Exhibit Photos II

My show is going to be up for another week yet, so I thought I'd show you some more photos of pieces that are not in my etsy shop. I made two mosaics using a funny little plate I found at a second-hand shop. The dark blue glaze with a small village scene painted in yellow, including a crescent moon and stars caught my eye. I used the cut-out stars and moon pieces to make a night sky for my own little scenes of women from ancient times standing beneath arches and holding vessels or pouring out water for each other. This one I call Water Bearers.

The piece above is called Divinities, and is perhaps my very favorite mosaic. It's been in two shows, it was on the poster for an exhibit in 2008.

Here you can see the crescent moon I cut from the dark blue plate. The plate was thick and the sharp edges of the pieces cut my hands many times as I was creating this one. One lady is pouring water for the other: this mosaic is complete with ceramic water flowing from the pitcher into the dish!

Exhibit Photos

The opening of my exhibit was, for me at least, a great success. Lots of people came, many of them friends, but also people I didn't know, reporters from the city paper Le Progrès, the director of the Salon D'Hiver, just back from New York, the director of the cultural center, as well as people from the neighborhood.

I had my picture taken for the paper, explained my process to those who asked, tried to answer the often-asked question "How long does it take to make one of these?" and... sold four of mosaics! You can read the article here.

Here are a few photos of pieces I've never put in my etsy shop, some because I could never part with them, others because they are too fragile or heavy to mail.

You'll recognize the one above: these are the ladies in my etsy shop banner: Blue Ladies.




This small piece is one of my rare orange pieces with stars cut from a red-orange serving platter. It's called Libation.

Above is a large mosaic called Water Birds. You'll see the ladies who modeled for my blog banner and the birds of my avatars!

And this is my moon goddess, made from the back of the red-orange serving plate mentioned above. I try to get as many pieces from the same plate as I can, no waste! I have more photos of never-before-seen mosaics for the next post.

Happy Birthday!

Camille celebrated her sixteenth birthday yesterday with her favorite cake: two layers of orange cake with chocolate icing, decorated with fresh strawberries.



May 8th is a national holiday in France as well, so she never has school on her birthday!




We served the cake with a Crémant de Loire, a sparkling rosé wine from the Loire. Actually we were living in Tours, very close to the beautiful Loire river when Camille was born. We moved to Lyon soon after her birth, so she neve spent much time there. We visited Tours and Chinon this past summer, and this region is the most beautiful place in France, I think. Or perhaps it's just the wonderful memories of getting married in Tours and living there as newlyweds.

One glass of sparkling wine won't hurt; she is sixteen, afterall!

And here she is, wearing her charm bracelet made with love by Maria of neraidodhmiourgies.

Happy birthday, Camille!

My Newest

I hung my show at the cultural center today. Twenty-two mosaics and three fabric trees with fabric insects in them! I haven't taken photos yet; by the time I had finished, it wasn't sunny enough to get good ones. However, I took some photos of my new pieces before wrapping them up to take over there.

The one above is called Magic: a girl holding a magic lamp in one hand and a magic word charm in the other. I used one of a set of red dessert plates I found in a thrift shop a while back for the tesserae.

My daughter doesn't like this one because of the beetle, but that's what I love about it. I used some lovely porcelain saucers with a leaf pattern around the edge. I was trying to get an Egyptian feel.

I stamped the French word rêver (dream) into the clay using tiny rubber stamps I ordered from Japan. The blanket and pillow are stamped with vintage lace. It might have a fairy tale quality to it because of the sleeping girl which may recall Sleeping Beauty, but I was actually thinking of the importance of dreaming, or letting yourself have dreams!

Don't forget to dream!

Sous les Etoiles

That's the title of my exhibit! I'm having a show of my mosaics and also fabric collages in May. Opening night is May 4th (7pm) and the show runs until the 29th. Where?
At the Salle des Rancy, 249 rue Vendôme, Lyon, 69003.

It's quite a big space, and I have it all to myself, so I'm including many of my mosaics, large and small. I've made some big fabric trees and moths and I'm busy creating fireflies and some fabric stars too. If you're in Lyon, please stop by, I'd love to see you there!

Easter Eggs

You can find some delicious chocolate in France. Eggs, fritures (tiny chocolates in the shape of fish), chocolate bunnies, hens, bells...dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate.

I sent some chocolate eggs to my niece in the USA. And I sent them in a beautiful hand knit bag that I bought on etsy. It was a sneak attack, when a few people get together and buy from shops with few or no sales, and surprise! All at once they have sales! You must visit this lovely shop, ShamuMakes.etsy.com .



When I received this purse, I was really pleased with the colors, the feel, the size (perfect for seven-year-old Sarah), and I decided to fill it with chocolates, which was a suggestion in the item description! A great idea, isn't it? So I hope you enjoy your chocolates and your bag, Sarah. Happy Easter!

Moths

I know butterflies are the most popular insect, beautiful, colorful, delicate, the symbol of metamorphosis and rebirth. Everyone loves them. They get all the attention...but what about moths? Less colorful, (only sometimes!), scary (to some), annoying (clothes moths), creatures of the night fatally attracted to the flame. The French word is papillon de nuit , night butterfly. The English word comes from the old English moththe, pronounce that!




Being neither an etymologist nor an entomologist, I can go no further than to say that I find these insects esthetically attractive, and perhaps they need a little love too! So take a good look at the next moths that come into your house, attracted to the lights. They are pretty too.