blog-and-recent-works

Studio take over!

Fri, 03 Aug 2018 17:05:00 +0100

Summer is in full swing here on the Maine Coast! Ocean breezes, beach days, long distance ocean swims, gardening, kids running around the yard, bonfires, and visiting friends and family. - AND the start of a 10' x 8' mosaic mural!

Right after my last summer mosaic class here at the studio ended, the folding tables came out of storage, and the design for the new mural got laid out. This mural is going to be installed in the entryway of a new High School being built in Sanford Maine. A long time friend/author/teacher/artist, Hilary Zayed, and I partnered up for this Percent for Art Project. I'm thrilled to be working on something with her again!

Work has started on some of the smaller elements of the mural. I'm having a lot of fun working on the wild life along the water's edge.

This wall is the future home of the mural.

Things are taking flight!

People's Choice, Somerville Museum!

Wed, 20 Jun 2018 13:54:00 +0100

March, 2018
How exciting to once again be in a glass show at the Somerville Museum in Massachusetts. THEN, after the show, my piece is returned to me with a People's Choice Award attached to it. Out of the 60+ mosaic pieces in the show, it's a MASSIVE honor to get this award!!

Guess who's heading to Ireland!?

Sun, 23 Jul 2017 01:33:36 +0100

I'm excited to announce that I was recently selected for an artists residency in Ireland! I'll be traveling there in March of 2018, and staying on this amazing estate, painting, sketching, mosaicing, and drawing to my heart's content! The estate is owned by an artist and a historian... complete with old church ruins, beautiful gardens, meandering cows, and SO MUCH food for your imagination!

I will be the only artist in residence, and just can't wait! When my residency comes to a close, my children and husband will be meeting me there, and we'll spend a few weeks exploring all that Ireland has to offer. March can't come fast enough!

It's been a long time....

Thu, 20 Apr 2017 14:21:09 +0100

How is it possible that it's been so long? Where does the time go? Rather than try to back track, I'm going to just jump right into telling you about 2 cool projects I'm working on right now.

First, I had the total pleasure of sharing the art of mosaic with the women at Florence House a few weeks ago. Florence House is a home for chronically homeless women in Portland Maine. All of the women were so welcoming, and I loved seeing them get their creative juices flowing. Each woman made a mosaic flower, and now I'm putting them all into a garden mosaic that will hang in the entryway at Florence House. Here are some of their beautiful creations!

Then, the following week I was off to a small school in West Bath, Maine. There, I talked to the kids about mosaic art, showed them my work, and talked to them a bit about life as an artist. I've never met a group of 3rd graders that were so inquisitive! There were so many questions that I was afraid we would run out of time for them to create their own mosaic! The introduction to making mosaic that I gave them was for each of them to make a paper mosaic. Kids are so creative... it was great to see what they came up with. They don't know it yet, but coming up next month, they'll be visiting my studio, where they will each be making a mosaic leaf for a tree mural I'm creating for the school's entryway. What a fun day it will be when I see a school bus pull up outside the studio!!!

Other than these two great projects, my goal this week is to finally get this sunrise at Portland Headlight mosaic listed for sale...

... and to finish this mosaic of one of my favorite rocks in our little cove.

I'll try to be better about posting updates. Weird... I feel like I've said that before...

The Long Days of Summer

Fri, 25 Sep 2015 13:36:42 +0100

Well, Summer of 2015 is now over. How did that happen!? Although I made a true effort to enjoy & get the most out of every day, it still seemed to go by faster than ever. Days spent in the studio, in the garden, hanging out with two of the coolest kids ever (which happen to be my own), splashing in the waves, exploring the ever-changing cove we live on... summers in Maine are magical. But now, as Summer ends, I'm getting excited about what Autumn brings: sunny but cooler days that make you want to turn on the oven, the smell of candles, the changing colors of nature, snuggly days watching movies, and a seemingly endless amount of inspiration from the ever-changing environment of coastal Maine.

This summer I taught two great classes here in the studio... mosaic mirrors & a stained glass mosaic window class. Both were just fantastic! It's always wonderful to meet new people & see where everyone's creative juices will flow!

A student working hard on her awesome mirror... this was the first time she had done a piece on a wood substrate!

The past 3 months I've also been working on a 92 foot long mosaic installation for Allagash Brewing.. and it's coming to an end! In the next few weeks, I will be installing! The mosaic "time line" will be installed on the floor of Allagash's mezzanine, seen in the photo below.

This is just a small section of the mosaic... which is filled with all kinds of different elements used by Allagash... everything from ingredients, to beer bottles, to storage (barrels & tanks), and some other little surprises.

Groutline

Fri, 17 Oct 2014 10:45:36 +0100

It's been such a long time since I was here, so I'm not going to fool myself into thinking that I can update this blog in one post. :) Instead, I'll do something much more reasonable, and plan on writing here once every couple of days for the next few weeks. For now, I'll jump right into the exciting news that Groutline Magazine ran an article about my project for the Ronald McDonald House of Portland Maine! To see more about the project, head here.

Boston.com Piece about my Installation

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:26:31 +0100

Take a gander at this piece that appeared on Boston.com about my Boston Children's Hospital installation! Read the interview here.

Yes... a FIVE-STORY mosaic!

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:38:44 +0100

I'm very happy to announce that my design, "Everyone's Tree House" has been selected as the winning design for a 5-story mosaic mural at Boston Children's Hospital. The proposal phase was long, and so many amazing artists applied. I'm still stunned that my piece won the contract... but beyond that, I'm thrilled & honored. I'll be a very busy camper for a while now!

I'll be sure to post many work in progress shots along the way.. so stay tuned! In the mean time, here is my design.

My Inspiration

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 01:53:21 +0100

I don't believe I've ever written about my children on here... but today I was asked by someone what inspires me. The first thing I thought of was, "my children". They remind me to enjoy life... to laugh A LOT, to jump over the waves, to roll down hills, to not take myself too seriously, and to give love freely & as much as possible. The lessons I've learned from them come through in every piece of art I make. My work has no big hidden meanings.... it's just simply color, joy, love, and moments of imaginative freedom. I am so blessed to live with two such amazing people.Thank you Julian and Priya for inspiring me every day. xoxo

Julian and Priya... Flower Day & Spreading some Love on PhotoPeach

Thank you all!

Sat, 01 Sep 2012 11:48:13 +0100

I took my 12-piece exhibit down this morning, and the folks at the library gallery said it was one of their most popular exhibits all year! Apparently, different large groups came by to see it.. and often. They said that a group of 8 people from Canada came in, and that they came to the area just to see my work! I was floored, honored, and so unbelievably grateful to everyone, every kind word, every wonderful email... THANK YOU for making my exhibit so successful! xoxox