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!

A Mosaic Artist Wanders Around Austin

My workshop with Katerina Pinosova wrapped up in three days, leaving me two and a half days to explore Austin, TX for the first time.  I wasn't sure where to start, so I headed to Blue Moon Glass Supply, because it came up in a search for mosaic in Austin.  There, I met Jim and Rose, and they made me a list of sites to visit, along with the names and contact information for two local artists.

The first mosaic I found was in Shipe Park at a public pool.  It is called "Day in the Park" and was a community project.  I love the design!

From there, I drove to Deep Eddy Pool.  They charged a fee to enter the pool, and I'm cheap, so I took these photos through the fence:

That was another community project commemorating the history of the park.  I couldn't get close enough to the plaque to give proper credit.  It is much bigger than my photos depict.

I continued to walk on the path past the pool and it led me along the Colorado River.  It was a lovely walk, full of people out enjoying nature.  It was there that I began to fully appreciate the city of Austin.

I took this from the bike/pedestrian bridge that crosses the river.

From there, I found a sculpture called "Your Essential Magnificence" made by James Talbot.  I had not felt certain how I wanted to use my new concrete sculpture skills until this point.  I needed to see more work like this.

It was past lunchtime by then, so I stopped at the Magnolia Cafe, just around the corner.  From there, I called the two artists on my list and left awkward messages.  I had never done anything quite like it before, calling strangers in a strange town to ask if I can visit.  Suvi Aika called back immediately, and she was less than two miles away, so I went in search of her home: Casa Wonderlandia.

My photos don't express the magic of Suvi's home.  There are Wonderland-themed accents all around.  The exterior walls of her house have large gears mounted on them.  (I learned later that they light up at night.)  She has landscaped the alleyway next to her house and created a little fairyland.  The photos above include things around her home, and a project she created at a local elementary school for their courtyard.

When I left Suvi's house, I visited a project at Barton Springs Elementary that is fantastic.  A short, but long retaining wall is covered in handmade tiles and glass celebrating Austin and the neighborhood.

I tried to find one more location after that, but a stalled train blocked my path.  I was saturated anyway, so I headed back to my room in Lakeway to process my experience.

I'm stopping here for now, but the next day was even more fantastic, so stay posted!

Concrete Sculpting with Armature Workshop

Earlier this summer, I wanted to apply for a scholarship that would provide funds for professional development, so I was searching online for a potential workshop.  One of the skills I would like to build into my repertoire is creating 3-D forms.  I'm inspired by the work of Nikki de St. Phalle and Jolino Bessera, among others.

 Queen Califia Park in San Diego

I happened upon the website of Katerina Pinosova, a surrealist artist who works in a variety of mediums, including concrete.  There was information about workshop instruction, so I sent her an email.

Sculpture by Katerina Pinosova

I learned that Katerina currently resides in Austin, TX, but that she is considering moving back to the Czech Republic very soon.  I decided to take a leap of faith and schedule a workshop with her while she was still in the U.S.

So, last week, I flew to Austin.  I had to rent a car and drive to an outlying area called "Lakeway" where I had booked a room in an Airbnb less than 2 miles from the workshop location (Katerina's house.)

Katerina is tall and lean with large, bright green eyes and a beautiful smile.  She had everything prepared in a carport, and we got to work right away.  On the first day, she showed me how to build an armature from supplies that are easily found at a hardware store.  We cut thick fencing apart, bent the rods into a basic shape, and used tie-rod to hold it to itself.  Then we layered chicken wire onto the form, securing it with tie-wire, and winding wire throughout the form to add extra structure.  Katerina seemed to be able to go for hours without tiring, but my right hand was aching by the end of the day, no longer functional.  We decided to let my hands rest and finish in the morning.

My armature.

So we started early again on the second day.  Within a couple of hours, my armature was completed.  Honestly, I had expected to be more of a natural than I was.  This was my 4th concrete sculpture workshop, after all, and I thought my chicken shape would be more well-formed.  But, the technique was much harder than I expected, and the chicken was much more rudimentary than I had intended.  By then, I was melting in the heat and my hands were throbbing, and I didn't much care how my chicken turned out as long as I gleaned the information to try again at home.

The next stage was applying a thick cement mix, just to create a basic shape.  In the heat, we had to mix small batches and work fast, and sweat was pouring off of both of us.  When I took off my gloves the first time, I was shocked to see water pour out, and my fingers shriveled like morel mushrooms.

First layer.

We took a lunch break while the mud hardened, only for 2 hours.  When I got back to Katerina's house, we resumed mixing cement, this time with finer sand mixed wetter, and applied two more layers to create a smooth crust.  We mixed so many batches of cement that we wore right through the bottom of the mixing bucket!  By the end of the day, I was completely exhausted.

This is just as I began to apply the final layer of cement.

On the final day, we started a bit later because there was only one layer left to apply.  This time, we mixed white cement with fine sand, and had to take extra care to smooth it consistently.  Katerina showed me how to add fine details. When I added eyes, my chicken suddenly came to life, and I was thrilled!  I had made a chicken planter because I knew I couldn't take my project home, and the folks I stayed with had a small flock of chickens and a little garden in their backyard.  The planter will go to their house after it cures for a month.

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Katerina on the left, me on the right, and one of her sculptures center.

I'll write more about the fantastic adventures that followed during the rest of my trip in separate blogs.  Stay posted!