Hummingbird Mosaic for a Kitchen Backsplash

A client commissioned these custom mosaics to honor a hummingbird-loving family member. They were renovating their kitchen and wanted to include this special memory in the new backsplash.

The client provided imagery of hummingbirds they associated with their family member, as well as fabric and tile samples related to the renovation. We ended up designing two different hummingbirds:

• one hummingbird in darker colors to match the inspiration image

• the other hummingbird in lighter colors to coordinate with the new kitchen.

You can see in the sketch we originally thought we’d create a green border around the hummingbird but ultimately decided to leave it off.

Hummingbird mosaic image inspiration

Hummingbird mosaic sketch

Lighter hummingbird mosaic material selection

Darker hummingbird mosaic material selection

Darker hummingbird mosaic in progress

Once the two mosaics were complete, we installed the darker one in a custom metal frame. We grouted the lighter mosaic, leaving a gap around outside edge to allow it to be installed in the new backsplash.

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You can see the lighter hummingbird installed in the backsplash below. It’s always such an honor to work on projects that are personally meaningful to the client.

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Blue Ridge Mountains Mosaics

As nature-lovers in Virginia, it’s no surprise we’re drawn to the iconic imagery of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Over the years Johannah has created a variety of mosaics featuring the mountains.

{Click or tap smaller images to enlarge.}

Though we don’t hike these beautiful mountains as often as we’d like, we do try to get there a few times a year. Every single visit is such an inspiring and mind-clearing experience. Returning to the studio after one hike, Johannah developed the idea for a larger landscape of the mountains. This mosaic would include three panels and feature the rocky outcroppings so common to the Blue Ridge.

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Humpback Rocks, photo by NPS

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Blackrock Summit, photo by NPS

The basic composition Johannah had in mind included an outcropping and a pine tree, with the mountains in the distance beyond. While some ideas come to mind fully-formed, this one took a few twists and turns as it came into being. First it took a few tries to land on a way to illustrate the pine tree she found satisfying. Later, once the mosaic seemed complete, something still felt missing. She decided a mosaic frame around the three panels would pull it all together.

Pine tree attempt #1

Pine tree attempt #2

Pine tree attempt #3, success at last!

Almost done but something's missing...

A border pulls it all together.

The resulting mosaic landscape was included in our exhibit as guest artists of the month at Crozet Artisan Depot a few years ago. What better place to display this piece than a little town nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge!

"Forest Flora" custom mosaic series

Do you remember, early in the pandemic, when the government sent checks to help us hold out through those strange and frightening times? And do you remember the discussion that it was up to us to support the small businesses we valued, like book stores and hair stylists, to make sure they lasted?

This series is an example of one couple deciding artists were the ones they wanted to support with that check they received. Their regular income continued uninterrupted and they viewed that check as a bonus. By using those funds to purchase work from artists (aka small business owners) they could both enjoy that art in their home for years to come, as well as help ensure those businesses carried on into the future.

As the recipient of a commission from this couple, this work was welcome income during those fraught days. It was also meaningful to us, as artists and as a company, to know we were valued in that way. And in the days when we were restricted to our own homes and yards, it provided an opportunity to find respite in the great outdoors we so love from the safety of a computer.

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The patrons of this set are natives of the eastern United States. In moving to the Midwest, they had discovered an appreciation for the prairie environment. But they had also found they were missing the forests of their childhoods and early years as a couple. The goal of this series was to create a tactile and visual reminder of those woods.

The first piece in the series, “Into the Forest,” is the largest. Johannah wanted to convey both the cool darkness at the forest floor as well as the bright green chaos and light looking up through the tops of a trees. This piece is created in Mexican and gold smalti in a raw maple frame.

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The next three pieces are progressively smaller. With these pieces, we wanted to represent native plants and fungi found on the forest floor, specifically a mushroom, a flower, and a fern. Johannah and the clients chose the bright orange Cantharellus cinnabarinus mushroom, red and yellow Eastern Columbine flowers, and Ebony spleenwort for the fern. These pieces were created from hand-cut stained glass set in tinted black mortar, in a style inspired by a previous series depicting endangered flowers.