Botanical Set by Natalie Blake

Natalie Blake’s ceramic pieces employ the use of otherworldly color and design on familiar forms. She is influenced by the sea and the ancient tradition of telling stories via the vessel form, often incorporating hand-rolled sea urchins and anemones into her designs. "I love the versatility of clay and the endless possibilities that present themselves daily in my studio," Blake says. "The more I discover clay as the landscape of my creativity, the more insatiable the journey becomes."

Each vessel is thrown in porcelain clay; texture is carved with a metal tool. Blake then rubs the relief details free of the glaze she’s applied so that the porcelain clay is exposed. Finally, the pieces are fired to 2,300 degrees, which gives them an antiqued appearance.

Glass artist Josh Simpson’s vision is as vast as the universe, an unlimited landscape that stretches from the mysteries of the ocean to the far reaches of space. Since he began to explore the secrets of his ancient craft more than 30 years ago, Simpson has created a persona every bit as fantastic as his remarkable work.

"I can’t say that I had a detailed life plan when I was first captivated by glassblowing, or had any notion of where it would take me," Simpson laughs. " Even now, I never know quite where I’m going until I look back and see the progress."

Self-taught, Simpson used his life savings, which totaled $306, to rent an isolated tract of land in Vermont, land-build a studio, sew himself an 18-foot cloth tipi to live in, then set about cracking the secret of iridescent Tiffany glass. He succeeded, and then moved on to develop a reputation as one of the foremost contemporary glassblowers in America.

Simpson has become particularly well know for his Planets. This evolving series suggests intricately detailed miniature worlds, reminiscent of the rounded shape of the Earth as photographed from space. And if his imaginings about space and the nature of the universe ever grow dim, he can turn to his wife, astronaut Cady Coleman, for firsthand inspiration.

Megaplanet (Large) by Josh Simpson

As an extension of his Planets, Simpson developed Megaworlds, a series of large, heavy glass sculptures. To create a Megaworld, Simpson must direct his skilled glass team in a precise, carefully choreographed collaborative effort.

"We look like a bunch of football players trying to do ballet. It’s a challenge to control an 80-pound ball of molten glass on the end of a five-foot-long blowpipe; the physics are definitely working against you. My team knows what to do, working through experience and few words. You must be precise and graceful, as well as extremely strong, because the glass is so responsive and alive."

A metalworker known for his industrial-strength designs, Boris Bally does not travel light. When he moved his home and studio from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Providence, Rhode Island, he needed an 18-wheeler and a crane to haul a total of 36,000 pounds. "I tease my wife, who’s a physician, all the time," he says. "She carries all of her work around with her in her head. I would rather drag my stuff around with me externally."

This "stuff" includes raw materials, machinery ranging from saws to a hydraulic press, and finished designs, mainly in the form of wearable sculpture and jewelry, flatware, and furniture. Weighing in among his heaviest work—and also his most popular— is the Transit Series: bowls and chairs made out of aluminum street signs, which are bent into shape with great force.

Using street signs is more than a chance for the artist to flex some muscle, however. It’s also an elegant form of recycling. "Our resources on the planet are finite, and the best test of an artists is how well we can use what we have at hand," says Bally.

His vision of art as recycling comes in part from his training as a goldsmith in Basel, Switzerland, shortly after high school. Given the value of gold, obsessive conserving is part of the trade. But Bally treats scraps of non-precious metal with the same kind of care. He frequents scrap yards and likes to walk his dogs straight to the neighbors’ trash cans on garbage days. One of his biggest recycling projects has been collecting corks from around the world to use as feet for his Transit Chairs.

"I started using champagne corks as the feet of my Transit Chairs. The cork made the perfect foot because it’s pliant and easy to replace. You just have to be willing to break open a champagne bottle in the name of art."

Encoded IV, 2008 by Rhonda Heisler

A Mosaics Q&A with Rhonda Heisler
We asked New Jersey mosaicist Rhonda Heisler, an officer in the Society of American Mosaic Artists, to comment on current trends in this compelling art form.

