

What inspires you?

Materials, nature, other art forms, light and color.

How did you develop your style?
I think I’m still in the process of doing that but Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, The Wizard of Oz’s Technicolor and Walt Disney’s fantasy lands had big influences on me as a child. Now, as then, I love blasts of color, hidden treasures and sparkling other worlds.

How did you learn to make mosaics?
I bought a book, a friend taught me how to use a glass cutter and I experimented. I’ve since taken a class with Sonia King and Wooterina de Raad.

How do you work best?
With plenty of freedom within limits. I never completely know what I want the final piece to look like. I might have an idea about shape, outline, color, design, etc. but I have to be able to experiment while I’m mosaicing or it just feels like I’m filling in the blanks. I like to surprise myself.

How do you approach a mosaic?
It depends. I like doodling with glass – making a line and responding to it, but I also like working from a cartoon. The thing I love about mosaic making is the variety – in approach, materials, subject... It’s always a new thing.

What do you do with your mosaics once you finish?
Well, I have about 40 of them on display in my house! Otherwise I take photos and put them up on my website. I sell them out of Blue Moon Coffee Shop, Mother Earth Gardens and by word of mouth. … I also work as a teaching artist, doing 8-10 residencies a year, which often involves overseeing community-made mosaic murals. These mosaics are installed in schools and community centers around the state.

What have you learned?
Go with your gut, do what feels natural, learn from others but don’t compare yourself to others (I’m still working on that one).

How do you fit mosaics into your personal/family life?
My career mantra is “working vacation” – mosaics are a part of my everyday life. It’s my day job and my hobby. Luckily, I don’t have to fit it in; it’s integrated. Not having children probably makes that easier. I mosaic everyday and if I don’t I start feeling disconnected from myself. Mosaicing = happy Lisa. When I have long teaching stints, I miss doing individual work, but being able to make large pieces is an ok trade-off.

Where do you work?
I have a studio in my basement but I’m also known to do some good work in front a Netflix film. I find that Radiolab and This American Life are often good “places” for my head to be while I’m working. Otherwise you will find me in the classroom. I’m on the Minnesota and North Dakota State Arts’ Boards so I do a lot of residencies around the region. This summer I am hosting a Mosaic Vacation in the Boundary Waters, teaching classes each day in mosaics – pebbles, stained glass, tile, pique assiette, etc.

What is your favorite thing about working with mosaics?
The materials make me very happy but seeing the finished product in the light is always the ‘wow’ part for me.

Have you ever done public art, community art, worked with children, etc…?
I’ve been working as an artist in residence for the last decade so I make a lot of art with children. It’s one of my favorite parts of being a mosaic artist. It’s a treat to work on a grand scale too. When I do community work, the murals tend to be 3 feet x 7 feet and sometimes we do 3 or 4 that size on a project. I’d never be able to make something that large without the help of 100s of hands. I’ve done some larger commissions for public spaces too: Springboard for the Arts, Tofte Lake Center conference wall, a few windows for local businesses. Again, I love all this variety!

Featured Artist of the Month: Lori Greene

Featured Artist of the Month: Lori Greene

Website: www.greenemosaic.com
Email: lori@greenemosaic.com

What kind of mosaics do you make?
Mixed media mosaic wall pieces and sculptures

When did you start making mosaics?
When I was a graduate student at Maryland Institute college of Art in 1991

How did you get into mosaics?
I was making beaded (seed beads) mosaic sculptures, very expensive and timing consuming

What inspires you?
Textiles from all over the world, people, emotions, everything...

How did you learn to make mosaics?
I taught myself

How do you approach a mosaic?
I have an idea, then I begin

What do you do with your mosaics once you finish?
show it, sell it

What have you learned?
Something every day

Where do you work?
Mosaic on a Stick is my studio and my store

What is your favorite thing about working with mosaics?
You can use anything, play with everything! I like mosaics because they are inviting, anyone can particpate, its does not have to be expensive, and you can change your world with them.

Have you ever done public art or worked with the community or children?
My first Public art piece was in 1993 I was commissoned to make a temporary mosaic sculpture for a park in Baltimore Maryland.

My first community art piece was the Resource Center of the Americas in 2001, we had over 200 volunteers, it was an amazing and humbling experience.

I do 2 - 4 residencies in the schools every year I have worked with children as young as 4 and adults as old as 90.

Featured Artist of the Month: Sheryl Tuorila

Featured Artist of the Month: Sheryl Tuorila

Website: www.sheryltuorila.com
Email: slt at sheryltuorila dot com

What kind of mosaics do you make?
Well, it's always evolving...presently I'm very focused on my handmade tile mosaics but glass-on-glass is a ton of fun and then I venture into the mixed media mosaics now and then to keep it interesting. I think I'll be messing with some pebble mosaics soon.

When did you start making mosaics?
My mantra is "Making It, Breaking It and Sticking It since 1999".

