Mosaic is the art of connecting broken pieces to form a new design. I use mosaics to connect with the countries I live in, practising and teaching the art to those around me, to connect with people and enable others to connect with each other.
23 of May was the big day for Julong Garden community. The dragon mosaic installation began.
The two local masons and their skills where impressive – they never installed a mosaic before and did this one with great diligence and calm despite the many spectators. I need to rely on the knowledge of these local craftsmen for the choice of cements as I have no experience with building material here in the tricky climate of Beijing with super hot and humid summers and frosty and dry winters. As I can only talk to them via a translation app trust was needed the more.
Before installing they spend a weekend mending the rather depilated air vent structure so the mosaic could be installed.
After being indoors for 2 months in self quarantine since the beginning of February the neighbors of Julong Hua Yuan in Beijing Dongcheng district are coming together again to work on the dragon mosaic for their Dragon Garden – that’s what Julong Hua Yuan means.
Working outside near the air vent structure that should hold the mosaic proofed to be very successful in terms of visualization of the project. It also sparked the interest of passing people.
Today I am one year in Beijing. Look how my studio has developed!
I have found an apartment with a studio space on the 5th floor (no lift – keeps me fit)
Education at 3 conferences : the yearly conference of SAMA – Society of American Mosaic artists in Nashville – where my community project in Brasilia was exhibited
Annual conference of BAMM (British Association of Mosaic Masters &DOMO (Deutsche Organisation für Mosaic, where I attended a workshop with Thomas Denker a German mosaic artist who created a computer program to make sophisticated pixel mosaics.
I reconnected with my friend Sani Wroblewski who supported me in my first attempts to make mosaic in Ankara. Together we created the community mosaic “Dragon” for the Dragons Garden where mosaic moments studio has its home in Beijing.
Discovering public mosaic projects in New York, Washington DC, Detroit, Istanbul and Hongkong. See also my blogs in April, October 2019 and January 2020.
Hongkong Street Art
Istanbul Palace Mosaic Museum
Washington DC Church Art
New York Metro
Detroit Street Art
Testing new materials on new backgrounds – a lot of glass mosaic stones found its way to my studio here in Beijing – an inheritant of another mosaic artist who transited through Beijing and left some mosaic enthusiasts and a lot of material behind that I can now benefit from. Sorting the many colors and shapes took these diligent helpers several days.
I am planning to start mosaic classes as soon as the Beijing administration will open schools and allows the Beijingers to gather physically again.
