Glass Tile

MARIA BALLADON CON LE STELLA

MARIA BALLADON CON LE STELLA is the companion piece to ST. JOHN THE MOSACIST and represents the young cousin and muse of St John the Mosacist. Like ST. JOHN THE MOSACIST, MARIA BALLADON CON LE STELLA is a 24” x 24” ceramic and stained-glass mosaic wall hanging. It consists of a single piece of hand built and raku fired paper clay made by the artist and somewhere between 900 and 1000 pieces of individually cut squares of stained glass scavenged from the donated glass boxes of the Ann’s Choice Stained Glass Club. Also, as in the case of St. John the Mosacist, the story of Maria Balladon Con Le Stella has been woven from whole cloth. ( 2022) ($325)

SAINT JOHN THE MOSAICIST

Saint John the Mosaicist, one of the more obscure members of the pantheon of Saints, is known primarily for never having been observed or heard to have sworn or blasphemed despite spending his entire life gluing small pieces of glass, stone or ceramics to wooden boards. Although most historians believe that he worked in northern Italy during the period 1358 – 1387 AD, no one has been able to authenticate any mosaic pieces from that time and place as having been the work of Saint John the Mosaicist. There are no known images of him and the Church’s canonization records are surprisingly vague. While SAINT JOHN THE MOSAICIST is composed of a hand built, raku fired paper clay “mask”, a border of stained glass strips left over from a prior project and a background of glass tiles and stained glass pieces liberated from the mosaic shard pile at the Abington Art Center, the story of Saint John the Mosaicist has been woven from whole cloth. (2020) (24” x 24” x 1 ½”) ($275)

Motherboard

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MOTHERBOARD is a mixed media, found object, wall sculpture which incorporates the motherboard from a refrigerator, ceramic tiles left over from two backsplash projects, and three press molded and distorted images made from handmade and raku fired paper clay. An exercise in anthropomorphism, it is intended to put a face on and give personality to something that has neither. (2020) (19” x 8” x 1 ½”) (($195)

SANDBAR

SANDBAR, depicting a river sandbar, is composed of stained glass and paper clay fired together to over 2000 degrees Fahrenheit in order to get a depth of color not possible with regular glazes. 5 ½” x 10 ½” x 1 ½”. SANDBAR, along with ERUPTION and LAGOON is currently on display at the Arts Benicia Show “Cutting Edge: Nontraditional Glass” in Benicia, California.

SANDS OF TIME – PORTRAIT OF A MENTOR

SANDS OF TIME – PORTRAIT OF A MENTOR is a mixed media sculptural piece combining a hand-built, raku-fired ceramic head with a glass tile base. This piece, for me, evokes the image of an artifact emerging from the sands outside Luxor. The rest of the title comes from my mentor (and friend) Carol Stirton-Broad, who happened to wear an outfit on the day I was finalizing the design that reflected the pattern, the color and the tone of the tiles I was planning to use for the base. 18″x5.5″x7.5″,

John Fansmith

Artist