Ombre Mosaic Fireplace

I loved making this mosaic so much! The subtle color changes and wide variety of tessera made this fireplace a work of art.

It was such a pleasure to make this mosaic fireplace for this delightful client in Akron, Ohio. She had a wonderful eye for color, design, and theme. It’s wonderful to work with someone that knows what she wants, but is open to different ideas.

The client came with images and the concept when I visited her home to see her aesthetic, and then I sketched up some ideas. We landed on this sketch to begin the process.

 
 

She then came to my studio to choose from a huge variety of glass options. She quickly picked what she did and did not want to use in the creation. It was a tough decision to go as dark, and with heavier materials at the bottom, but I really felt it would ground the mosaic to make the design pop and make the upper half more ethereal. I’m so glad she chose to go with it, and she’s very happy with the outcome, so I think it was the right move! This is my favorite mosaic I’ve made because I love when the complicated bits and decisions of making a mosaic come together in such a unified, flowing, elegant design.

Sun Kitchen Mosaic Backsplash

It was so much fun to have the honor of making this brilliant, Gaudi-inspired showpiece for a client’s home! 

My clients were building their dream pool house which was sleak, modern and minimal. It is a gorgeous home with clean lines and almost all white. They planned on doing a lot of entertaining, so they wanted a bright, bold mosaic backsplash in their open kitchen to be the centerpiece of the dining and living area. I was so fortunate that the president of an arts organization I do work for are neighbors and friends with the couple building the home. The wife told the couple about my mosaic work and we met to discuss the project.

The couple wanted something inspired by Gaudi because they loved his mosaics and wanted a special artwork to remind them of their travels to Barcelona. They also wanted cobalt contrasting with vibrant, warm colors. It’s so rare people are bold enough to put this much color in their home, so it was such a joy to work with them to make this mosaic happen.

I wanted to create a design that would match their Gaudi & color specifications while still reflecting my own style. I suggested a sun because Gaudi has made mosaic suns, but I did it my way by using geometric shapes, different levels of translucency in the glass, colored mirror, and gold smalti. I didn’t even anticipate the gorgeous reflection of the sun on the stovetop. That was a happy coincidence. For the background we wanted something swirling and magical, so I created crisp lines between the cobalt that would transition through other blues and greens before coming back to cobalt. They wanted more red and movement in the design, so I added in the red sections to reflect the movement of the background.

I also suggested to create the mosaic out of glass instead of ceramic. I was so happy they agreed because I couldn’t have created a work this intricate out of ceramic. It would also lack the shine and impact. I still used a picasiette-style andamenton traditional of ceramic mosaics to pay homage to Gaudi. The whole design and choice of glass came together beautifully and quickly because the clients were open to ideas but also knew exactly what they wanted when they saw it. It was a wonderful collaboration.

Casa de Los Robles Mosaic

I loved making this plaque for a client’s home using stained glass and 24 karat gold smalti.

It was such an honor to get to make this beautiful plaque for my client’s home. She wanted something elegant to honor her home, Casa de Los Robles (House of the Oak), that was built in 1927.

A major feature of this mosaic is the gold smalti, which is 24 karat gold leaf between layers of glass. This beautiful and coveted glass comes from the Orsoni glass company in Venice, Italy. I had the idea of working with gold smalti and the client loved it, but then we were left with the dilemma that she definitely wanted the “de” to be placed in the tree trunk. I could have used dark gold smalti for the background and yellow gold to stand out in the tree, but I personally feel that using different colors in font is less elegant. The USA supplier of the gold at the time didn’t have this darkest of colors that had a certain refraction that allowed it to stand out against both dark brown and cream glass. Fortunately, when I relayed the significance of this particular color, the supplier managed to either find some stashed away or get some from Italy before her regular shipment, which would have been several months if the factory even had any in stock. To me, this color totally makes the mosaic work, so I was elated.

Then I had to sculpt this thick glass using andamento that keeps the script lettering light and consistent. Instead of recessing this glass that is slightly thicker than stained glass, I kept its depth so that it rose above a bit to stand out and reflect the light cleanly. I also used this bronze gold smalti in addition to a more traditional yellow gold smalti for the acorns and the border. The rest of the mosaic is stained glass.

I created the Casa de Los Robles mosaic in one piece on Wedi board. I grouted it and shipped it to California to be installed, recessed, into the wall of the client’s butler’s pantry. The client was kind enough to send along this picture after the installation.