More art, less craft

I’ve been awol for quite a while now. I’m sorry for that. And now I’m back and I don’t even have any new projects to share with you guys. I don’t even have the Mississippi project framed yet. But what I do have is a plan!

Now that my workspace is set up (pictures to follow soon – promise!), I’m ready to dive back into making mosaics. But I’ve decided to change tack. Like I said in my last post, over the past few months I’ve had a chance to develop my artistic voice a bit more and think about what direction I want my future mosaic endeavours to take, and that direction is as follows: more smalti and stone, more hammer and hardie, and, overall, more art and less craft.

However, I have about a dozen bases that I’ve amassed over the past few years just sitting around, begging to be mosaicked. Since it pains me to get rid of them, the transition plan is this: work on finishing these pieces (using mostly stained glass in an effort to make a bit of a dent in my stock) and then participate in a craft show maybe around the holidays to try to move some of them off my shelves and make room for future works (and make a bit of cash that will undoubtedly get reinvested in yummy materials).

I’ve already got a few designs in mind and I even have the colours picked out for a small square vase, but I’ve been away from mosaics for (what feels like) a long time and for some reason I’m hesitant to make the first cut. But once I do, I have a feeling things will flow free and easy. It feels good to have a bit of direction.