Mosaic Artist Lilian Broca visited our Montreal studio in March ! Lilian was here to start her new mosaic project with us.
Below are photos of Lilian Broca’s visit.
Today, Mosaika was honoured to have artist Luis Jacob visit our Montreal studio!
Luis was in town to look at the production of his 68 mosaic medallions, being created for Dufferin Underpass at Queen Street in Toronto.
Below are photos of Luis Jacob visit, and some of Mosaika’s progress thus far.
Mosaika is working with long-time collaborator Dixie Friend Gay on a 890 sq. ft. mural destined for the Sam Houston State University in Huntsville Texas.
Climbing from floor to ceiling 3 stories, this 39 foot-tall piece depicts scenes inspired by the views out the stairwell where it will be housed; ponds, wetlands and wildlife.
Dixie has crafted hand-formed ceramic elements of pollen, weltlands wildlife and microscopic life that will be included throughout this beautiful mural.
This mosaic is set for installation in January 2012.
Be sure to head over to Dixie’s website to check out her amazing artwork and other Mosaika collaborations. www.dixiefriendgay.com
Below are photos of Dixies original artwork, and some of Mosaika’s progress thus far.
Mosaikashop, our sister company, has a blog we think you should check out! Run by Suzanne Spahi, Mosaikashop offers mosaic classes and materials for any mosaic enthusiast.
Located in Montreal, Mosaikashop has been operating since 2003, and offers classes suited for beginner, intermediate and advanced mosaicists alike. In addition to classes, Mosaikashop also sells hand-glazed ceramic mosaic tile, as well as smalti and vitreous glass.
From Mosaikashop’s website:
Mosaïkashop is a dynamic and vibrant mosaic school based in Montreal, Canada. The school is well established and attracts students from all over the continent and beyond. Through our affiliation with the renowned Mosaïka Art & Design studio, we provide classes based on the finest professional techniques used in modern mosaic design, creation and installation.
Be sure to check out their website at: www.mosaikashop.com And their blog at www.mosaikashop.wordpress.com
Artist Jessica Polzin McCoy visited Mosaika last week to oversee the completion of her 24 mosaic panels, bound for the Expo/Vermont station on the LACMTA’s Expo subway line. She sat down with the Mosaika team to discuss her process and offer insight into the creation of what will be a truly fantastic addition to the LACMTA’s vibrant Metro Arts program.
Jessicas artworks for Metro are scenes from in and around the stations neighborhood. A portion of the panels depict the homes, yards, fences, buildings, familiar signage and landmarks in the colorful suburbs and streets of the area. The remainder of the panels offer the viewer an inside glimpse into the homes and lives of real residents and members of the community. Jessica scoured the area with her camera, exploring and taking literally thousands of photos to later meticulously edit, crop and collage, reconstructing scenes of the region. Later still, Jessica painted these constructed scenes using watercolor with almost unbelievable detail, color and depth. The result is 16 stunning works of original art to adorn the seating modules and archways of Expo/Vermont Station.
At only just over 8 feet wide each, and filled with so much complexity, Mosaikas biggest challenge with translating these panels was to realize the detail in each piece. Our glazing studio formulated countless custom colors, created just for this project, and hand-painted each tile to best re-create Jessicas brush strokes, and pull as much details from the artworks that the translation would allow.
The images below illustrate Jessica’s incredible original watercolors, and a few of Mosaika’s translations.
Since 2006, Jessica has been an Assistant Professor of Art at the Pitzer College in Claremont California. Her artworks have been on exhibit at several galleries, including the Columbus College of Art & Design, the Porter Butts Gallery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as the Ontario Museum of Art in California. She is presently represented by the Fanny Garver Gallery in Madison, Wisconsin.
Artwork by Samuel Rodriguez
At the beginning of December, Mosaika was honored to have artist Samuel Rodriguez visit our Montreal studio!
Samuel was in town to oversee the production of his 20 mosaic panels, bound for the Jefferson/USC Station in Los Angeles, on the LACMTA’s Expo Line.
Inspired largely by urban art, Samuels imagery is fresh and youthful. In fact, he is one of the youngest artists to be showcased by the LACMTA. Incorporated into each panel are silhouettes of bicycle parts and frames, drawing emphasis to the importance and likely pairing of the train system and human-powered transportation.
From Sam:
“One thing many of us do when using public transportation is travel. Both physically and in our mind’s eye. When we look at something, we may be seeing a face, a light pole, perhaps somebody’s shoe, but simultaneously what happens is a mental picture. To capture the nature of public transportation is to crop different and small moments that form together to tell a story.”
Below are Samuels 20 original images, as well as some of the progress Mosaika has made translating his wonderful art in a medium that commuters on Expo will contemplate for years to come.
You can read more about Samuel and visit his websites here and here
Artwork by Ronald J Llanos
Below are some photos showing some of the current progress of the 24 mosaics being created for the Western Station, on the LACMTA’s Expo line. With a painstaking process, each of the 16 different artworks are being ‘painted’ onto tiles, to then be fired, broken up and placed to recreate Ronalds sketch and watercolour style.
