Miniature Mosaic Landscapes

This series of landscape mosaics grew out of Johannah’s initial exploration of tiny mosaics and of course, her continued interest in the full moon.

The first set featured the full moon as well as a few sunrises over a series of her favorite landscapes like forests, mountains, and open water. She created these mosaics from stained glass set in black-tinted mortar.

For the next group she created, Johannah added unglazed porcelain to the stained glass. The flat, saturated color of the ceramic contrasts in such a lovely way with the opaque shine of the glass. She expanded the types of landscapes as well, looking to open fields, rolling hills, train tracks, and waterfalls.

This latest group hearkens back to the forests and sunrises of the original set, while offering a new take on mountain views.

You can find the current mountain landscapes in our shop, available with free shipping.

Botanical Steel and Mosaic Sculptures

As we continued to brainstorm collaborative sculpture ideas, we decided our first batch of sculptures would include a variety of sizes and styles. Once we finished the tabletop abstract sculptures, we wanted to go bigger.

We settled on bamboo as a subject that provides opportunity for each of our mediums to shine. It also offered Kyle an opportunity to try something different with a theme he’s returned to a few times.

Kyle made a variety of forged textured leaves as well as the hollow shapes of leaves for Johannah to fill with mosaic. He finished the sculpture with a rust brown patina. Johannah chose bright yellowy-green for the mosaic leaves. We were really pleased with the way the monochrome green and the warm tones of the finished steel work together.

The last piece in this first run of sculptural pieces is a pea plant. Kyle forged a beautiful pea plant complete with corkscrew tendrils as well as a hollow pea shape form. He finished it with the same rust brown patina. Johannah found flat green marbles in the perfect size and color to represent peas for this piece.

Abstract Steel and Mosaic Tabletop Sculptures

And the collaborations continue to evolve…

A big difference created by the move to our new studios is the ability to work more closely together. In the past, one of us worked at the studio while the other stayed at home with our two kids. Time to put our heads together over a project required planning and coordinating schedules.

Now that our studios are on the same property as our home, we can pop over to the studio for a brainstorm session or just a quick check-in for an opinion from the other person. It’s a much more efficient way to collaborate!

These three tabletop sculptures are the first products of this new way of working together.

First Kyle forged three different shapes based on loose sketches. From there, Johannah chose colors and designs based on the shapes of the sculptures. Lots of fine-tuning conversations took place before, between, and after each step.

The flaring shape of the first piece brought a candle flame to mind. The teardrop look of the second piece made us think of water. These sculptures are two-sided with the same mosaic colors and designs on both sides.

For the last piece in this first group of sculptures, Kyle created a shape inspired by sunrise over a beach that has a special place in our lives. Johannah created a sunrise mosaic on the first side. Unlike the first two sculptures that are the same on both sides, we decided the opposite side of this piece called for something different. Johannah made a moonrise mosaic for the second side. We call this finished sculpture “Shoreline.”

This piece and the blue one have sold, but the candle flame-inspired sculpture is available with free shipping!