All posts filed under: Mosaics made for Architectural Surfaces

…. 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 …

Dream of a Garden in in Philadelphia

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. 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 …

The miraculous journey of a mosaic

In 2015, when I exhibited pieces for the Hamam mosaic in Brazil, visitors asked for a similar mosaic for their house in Washington. Years went by… We have since moved to Washington and I now live in here and in Berlin. In September 2023, I met our friends again and asked them if they were still thinking about the mosaic they had asked me for so many years ago. I met them in their house, we looked for a place and found a suitable niche above the bathtub. One of the fish from the Ayvalik mosaic could swim well there! I presented them with 4 designs for the 45×29″ niche and an estimate, they chose one design and accepted the budget.Design_M&C_Oct_23 In November and December 2023, I produced the mosaic on a temporary support in my studio in Berlin. I glued the tesserae upside down onto craft paper. IMG_1213 When I was finished after 40 hours, I was able to cut the mosaic apart and pack it in pieces between polystyrene sheets for transportation to …