"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.

Coordinating Set of Home Accessories

This client reached out to us about making a set of custom coordinating items for their new home. They’d seen our work in our Etsy shop and on our social media, and it had set their wheels spinning imagining an address plaque, hall bench, and coat rack for the entrance of their house. What a dream it was for us to combine all our skills to create this special grouping!

Here you can see each of the pieces in progress in our studios. The bench and coat rack hooks are forged steel, with the seat and coat rack frame made from cherry wood. The mosaics are made from a variety of glass and ceramic.

Like many of our most successful projects, this couple gave us a few particulars to work with, and left the rest of the design up to us. They told us their colors, shared photos of the entrance to their home, and mentioned some of our work to which they were especially drawn. That balance of specifics and openness allows us as artisans the structure and freedom we need to create new and fresh custom work in our signature style.

Below are photos and details of each of the finished pieces in our studios. Johannah loves to photograph all our work in the metal studio. The west-facing side of the shop space is covered entirely in large, industrial-era windows allowing for the most beautiful filtered natural lighting.

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.