"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.

"Magic Carpet Ride" custom mosaic

This client reached out to us about creating a custom mosaic for a specific location in their kitchen. We used colors and nature themes found throughout their house in the design of this piece.

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A series of process shots from idea sketches to color palette, through the creation of the finished piece. We used Italian smalti, an opaque glass and traditional mosaic material, for the leaf silhouettes and various glass and porcelain tiles for the background.

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The finished piece in our studio...

... and some detail shots plus the piece installed in their kitchen. The rippling background plus the night sky feeling of the gold-sprinkled blue inspired us to call this piece “Magic Carpet Ride.”

Moonlight Mosaics

Unlike much of the work Johannah has been doing lately, including the two series we posted about last fall, this series doesn't have any deep philosophical or political meaning. Instead, these pieces were inspired by the blue porcelain tile featured in all three, especially the darkest blue. Isn't that a gorgeous color? Especially paired with shades of white stained glass and black mortar.

Night Waves

Unglazed porcelain, vintage vitreous glass, and stained glass set in tinted mortar

Moon Glow

Unglazed porcelain and stained glass set in tinted mortar

Night Clouds

Unglazed porcelain and stained glass set in tinted mortar

These mosaics celebrate a deep love of the moon and the night sky. "Night Waves," the first piece in the series, was inspired by the glow of a full moon over an open body of water. "Moon Glow" depicts that haze of glow around the moon, perhaps on clouds, perhaps on a clear night. The most recent piece, "Night Clouds," was inspired by the rushing movement of clouds on a windy night, and the way a star sparkles between them for a moment.