"Envisioning Change" mosaics

This is a two-part mosaic series Johannah created as part of an effort to visualize and make more tangible the idea of “change.” How do we change our culture? What happens when we change our minds? What does that process look like? What do the results look like? Specifically these pieces relate to the idea of social justice, but in a broader sense they might apply to any inner change that affects personal relationships, whether with oneself or between two or more people.

{Click smaller images to enlarge.}


The first piece is a triptych titled “Change the Pattern, Change the World: The Sacred Space of Change.” Beginning on the left with a simple, unchanging pattern, the narrative of the piece moves to the center panel. Here the pattern is interrupted by a sacred, protected space where deep, lasting change is fueled and created. In the final panel, this deep change moves out of the sacred space and into the broader outside world, disrupting and changing the established pattern.

Process shots filling in the third panel above and a few of our favorite details below.


The second piece in this series about change is called “Through Diversity, We Expand.” This was inspired by the question “what value does diversity bring to our lives?” One answer to that question is that exposure to new experiences, especially new people, cultures, and worldviews causes us to grow as individuals and broaden our understanding of the world. And just as our bodies are composed of the elements of the universe, the lines of this artwork mimic those of our expanding universe, reflecting our personal experience in the greater universal experience.

Plan A (There is no Plan B)

Johannah’s most recent mosaic series celebrates the beauty of the natural world, continuing a theme from the earlier Nature and Endangered Flowers series.

We are thrilled to be showing these three mosaics among  a selection of Johannah’s work at Gallery at 23 for the month of April. Located across the street from the Maggie Walker statue on Broad St. in Richmond, this gallery features artwork exhibitions by new and established Virginia artists.  “Take Care” features Johannah’s mosaic artwork about environmental and social justice .


The mosaics in this series are inspired by the sense of awe I feel looking out at the waters, mountains, and forests on this beautiful and singular planet we call home. And that’s just it, it’s the only one on which we know we can survive and thrive. If we continue to mess it up as we have been, there is no plan B. (Or as I’ve seen on signs at environmental demonstrations, “No Planet B.”) These works are a celebration of our world, and a call to reawaken our connection to our home.

The first piece in this series is “River Journey.” This piece is comprised of several lengths of blue and green mosaic laid out side by side. “River Journey” is inspired by the James River, the river we love running through the center of the city we live in.

Drinkable water represents a tiny portion of water on earth, yet human activity has poisoned much of that water. The panels in this mosaic represent the legs of the human journey in our relationship with water. As we travel this journey, the health and quantity of the water and the landscape around us may change, and different periods of crisis or improvement may last for different lengths. We don’t know in advance how many different legs this legs journey will encounter, but like a river, history carries us ever onward.

“In the Mountain’s Shadow” was the second piece in this series celebrating the beauty of the natural world. This artwork consists of a rugged mountain silhouette in white with black shadows below and a tiny moon and stars above. “Mountain’s Shadow” was inspired by rocky mountain ranges like the Himalayas of south Asia and the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, so different from our own ancient and softly rolling Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia.

This mosaic represents those dark periods of life that feel inescapable in the moment. Right now, the health of our world is in a very dark place that often feels hopeless. The moon and stars represent the hope of light and a different future.

The last piece in this series is “Such a Perfect Day.” This piece consists of a horizontal triptych, a series of three pieces meant to work together to create a whole image. Puffy white clouds float against a blue sky over a line of evergreen trees and a golden field. “Perfect Day” is inspired by early summer days, golden days when the sun feels warm and perfect and a soft breeze stirs the trees.

The title for this mosaic comes from the Lou Reed song of the same name, a song used frequently in soundtracks to add a touch of foreboding to those similar golden days. With climate change already wreaking havoc in our world, those beautiful perfect days now come with a sense of foreboding in real life. How much longer can we expect to experience such perfect weather? Let’s savor those days while we can, and work towards the hope of more in the future.

Endangered Native Virginia Flowers

Johannah’s latest mosaic series features endangered flowering plants native to our home state of Virginia as well as other parts of the eastern United States.


Like the Nature series from last year, the Endangered Flowers series was inspired by the beauty of the natural world around us. This time, I wanted to speak more openly to the destruction and chaos we humans have inflicted on the world. And I wanted to stick close to home, explore my own backyard so to speak.

As I researched native Virginia flowers, the same primary environmental threat kept popping up:  wetlands habitat loss. The four flowers I chose to represent are (L to R in photo) swamp pink, pitcher plant, American chaffseed, and Virginia sneezeweed. Each of these plants lives and grows in wetlands such as sandy coastal or boggy areas. There were many other plants to chose from, and most of them thrive in similar ecosystems.

As our built environment spreads ever outward and we continue to pave more of the earth’s surface, we both destroy natural wetlands and create ever-worsening flooding issues. Further, the retention ponds we create to replace wetlands are no true substitute for the plants and animals that live in those wetlands. We may have built ourselves a place to store the water we’ve displaced, but in the process we’ve destroyed an important part of the ecosystem. Even the current Environmental Protection Agency agrees that wetlands, like those other crucial but fragile systems, rainforests and coral reefs, are vital to life on earth due in great part to their tremendous biodiversity.

Like all our mosaics, the Endangered Flowers series is created with 100% reclaimed or environmentally sustainable and stable materials. A portion of the proceeds of the sale of this series will be donated to the Flora of Virginia Project.  Take a look below at a few work in progress shots as well as photos of the flowers themselves that inspired this series!

You can find the Endangered Flowers mosaic series as well as some of our other work in metal and mosaic in our shop.