What a crazy year! Here's what happened:
February: Janice Arnold, David Tuthill and I put together a proposal for the new Washington State University commencement mace (Vancouver branch), and it was accepted. We collaborated and worked together so that it could be delivered on May 1st, with some time to spare before graduation. David did the metalwork, I did the mosaic, and Janice made a felted display pillow that didn't make it into these photos.
At the end of March, I was commissioned by L'Occitane of Provence to fabricate a stone mosaic floor for a new store. I was about to leave on a trip to MX, so I had only four days to complete it, but I managed to pack and ship it in time. It was to be the first of 11 floors that I made for them this year, all different sizes, being installed in stores around the country. I faced many challenges on these, particularly with crating and shipping, but by the end of summer, I had it down.
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| One of many stone mosaic floors for L'Occitane stores. If you see one of these installed, please send me a photo! |
I installed this Art Nouveau window and floor for my own front door:
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| Mosaic floor in entryway, with translucent stained glass mosaic window. |
In October, I headed down to the first Contemporary Mosaic Artists conference in Ashland, OR, where my work was included in two exhibits of mosaic art. It was a chance to connect with other mosaic artists from the West Coast, to be immersed in discussions that no one but a mosaic artist would find interesting, and I took a workshop with Kelley Knickerbocker on creative andamento.
I had to rush back from the conference to finish fabricating a 15.5' x 4.5' mural for L'Occitane. In the middle of October, I flew to Atlanta, GA to install the mural with the help of Krystie Rose Millich, a Colorado mosaic artist and friend.
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| Mural of a lavender farm made of stained glass for L'Occitane of Provence in Alpharetta, GA. |
This book was released this year, by Kay Christy, featuring a mosaic made specifically for the cover:
My first sculptural mosaic, "Fertility," was chosen for the City of Auburn's Downtown Sculpture Gallery. It was installed in September and will be on display through August 2015.
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| Fertility - 24" by 18" featuring birds, flowers and a Tree of Life. |
Additionally, I managed to make a few new small pieces in my limited spare time. Here are a few from 2014:
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| Dia do los Muertos - 15" x 15" currently available |
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| Bouquet - donated to an auction for Doctors Without Borders, which raised over $18K! |
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| City Visit - Currently available |
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| Frida - a commission |
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| Matryoshka - currently available |
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| Window of Compassion - SOLD! |
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| Shiny Things - currently available |
This was my busiest year of all time. More happened than I can list here. I taught workshops, continued with my weekly program teaching mosaic to at-risk teens, gave a (very short) speech at the Governor's house in Olympia on behalf of Enterprise for Equity, and dealt with some crazy personal stuff on top of it all. I'm taking a little break this winter, going to Guadalajara for winter break, then dealing with some medical issues in January. But already, big plans are coming together for 2015, and I'm excited about the year ahead.
