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Ukraine House Mosaic Installation

End of April 2025 was dedicated to the installation of the Ukraine House Mosaic – a Map of Embroidery of Ukraine.

MosaicMoments team was in great action to pick up the 28 tiles from Ukraine House and mount them to the Wedi Board in my workshop.

It is a joy to have Kim and Erin in the team. Working together is so much more fun. Problem solving is also better done in a team as there are three brains available to find solutions.

Kim and Erin preparing the mosaic tiles to be glued onto the board.

Glueing mosaic squares to the board with Erin and Kim.

The glue I chose unfortunately didn’t stick all the mini tiles down. My nephew Cornelius, who was in town for a seminar, came to the rescue and brought two friends for a night shift to repair the mosaic.

Soo happy with Kim and Erin about finishing the mounting of the mosaic squares on the third day.

…. And a Magic Garden in Philadelphia

Visiting friends and relatives in the USA is always a good opportunity to discover with them the mosaic treasures of their place.

This time I went to visit my nephew Cornelius in Philadelphia where he is doing a gap year for Action Reconciliation Service for Peace in a social project that cares for immigrants in Camden near Philadelphia.

He was happy to tag along a tour of mosaics in Philli.

First we visited the “Dream Garden” (see previous blog) and then went on to the “Magic Garden” of this otherwise very urban city centre full of beautiful art deco and newer buildings.

https://www.phillymagicgardens.org/about-philadelphias-magic-gardens/themes/

Magic Garden is a life long project of Isaiah Zagar who used the work initially as therapy from a mental break down.

The Magic Garden is a project classified under the term “ Art environment”. It’s now a foundation and we could even join a tour of this crazily busy mosaic project.

What drew my attention?

I am interested in grout lines (the interstices between the mosaic pieces) and how to use them in the design of a mosaic.

In one work where Zagar glued colored pieces onto  free standing clear glass.  Some of the grout lines he left transparent. An interesting blurred color mix appears from the background.

On other murals he used color on the grout cement to emphasize his design.

I am not sure what I shall think of “Art environments”. I find them usually a bit overwhelming and lacking in solid technique. My germaness is getting in the way, I guess.

On the other hand they bear details that are innovative and intrigue my interest. This is wonderful.

 

 

 

 

Dream of a Garden in in Philadelphia

THE DREAM GARDEN
1914-1915
Designed by Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966).
Constructed by Tiffany Studios
Favrile glass mosaic

Born in Philadelphia and educated at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Maxfield Parrish is best known for his idyllic landscapes and storybook illustrations. Parrish served on a committee convened by Cyrus Curtis and Edward W. Bok of the Curts Publishing Company to commission a mural for the lobby of their spectacular new building. After the first three artists chosen to paint the mural died, Parrish was asked to develop the design. At the same time, Bok decided that the mural would be executed by Tiffany Studios as a glass mosaic.
The mural was to be fifteen by forty-nine feet, and would embody the publisher’s desire to make art accessible to a wide public.

Detail of the mosaic “The dream garden” 1914-15
by Mayfield Parrish, constructed by Tiffany Studios New York

Parrish’s design was inspired by the real gardens he had built at his summer home, The Oaks, in Cornish, New Hampshire. The artist envisioned fantastical spaces where a visitor would chance upon places of tremendous beauty and solitude, improved by careful placement of foliage and flowers, large classical us, reflecting pools and fountains, walkways and steps. The masks in the foreground evoke Parrish’s love of theater, and lend the character of a stage to this ideal landscape.

Detail of the mosaic “The dream garden” 1914-15
by Mayfield Parrish, constructed by Tiffany Studios New York

The mosaic’s images are rendered in “favrile” glass, following a complex hand firing process developed by Tiffany to produce over 100,000 pieces of glass in 260 colors. Most of the glass was set in 24 panels in Tiffany’s New York studios. Thirty artisans worked for a year an the mosaic, and the installation of the panels in this location took six months. The finished work was hailed by art entics as a veritable wonder-piece” at the official unveiling in 1916. The amazing variety of opaque, translucent, and transparent glass, entirely lighted from the lobby, achieves perspective effects that have never been duplicated.
In 1998, after the death of John W. Merriam, who had owned it during his life, Philadelphia came close to losing The Dream Garden. Its proposed sale and removal from the City caused a vigorous public outcry. In response, the Pew Charitable Trusts made a grant of $3.5 million to purchase a private beneficial interest.