How did you get into mosaics?
It was always something I wanted to try. In 1999 Clay Squared to Infinity opened three blocks from my house and within that first week they were there I started an apprenticeship learning how to make tile. At the same time a friend and I had a mosaic book, we made garden pots and that's the end of the story. I had always been creating art - fiber, jewelry, etc but mosaics really gave me an endless variety of projects, materials, and styles. Ten years later and I haven't put a dent in the things I want to make.

What inspires you?
Nature - I love the colors, patterns and textures found in nature. The Exotic - I love Indian artwork, tiles, woodcarvings and furniture. Contemporary Art & Furniture- I love the stark, bold, simple, clean lines and color (or lack of it sometimes).

How did you develop your style?
In college I majored in printmaking - I worked with textures, layering them randomly to create my imagery. This carries over into my handmade tile mosaics. I create tons of tiles and then go back to work with them. I call the work "designed" random. I work intuitively with the shapes, colors and textures to create these flowing organic images.

How did you learn to make mosaics?
Self taught. But I have met the right people over the years to get valuable information from - many through my membership in the Handmade Tile Association and Mosaic Guild. I took classes with Riana deRaad and Kim Emerson.

How do you work best?
I like to work in series. I'll have a color combo I'm interested in, I'll make a variety of pieces in those colors in different sizes. It seems I need to make ten to get the one I like.

How do you approach a mosaic?
I'll make a bunch of tiles in a color scheme I'm interested in and go from there. I need to have the materials there to inspire me, commissions are the only situations where a piece is planned out to some extent.

What do you do with your mosaics once you finish?
Hopefully sell them! People ask if it's hard to let go. Nope, I have so many things I want to make I'm already onto the next piece. I moved into a new home last year so I've been busy doing some projects around my own house for a change. When summer comes I've got a million things percolating for outside.

What have you learned?
I don't try to work outside my style anymore. I don't do butterflies, dragonflies, etc. I'm not good at it.

How do you fit mosaics into your personal/family life?
It's hard now that I have a 16 month old I want to spend all my time with. But I know it's better to get in the studio at least part-time, makes Sheryl a better person. My studio has become my retreat.

Where do you work?
Studio 403 Northrup King Building www.northrupkingbuilding.com

What is your favorite thing about working with mosaics?
The incredible variety - materials, substrates, installations, styles. I love teaching mosaic classes and encouraging people in their interest in mosaics.

Have you ever done public art, community art, worked with children, etc...?
I created the benches at Ridgedale Library (below), worked on a community art project for St. Paul Public Housing (adults & children), made a carrot for the Eastside Coop, I've been a visiting artist at a couple high schools for the day, and created quite a few pieces for hospitals and corporate offices.

Featured Artist of the Month: Susan Mathis

Featured Artist of the Month: Susan Mathis

Email: mathissl at comcast.net

What kind of mosaics do you make?
I experiment with lots of types of mosaics. I use a lot of stained glass, gems, millifiori, ceramics, and found objects. I've made wall hangings, benches, animal art, garden art, and trays.

When did you start making mosaics?
I started making mosaics in 2003.

How did you get into mosaics?
I've always been fascinated by the ancient mosaics in Italy and elsewhere. When I saw a mosaics class offered at the art museum in Austin, Texas, I took the class and I've been hooked ever since.

What inspires you?
I draw my inspiration from lots of sources including nature, art, and things that I see in magazines. I'm also very inspired by my friends' mosaics.

How did you develop your style?
I've developed my style by experimenting.

How did you learn to make mosaics?
I learned to make mosaics by taking one class in Austin, TX. I take a lot of classes from Sharra Frank on an ongoing basis. I've also attended a class on pebble mosaics at the Chicago Mosaic School. In January, I'll be taking a backsplash class from Lori Greene and a carved mosaics class from Sheryl Tuorila. In March, I'll be attending SAMA where I'll take classes from Laurel Skye and Sherry Warner Hunter.

How do you work best?
I work best in my home studio. I have a nice studio with lots of storage space and a sink nearby.

How do you approach a mosaic?
I usually approach a mosaic by drawing out a very basic design. I don't design in everything, but rather let the details develop as I work with the materials.

What do you do with your mosaics once you finish?
I sell my mosaics, give them as gifts, and keep some for myself.

What have you learned?
I've learned that one never stops learning new techniques for mosaics. I learn new things constantly.

How do you fit mosaics into your personal/family life?
When I start working on a mosaic, pretty much everything else comes to a stop. I'm single and retired so I can do this. When I get on a roll with a mosaic, I don't want to do anything else.

Where do you work?
I work in my home studio.

What is your favorite thing about working with mosaics?
I love watching the colors and designs emerge as I work.

Have you ever done public art, community art, worked with children, etc...?
I've never done public or community art but I would like to do this sometime.

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.