Up with Downsizing!

The Great Mosaic Opus -- a 19x40 inch tabletop with "tiles" made from hand painted heavy watercolor paper -- was finally finished after months of hand painting, cutting, fitting and gluing down what seemed like ten million paper tiles. (See my two previous posts for the actual how-to information.)

Now what? Where should my next creative exploration take me? Contemplating this question, I realized I didn't want to move on to some other medium. I wanted to continue working in mosaics, but I was not up for taking on another project as extensive as the table top.

The answer came when my friend Karen invited me to her house to see some pendants she had made. Mosaic pendants! I took one look at them and was smitten. I've made lots of jewelry, but I had never made anything like these little treasures. Glass tiles in rich hues gleamed, "popping" against the black grout, while an array of carefully placed beads and baubles completed her designs, all set into attractive bezels. I was itching to learn how to make them. When Karen generously offered to teach me her process, I jumped at it.

So my mosaic addiction has now shifted in scale, from large projects to small ones. This has allowed me even more freedom to indulge ... Immersion might describe it more accurately. It has become my obsession. I can't get enough of it.
Here are two pendants I've made recently. You can see others on my web site, www.lynnedwardsart.com

Text, images and pendant designs ©2019 Lynn Edwards

My Achy Breaky Heart

Sometimes an artist needs to take a break from what they are known for, and delve into a whole new area of interest to interrupt their right brain's usual mode of operation. Sometimes it's good just to try one's hand at something new. Sometimes exploring a medium one doesn't usually work in can lead to a renewal of enthusiasm when our usual method of self expression starts to feel ho-hum.

Those thoughts were on my mind when I decided to re-visit an old love from my past: mosaics. About 15 years ago I had become very interested in mosaics made with broken bits of china, pottery and the like. I made a large flower pot for one friend, a gazing ball for another friend's garden, and a picture frame for my own home -- all from shards of broken dinnerware, glass marbles, and other found treasures. The fun was cut short by winter's arrival; I didn't have a studio back then, and mosaic making is horribly messy. Unable to work on my projects in the house, and with no garage or outbuilding, I had to give it up.

This past month  I was bitten by the mosaic bug once again. I had spotted a piece of heart shaped mosaic garden art on Pinterest that I thought was really cool. So I dragged out my dusty box of mosaic supplies and created a heart with a distinctly different look from the heart on Pinterest. Unlike my previous creations, this one includes bits of jewelry and beads. I had so much fun making this piece, I couldn't believe I had allowed so many years to go by without doing any mosaic work at all.

My bits 'n pieces heart                  ©2018 Lynn Edwards

What's next? It's going to be embellishing the top of our coffee table with an abstract design rendered in mosaic tiles. And after that? Well, here's the kind of mosaic piece I can only hope to aspire to:

This impressive beauty was found just outside a store in Charlottesville, Virginia on a trip there back in 2014. The photo doesn't start to do it justice. It was absolutely gorgeous-- a stunning, life sized  creation in glass. My hat's off to whoever created it, as it must have been one heckuva challenge securing all those tiny tiles...not to mention moving it. I bet it weighed as much as a compact car. Oh but it was lovely!!!

Text and images ©2018 Lynn Edwards