A Mosaic Artist Gets a Tour of Austin

My previous post was about my first day exploring Austin, looking for mosaic.  The following day was even better.  Here's what happened:

Suvi invited me to brunch with James Talbot, whose mosaic sculpture had knocked my socks off the day before.  I also remembered that I had read about Talbot's home in one of my magazines, and had kept that copy for inspiration, so I was very excited.  We met at El Mercado, which was perfect because the whole place is full of big, chunky, colorful mosaic.

After eating, Suvi offered to drive us around the area to visit some of Talbot's work, along with other interesting buildings and creative projects.

We saw a giant chicken by Faith with a fancy-last-name-I-can't-remember:

Talbot made these amazing garden beds and a sink for a community garden:

We passed a "mosaic" made with cans and a hubcap on a cafe, by Talbot:

We drove by too many cool houses and spots to list.  And we finally visited Casa Neverlandia, the home of James Talbot.  Here we are approaching the front door:

Yes, we planned our outfits.

Here are a few of my snapshots from Casa Neverlandia:

At the front door, you talk into the pipe, and he can hear and respond from several spots inside the house!

Relief work. 

This tower is in the back yard.  You walk from a balcony across the narrow bridge, and can slide down a fireman's pole.

View from the tower.

In the studio.

Another area of the studio.

Oh, and here's an outdoor shower Talbot made for a private home:

He did the rock work and built that incredible shower.

A peek inside.

There's a sink.

That's Suvi.

There was more.  We visited the Monroe Bridge, dedicated to a local musician.  I went for fro-yo at a shop downtown that is covered in mosaic.  Suvi and I saw a movie, then continued to visit mosaic in the Downtown area, and stopped at Barton Springs that night before I headed back to my room.  It was a magical day, but I'm too tired to keep writing about it.  Hopefully, I'll find time soon to write another post with images from the second half of the day, because Suvi showed me some very impressive work.  Thanks for reading!