More photos to come as this unique and exciting project continues to move forward!
Artwork by Terry Braunstein
Name: Paramount
Material: Byzantine Glass Smalti
Size: 14ft H, 5ft W – 50 sq. ft. total.
Artist Terry Braunstein offered the following description for her new Mosaika collaboration in Long Beach, CA:
This sculpture depicts workers constructing the future of the world. The work symbolizes the contributions of the largely working class, who live in this area of North Long Beach, and who take great pride in what they produce. These three workers, two men and a woman are similar to those who work in the petroleum refinery adjacent to this small park. Two people are shown as Diego Rivera figures from the 1930s, when Long Beach began to develop as a city, and one person as a contemporary man. Braunstein chose this metaphor to celebrate Long Beach as The International City, with one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the country and one of the world’s largest global ports.
This is Mosaika’s third project with Terry.
You can check out the other two here and here
Artwork by Stephen Andrews
Mosaika is creating a large, 950 sq. ft. mosaic destined for the new Trump Towers in Toronto.
The artwork depicts a large crowd scene, however this is only realized from afar, as the image resolves. Made of a multitude of different materials – cut and tumbled smalti, gold byzantine smalti and hand-glazed ceramics – this original and beautiful piece of art is being fabricated now in Mosaika’s Montreal studio.
This past Friday, Stephen stopped by the Montreal from his native Ontario – where he where he currently lives in Toronto – to oversee the production of this large and lovely mosaic.
The photos below show his ‘meet-and-greet’ with our artisans, and an overview and details of his original artwork being translated.
Artwork by Daniel Gonzalez
This past week, Mosaika was lucky enough to have Daniel Gonzalez visit our Montreal studio. One of the 4 artists Mosaika is working with creating a total of 76 mosaics for 4 subway stations for the LACMTA Expo line, Daniel’s beautiful lino-cut artwork is being translated using a similar process as the Sonia Romero artworks Mosaika created last year.
Daniel spoke to the Mosaika team about his inspiration for, and the stories behind the artworks he created for the La Cienega/Jefferson station in Los Angeles. Each of the panels tell an intricate and colorful story of the history of the area surrounding the station.
Below are some photos of Daniel sitting down with Mosaika, helping with the carving of his project, and the 8 original lino-cut artworks he created.
Ronald Llanos visits Mosaika! Artist Ronald Llanos visited Mosaikas Montreal studio this past week to oversee the production of his mosaics destined for the LACMTA’s Expo/Western Station in Los Angeles.
Artwork by Jessica Polzin McCoy
Mosaika is fabricating a total of 76 mosaics destined for four different stations on the Expo line of Los Angeles’ subway system. Artwork created by 4 different artists are bound for arches and seating areas within the stations.
The photographs below show progress on mosaics based on artworks by Jessica Polzin McCoy, for the Vermont Station on the LACMTA Expo line. These mosaics are made completely from hand-glazed ceramic tile, modeled and textured to show the incredible detail in Jessica’s art.
More information on Jessica and the LACMTA Expo station art projects can be found here.
Artwork by Ronald J Llanos
Another LACMTA artist Mosaika is creating mosaics for is Californian Ronald J Llanos. Mr. Llanos’ line-drawing style is being wonderfully interpreted; by meticulously hand-drawing glaze onto ceramic tiles for the mosaicists to break apart and reconstruct into these amazing works of art. Destined for the Expo/Western station on the LAC metro system, there will be 24 mosaics in total when complete.
Artwork by Dixie Friend Gay
Below are a few photos of the installed and grouted “Strata” mosaic installed in The Woodlands Resort & Conference Center in Texas.
After nearly 4 weeks, our installation team is back, and this beautiful artwork is up!
Artwork by Pierre Blanchette
Below are some progress photos of a series of mosaics designed by Pierre Blanchette and destined for the Centre Des Carrieres Western Quebec in Aylmer, QC. These angled stripes are crafted from hand-glazed ceramic tile and smalti glass, and will climb from the bottom to the top of this 8 foot wall. Pierre visited our studio to oversee the progress of his project this week.
Here are a few progress and detail photos of the new Grove 2 mosaic designed by public artist Lynn Basa, destined for the Kinzie West Building in Chicago IL.
Spanning 150 sq. ft., this colorful and remarkable mosaic is comprised entirely of Byzantine smalti.
Mosaika is now in Texas installing yet another Dixie Friend Gay designed mosaic at The Woodlands near Houston. This original and beautiful artwork is made from a myriad of different materials; hand-formed and glazed ceramic tile, natural stone and marbles, byzantine smalti, and handmade glass and porcelain materials all come together to create layers of earths strata, making their way to the surface and ultimately, a stormy sky. Below are a few photographs showing this artwork as it is being installed. For more detailed photos, and to follow along with our progress, please click here to visit the installation blog for this project.
