Mosaics
"There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic."
Anais Nin
The root of the world comes from the Latin ‘opus musivum’ – “mosaic work, work with the Muses”. It was believed that such a delicate and burdensome labour could only be achieved with the inspiration of the Muses who preside over the arts.
At Artifex, working with mosaics is an essential part of our educational proposal. We only work with recycled materials, and otherwise unusable fragments that have travelled from far away (Italy, Portugal, China, India, Brazil…) and carry a high ecological footprint that we are able to redeem… with the Muses’ inspiration…
We design and sell marble and pebble mosaics, and can send them anywhere in the world.
First comes the design phase. From a photo or a drawing we design the flow lines, and the secondary lines. Then we decide on the size and shape of the pebbles. The colour scheme and texture of the piece is determined in accordance with the available materials, and the size and shape of finished work is decided upon.
"I have learned that I really do have discipline, self-control, and patience. But they were given to me as a seed, and it's up to me to choose to develop them". Joyce Meyer.
It may seem that in order to make mosaics you require a lot of patience and perseverance, but the key lies in tuning in to a more unhurried pace, a pace that requires the careful piece-by-piece positioning of materials over weeks, or even months.
(Img: Sharbat Gula. Toni and Gonzálo.)
An interesting world with dual meanings- depending on the design, and the creative and technical merit of the artist, we can “execute” a work, or make a masterpiece. A fine line divides glory from failure. A combination of the right amounts of experience, dexterity, eye, and sensibility generate better results. So
does the amount of time invested in learning difference techniques and increasing complexity.
Colour theory, complementary colours, opposing colours, perspective and flow lines all play a part in creating a mosaic.
(Img: Caproig". Ramón.)
A 3-day course may be useful to learn the basics of mosaics. But as in everything, to generate professional results, you have to dedicate a considerable number of hours to the practical side (tesserae cutting, sanding, composition, mortars, polishes), as well as the history of the art, and the many different techniques.
Mosaics like these pictures take around 6 months to complete.
(Img: Mosaic by Ramón Nicolau and Miquel Ramis.)
