Mosaic

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)

Dark Moon Rising in After Dark 8 at Greg Moon Gallery

I am very pleased to announce that jurors Isabel Webb, Janet Webb, and Greg Moon have selected my smoke fired ceramic tile wall hanging DARK MOON RISING to be part of the After Dark 8 – National Juried Exhibition to be held from March 23, 2019 until April 13, 2019 at the Greg Moon Gallery at 109 Kit Carson Road, Taos, New Mexico 87571. This will be the first time that I have exhibited any of my work in Taos which is regarded by many as one of the top art centers in the United States.

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″,

DARK MOON RISING

DARK MOON RISING is a 21” x 21” wall hanging consisting of 26 hand built and smoke fired stoneware tiles. The tiles were smoke fired over a 28 hour period using a mixture of hard and soft wood chips as the firing medium. The title, DARK MOON RISING, reflects my first reaction to the piece after it was completed

TROPHY: THE LAST RED-CRESTED WATCHAMACALLIT

I’ve never really understood the “sport” of trophy hunting, particularly when the “trophy” is not something capable of hunting you back. For food or fur, okay, but just for a head to hang on a wall? Having said that, TROPHY: THE LAST RED-CRESTED WATCHAMACALLIT represents my first, and probably last, venture into the art of trophy gathering of endangered species. TROPHY: THE LAST RED-CRESTED WATCHAMACALLIT is a mosaic/mixed media wall hanging composed of glass, hand built paper clay, marbles and MDF. 12”H x 7 ½”W x 10”D

Compression #4

Compression #4 is an abstract, perhaps conceptual piece which uses geometric shapes, mosaic composition principles and a red/yellow/orange/black palette to evoke the feeling of tension created by the interaction of pressure and resistance. While it is numbered, it is a monoprint, a single, unique print. The numbering refers to the particular image and its coloring. It is not part of an edition of identical (or almost identical) prints from that plate. It is a collograph, that is, the printing plate is created by building up the base plate rather than by cutting into it, as in the case of an etching, woodcut or drypoint. I find that, when exploring conceptual images, the collograph process provides greater adaptability and flexibility.

Compression #4 has just returned home after being exhibited at “The Mosaic Muse,” a juried art show at City Hall in Philadelphia, PA in February and March of this year.

Compression #4 has also been accepted into the “Arizona Aqueous” juried art show at the Tubac Center of the Arts in Tubac, Arizona, which opens January 29, 2016.

John Fansmith

Artist