WORK BY STUDIO FRESCA SELECTED FOR NATIONAL MOSAIC EXHIBITION

Me with A WILD NIGHT IN THE HUNDERTWASSER WOODS — We'll both be attending the National Mosaic Exhibition in Falmouth, MA on Cape Cod! I'm really pleased and honored to part of the exhibition, which features 55 works by mosaicists from across the US and Canada. The exhibition, held at Highfield Hall, opens on 20th July and closes on 4th September. The opening reception on Friday, 22cnd July features a presentation by the one and only Sonia King. Planned around the exhibit are some great workshops and fun tours offering a multitude of mosaic experiences! For a complete schedule of classes, workshops and activities, or for more info: NMECC and for a closer look at A WILD NIGHT IN THE HUNDERTWASSER WOODS

MOTHERS HAVE A LOT TO ANSWER FOR...

 



MOTHER LOVE - Mosaic jewlery piece created with love for my own wonderful mother. Recovered vintage china, scrap stained glass, italian millefiore, recycled metal findings, glass beads and faux pearls, silk wrapped wire cording on gold-plated pewter metal pendant blank with unsanded grout.

As a daughter, a mother and a "wanna be" grandmother, Mother's Day means something more to me than just another corporate created occasion to send a greeting card. Mother's Day has a somewhat convoluted history and owes it's inception to a number of women who, over several generations and in several geographic locations, originally established the concept of a "special day" for mothers everywhere to come together to variously remember their children, promote peace, work toward women's rights, fight family poverty, show appreciation and gratitude toward one's own mother and celebrate the timeless bonds of motherhood.

Although many of us may not recognize the original intentions of early Mother's Day concepts in today's commercialized version, we have only to look toward our own mothers — and mothers all around the world — to see that the real reasons for celebrating Mother's Day have not changed. Mothers provide constant care for their children, they work to support them, they fight to protect them, they delight in their accomplishments, they strive to provide a better world for them. And it is my experience and strong conviction that, by and large, they do this not only for their own children, but for all the children of the world and that one does not necessarily have ever to have given birth to provide the mothering the world so desperately needs.

The old adage has it that, "A Mother's Work is Never Done" and I believe this is true. We have such high ideals, expectations and hopes for what our mothers will provide. Once you are a mother, you are a mother forever. Given all they do for their individual children, and collectively for the world, mothers certainly do have a lot to answer for and for that reason I am delighted to take this opportunty to be grateful for, and appreciative of, all that my own mother, and mothers everywhere, have done for me. So in celebration of women yesterday, today and tomorrow, I wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day!

BIDDING TO MAKE THE WORLD BETTER

The International Auction of Mosaic Art to Benefit Doctors Without borders / Médecins Sans Frontières is currently underway! View 127 amazing and diverse works of art created and donated by more than 100 mosaic artists from around the world. DWB/MSF is a truly remarkable organization and well deserving of our support so if you love art, this is a great opportunity to own an original piece and "do good". Click here to go directly to the auction site and behold all the wonderful works created in honor of the wonderful work that DWB/MSF does. Thank you and happy bidding!

A TREE FOR ALL SEASONS - my donation to the International Auction to Benefit Doctors Without Borders. For more details on the materials and meaning behind the design, please click here.

Fascination With Flatware Fast Becoming a Fetish...

Work in Progess - ENCHANTED FOREST - "Owed" to Surrealism created from scrap stained glass, salvaged stainless steel knife handles, ball chain, millefiore, on 1/2" environmental MDF

While trolling through the trash, digging deep in dumpsters and rummaging around in recycle yards, I encounter an amazing array of discarded items. Some are definitely one-of-a-kind, while others are one, or two — or ten — among millions. Stainless steel flatware pieces are among the latter.

Glass, china and tile have always had an allure for me, but in recent years I have developed an affinity for flatware. It comes in such a diversity of shapes, sizes, patterns and finishes that I take true delight in discovering the "new" and finding a few more of the familiar to carry back to my studio. To me, each of these pieces of sturdy stainless steel is a small work of art in and of itself and representative of a certain time and period in our cultural heritage. That's why I love to incorporate them into my work.

I also like they way they feel in my hands when I am cutting, buffing, bending and polishing them — they are smooth, solid and balanced. Metal feels different than glass, tile, stone and china and I like the contrast it brings to my work. I also like to think I am preserving a little something while giving these beautiful and once utilitarian discards new life as I send them dancing through a millefiore forest, tuck them into a snowy china field and suspend them in a misty glass night. And, it's a great way to feed my flatware fetish!