Hands Over Venice

Here is an Etch of the famous Hands Over Venice bridge, in Venice. This is a description of how this … More

The Botanicals

I love textured plants and I have begun work on a series of linocuts featuring created flora and fauna. Here … More

Ode to the printing Press

I worked in a large studio in the city of Hilversum (https://gahilversum.nl/) in the Netherlands for a couple of years. … More

The Miniature Prints and Drawings in my Dollshouse

The image is of a framed artwork. The artwork itself appears to be a mosaic or collage composed of small, colorful elements. The subject matter is somewhat abstract, reminiscent of organic forms or stylized plants. There is a prominent circular yellow shape in the upper left, suggesting a sun or moon. Dominating the composition are red shapes that could be interpreted as leaves, coral, or other natural forms.

The Miniature Mosaic Artwork in my Dollhouse

The Miniature Mosaics in my Bloomsbury House Dollhouse

The image shows an intricately designed miniature room of a dollhouse interior. It's set up as a cozy and cluttered living space, filled with books, furniture, and various decorative items. The overall impression is one of a well-loved and lived-in room, suggesting a comfortable and creative atmosphere. Walls: The walls are lined with tall bookshelves, filled with what appear to be miniature books. One wall is painted a bold blue color, contrasting with the warmer tones of the rest of the room. There's a collection of small framed pictures on the blue wall.

Bloomsbury House – my dolls house

For those of us who are artists – a dolls’ house combines many of the aforementioned aspects along with our ability to use our artistic skill-set to their fullest extent. It challenges us to create on a minute scale. To paint, print, etch, book-bind, micro-mosaic, clothe, decorate within the confines of a small space. My dolls’ house has become a vehicle for my artistic talents. I have my own permanent gallery on display when and how I choose. I open the doors of my dolls’ house and I see my own reflection looking back in all its order and perfection – just as I would have it.

Discover the Beauty of Amersfoort Through Hand-Colored Art

I lived in the beautiful City of Amersfoort for almost eight years. During my time there it was European City … More

My Larger Mosaic Works

Chagall's signature on a mosaic in Chicago

Exploring Chagall’s Four Seasons Mosaic in Chicago

There’s the most amazing Chagall mosaic in the centre of Chicago. Four Seasons is a 1974 mosaic by Marc Chagall located inChase Tower Plaza … More

The Christchurch Chalice, Christchurch City, New Zealand. For sale

Drawings of Christchurch

Happy-Arting!

A vibrant mosaic artwork based on a Jacobean Embroidery design

Mosaic Mandalas: A Journey of Reflection

A vibrant mosaic artwork is centrally positioned within the frame, displaying an ornate floral design. The artwork is circular, with a border composed of small, dark gray, rectangular tiles. The central design features a large, stylized flower in shades of orange, red, and yellow, with a white center and detailed, petal-like structures. Surrounding the main flower are various botanical elements, including green leaves, blue berries, small yellow flowers, and a detailed insect that resembles a dragonfly or a bee. These elements are rendered in shades of green, yellow, and blue, creating a vibrant contrast against the dark background.

Transforming Guitars into Art with Mosaics

I went through a phase of mosaicing musical instruments with fine bone china…. here are the results.

Mosaic shard spacing

Spacing of mosaic pieces is as critical as grout color. The further apart the spacing the more fragmented the piece will look – and the more grout will be needed to finish the piece. The closer the spacing the better the piece will read. So spacing is another of the vital design choices that have to be made when designing a mosaic.

Artists and their passions

Here is a lovely clip by local photographer Mayra Pama-Luiten who prepared a piece on several local Dutch artists and … More

Grouted Pique Assiette

Grouting is a far more time consuming process than one might imagine, particularly if you are using fine bone china. The reason for this is that the surface is not flat and therefore special attention must be paid to removing all grout from around each shard, so that each piece can be seen clearly.

How to Cut Smalti

Three methods of cutting smalti are most common: nippers, hammer and hardie, or chopping machine. Wheeled nippers are pliers … More

The Bong Tree is complete

I managed to get this far and only sliced my finger once – not bad going considering I have cut up kilos and kilos of marble.I’m original mosaicing tools in the form of a hammer and hardy. More on that in another blog. These tools are usually used for cutting glass and you only have to tap the glass with the hammer and it breaks perfectly. Cutting marble is another story. Sometimes the pieces I’m cutting are 10 centimeters thick and really require some serious force, needless to say the hammer gets blunt quickly.

Is there lead in Smalti?

This week a reader asked me this question- is there lead in smalti? Smalti is the glass used for making … More

The main focus is a small, creatively designed garden space. In a niche or corner adjacent to a home. A prominent feature is a raised planter or water feature decorated with mosaic tiles. Next to this, we can see tree with a thin trunk. The other part is a wall decorated with another mosaic.

They call it the Berlin Wall…..

I had a wall in my backyard in the Netherlands, which my neighbors called the Berlin Wall. I must say … More

So what is Italian Smalti?

As a mosaic artist, Italian Smalti is the crème de la crème of traditional mosaic materials. It is an Italian … More

First Exhibit in The Netherlands

First Exhibit in the Netherlands.

Pique- assiette Mannequins

I went through a phase of mosaicing mannequins, here is a selection which were sold both in New Zealand and … More

Finding Inspiration for Mosaics

Inspiration for mosaics design comes for me from material choice – the only limiting factor is your imagination and in … More

The image is a square mosaic piece, set against a neutral, off-white background. The artwork itself is diamond-shaped in orientation, with the corners of the square pointing upwards, downwards, and sideways. The artwork features a central figure with arms raised, holding a golden orb, all encompassed within concentric circular and square borders.

Designing a Mosaic- An Example

Finding Yourself Through Art

The importance of drawing your design

Here are the results of my thought process:. As you can see I began playing with a variety of blues and gold and began to think about how I would create the lines in the design and whether or not I wanted a border and whether that border should be black.

To Grout or not to Grout- that is the question?

Many a mosaic I have ruined choosing the wrong grout color. The rule of thumb is that the more contrasting the grout color the more visible and fragmented a piece will look.

The Emergence of Pique Assiette

The literal translation of pique assiette from French is ‘thief of plates’ or ‘freeloader’. Raymond Isidore (1900-1964) is perhaps best known as the king of pique assiette. His entire home is covered in bits of pottery he found in the fields around Chartre, France. His neighbors called him ‘pique assiette’ as a derogatory term and it has remained in use more generally today.