Transition and Transformation

I officially launched my art business back in 2007 after taking a 3-month business class from Enterprise for Equity, a local organization that helps low-income people become entrepreneurs. At the time, my business was called Cosmic Blue Monkey Designs and the focus was on recycled art. I used gleaned materials to make new arts and crafts of all kinds and I sold them at recycled art fairs, bazaars and at Matter! Gallery, which sold only artwork made from reclaimed components. E4E students graduate from the program with a business plan, and my goal at the time was to earn $500/month. We were living on just one (teacher) income while our daughter was little and $500 was about how much more we needed to cover expenses. At the end of 2007, I had earned exactly $500/month. 

My first studio sign.

And naturally, my aspirations began to increase. I sought more business coaching, took business workshops focused on art/craft, and by 2010 I decided to pursue site-specific mosaic (where it is installed permanently in an architectural setting) for homes, businesses and public spaces. Feedback I had received suggested that I needed to re-brand. The whimsical name, which I loved, wasn't taken seriously by high-end clients, designers and architects. It was recommended to come up with something simple that referenced my own name and would be easy to remember. I went with JK Mosaic.

From there, I slowly increased my level of professionalism, building my portfolio, becoming an LLC, getting business insurance, setting up wholesale accounts, and becoming a licensed and bonded contractor. There were a lot of growing pains over the years, and income was very unreliable for most of the ensuing years. But I was relentless and never gave up, and my business steadily grew into the vision I had created in 2010. By 2020, I had installed mosaic art throughout the U.S., I was often booked for months out, and I was getting more public art projects. 

That's me on the scaffolding in Alpharetta, GA in 2014. 

Now it is 2023 and I've been working really hard for several years in a row. The work has been good, well-paid and exciting. But I feel another shift coming. I'm 53 now, I have osteoarthritis in my hands, shoulder impingement and rotator cuff issues. I don't have a team to help with installations, which are extremely intense. Everything is labor intensive and time-sensitive, so I often work for 11+ hours per day on an install without stopping for several days. I have to haul all of my supplies: ladders, scaffolds, art panels, 5-gallon buckets of water, 50 lb bags of thinset/grout. These get packed into my vehicle, unpacked on site and usually hauled across long distances because I can never drive them up to the spot I'm installing. On the last job, I entered the fenced construction site on one side of a city block and had to navigate through the building, up stairs and ramps, and around to the opposite side with my supplies. And I had to put everything away every night. Midway through an install, I usually find myself in the hotel room with numb, tingling hands, aching body, utterly exhausted, and I've had crippling back pain. Several installations had to be followed by months of physical therapy. 

That all sounds so miserable when I type it out, but I really love the outcome and I feel so lucky to be able to do this type of work. During the process, I wonder what I was thinking and why do I keep doing this, but then I see the finished product and it's such a thrill. It's an addiction!

That's me on a ladder on scaffolding installing a mosaic for L'Occitane in the Dallas Fort Worth Airport in 2015.

This winter, I began to think about setting new goals as I grow older. Before I know it, I'll be in my 60s and I want to be able to keep working, but in a different capacity. Going forward, I am going to slow down with commission work, being more selective and strategic with the projects I agree to create. I'll prioritize those projects where the contractor will do the install, or there's enough budget to hire a skilled installer. My main April project is going to be fabricated here, shipped to the job site, and installed by someone else in Nantucket, MA. That's perfect. 

I'm really aching to nurture my own creative inspiration. For many years, I felt that commissions were ideal for me because I'm inspired by the spaces and clients I work with, and like an art prompt, I often find it easier to develop a design based on someone else's needs. But lately, I've been feeling called to explore my own creative voice on a deeper level. I want to paint sometimes and work in mixed media, and I have some personal topics I feel an urgent need to delve into with my art. I feel like I've been floating on top of the ocean, barely looking below the surface, and it's time to put on the diving gear and find out what's down there. 

This is a Thai fishing boat and was the best pic I had of the surface of the ocean to help break up all the text.

By the way, I'm scared of swimming in large bodies of water on a phobic level. So the analogy works really well to describe how I feel about this next phase.

My hope is that I'll be able to continue earning enough income while pursuing my own creative projects, teaching others, and leading community projects. I'm not switching cold turkey, but I plan to schedule more time between commissions from now on and I'll see how things go. So often, we make a plan, but something unexpected comes along and the path leads into uncharted territory. 

In the interest of manifesting this new approach, I should remind you that I have five online courses through Mosaic Arts Online and I'm teaching at the SAMA/SGAA conference in Buffalo, NY September 2023. Information about my classes can be found here:https://jkmosaic.com/workshops/events-and-classes/

Also, I have a fiscal sponsor (The Field, NYC) to accept tax deductible donations for community art projects. Right now, I'm raising funds for a big mural in Olympia, WA to be installed in fall 2023. To find out how to participate and/or support this project go here: https://jkmosaic.com/metamorphosis-a-community-mural/

I have been dreaming for years of growing my community art practice into something bigger than myself, where I mentor young artists, bring in artists in other disciplines, and slowly cover all of the plain concrete in Western WA with colorful artwork. I even have a name: ACCESS - Artists Creating Community Engagement in the South Sound. Come on, someone out there must have the resources and enthusiasm to help me make this a reality! I'm really hoping to use the Metamorphosis mural and my platform as Olympia's Fall Arts Walk featured artist to generate a buzz around this effort. 

To see some examples of community mosaic projects I've led in previous years, here's a short slideshow: https://youtu.be/MmTRrDjSLvQ

Thank you for reading!!