Why the fascination with mosaic art?
Mosaics are experiencing a renaissance in the U.S. and abroad. You see evidence in both the quantity and the quality of mosaic art being produced and the degree to which architects and designers are incorporating commercially designed mosaics into homes and public spaces as expressive focal points or sophisticated backgrounds texture. The growth of mosaic fine art is an important aspect of this trend, as contemporary artists are drawn to mosaics by way of its rich traditions, creative possibilities, and technical challenges.

What makes mosaic unique among the art media?
Few media provide such powerful and direct testimony to the process of artistic creation as mosaics. The finished piece is the product of literally thousands of interrelated decisions, the mosaicist selecting from a broad array of exquisitely tactile materials, then cutting, manipulating, or editing each piece (called a tessera, plural form tesserae) and positioning it just so, for maximum visual and expressive impact within the design. The process is very labor-intensive, to be sure. But as the artist will tell you, making a mosaic can be meditative, highly intuitive, and a labor of love.

It’s common for a viewer of mosaic to move in as close as possible to focus on a small area or to admire the intricate patterning and surface detail, then step back to take in the interplay of the various elements and the composition as a whole. It’s this duality of focus, this tension, that makes owning mosaic art an endlessly fascinating process of discovery. Not only that, mosaic art is eminently collectible and well-priced.

Tell us more about the materials and techniques being used in contemporary mosaics.
Today’s mosaicist can select from a variety of luscious materials that, until quite recently, simply were not widely available in this country. In addition to traditional materials like marble and stone, glass (stained, mirrored, and vitreous), and ceramic tile, artists are working in Italian and Mexican smalti (enameled glass with a unique depth of color and surface texture), tempered and fused glass, and found objects. Organic materials and fossils are finding their way into mosaics, along with beads, polymer clay and asphalt, metal, and handmade ceramics.

We see mosaicists mixing conventional and unconventional materials in surprising combinations and new formats. Others are using new industrial materials to depict traditional themes and narratives. Andamento, the placement of tesserae in a flowing pattern to suggest movement and rhythm, is a hallmark of the fine mosaics and can be a signature feature of an individual artist’s style. Mosaicists are working in both two- and three-dimensional formats, from small-scale work to large murals and public art projects. Some are experimenting with bas-relief and trompe l’oeil effects. It’s an exciting medium, ripe with creativity and innovation.

What do mosaics lend to their environment? Why are they a good solution for public art projects?

The work has a strong physicality and an often shimmering presence that simply does not transmit in a photograph but looks great on the wall, where the field of tesserae creates stunning color and textural effects that modulate with the changing light. Mosaic is well-suited to large-format work, durable, and colorful. This makes it a versatile selection for interior or exterior wall-oriented or sculptural work. The mosaicist working on a public art commission often can incorporate materials and themes that give the piece a strong geographic or historical identity. Sometimes such mosaics are community-built, promoting local pride and signaling an investment in the community where the piece is situated.

How do I commission a mosaic?

Most professional mosaicists welcome site-specific commissions, either for portable panels, installation pieces, or sculptures. Mosaics can be custom-designed, customer-colored, and custom-sized to fit client requirements. Many of the best mosaicists are trained in fine arts and welcome the opportunity for hands-on involvement in all phases of the project: design, production, and installation. This is preferable to picking a pattern from a book or asking a painter to provide a color rendering for mosaic fabrication, since only someone who speaks the special language of mosaic can take full advantage of the unique properties of the material.

Most mosaicists charge a design fee that can be applied to a project once a contract is signed. Keep in mind that mosaic production can be slow, so allow ample lead time. Note, however, that a mosaic artist often has a selection of ready-to-hang work that may suit your requirements.

Tell us about SAMA, the Society of American Mosaic Artists.

This non-profit organization, founded in 1999, is at the center of mosaic art activity in the United States. Its members are artists, instructors and scholars, mosaic enthusiasts, and industry partners, all dedicated to educating, inspiring, and promoting excellence in fine mosaic art. Major programs include a yearly conference with an impressive array of workshops and presentations, annual juried (Mosaic Arts International) and non-juried (Mosaic Art Salon) exhibition opportunities, a quarterly newsletter, and a scholarship fund. A visit to the SAMA website, www.americanmosaics.org, is the perfect place to start your exploration of contemporary mosaics. You’ll find a Members’ Gallery and links to member websites, as well as information about conferences, exhibitions, and classes. Catalogs of past exhibitions and other publications are available in the online SAMA store.