Sunday, December 15, 2013
Holiday Greetings
Saturday, November 16, 2013
India inspired mosaics will soon be at TECAC in Bedford
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| Desert Ladies |
"Desert Ladies" was in the recent
League of Roanoke Artists Annual Showcase
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| Child of Rajasthan |
to India a few
years ago.
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| Shades of India |
Images taken during that trip have become inspiration for several mosaics that will appear in the next gallery rotation at
TECAC,The Electric Company Artists' Co-op,
207 E Depot Street in Bedford VA.
Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 11am-4pm.
Be sure to go to all of the exciting art venues in Bedford on Second Friday, December 13, 6pm-8,
to see new art work, including that created for the holiday season.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
MOarts Gallery Exhibit goes up Oct 1
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| Harlequin by Dotti Stone |
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| Chanticleer by Stephen Brailo |
Tuesday, October 1 Dotti and Stephen will be installing Mosaics: Classical Meets Contemporary, an exhibit of mosaics showing Stephen Brailo's works made using traditional techniques and materials, marble and smalti, and have the look and feel of mosaics created hundreds, even thousands of years ago - very classical. Dotti Stone's work is made using various techniques, 2-D and sculptural, and incorporates a combination of materials: various types of glass tiles, smalti and unglazed porcelain.
talk with visitors about the materials and tools used before placing them in the showcase. Time approximate - should be about noon to 1.
See this exhibit through October in the MOarts Gallery at the Moneta Library in downtown Moneta near the post office - 13641 Moneta Rd (Rte 122)
Moneta VA.
Hours: Mon-Wed 10am-6pm
Thurs 10am-8pm
Fri-Sat 10am-6pm
Contact info:
Dotti Stone
dotti@smlmosaics.com
Stephen Brailo
sbmosaics@cox.net
Monday, September 2, 2013
MOarts Gallery Exhibit, Moneta VA - October 2013
Mosaics: Classical meets Contemporary
Stephen Brailo
& Dotti Stone
During the month of October Stephen Brailo is joining Dotti in a mosaics exhibit at MOarts Gallery at the Moneta Library (off 122 near downtown Moneta) in Moneta VA.
Mosaics artist Stephen Brailo was born in Croatia where he received his art education at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1964 he immigrated to France, where he participated in numerous art shows throughout Europe. Currently he resides and works in Roanoke, Virginia.
Stone mosaics and their beautiful natural colors last forever. From the ancient Greeks through the Roman Empire and the Byzantine period, brilliant mosaics tell the story of life. Brailo is a mosaics artist who uses the same ancient methods to create mosaics today.
Dotti Stone received her formal art education at Richmond Professional Institute (now VCU) in Richmond VA. After years in the Washington DC area as a professional photographer and owner/designer of Great Falls Stained Glass she studied mosaics with Gene Sterud whose concentration is reproducing ancient mosaics. In 2007 Dotti relocated to the Smith Mountain Lake area and in 2010 settled in Bedford, Virginia. During that time she concentrated on exploring different materials - glass, stone, porcelain and ceramic and, in addition to flat panels experimented with sculptural mosaics. Since 2009 she has maintained a studio at Bower Center for the Arts where she teaches classes. She is a member of The League of Roanoke Artists, The Electric Company Artists' Co-op in Bedford and exhibits extensively.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Sculptural Mosaics class begins in October at Bower Center
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| Deco Doll - mosaic on mannequin |
Interested in making a mosaic sculptural mosaic ... either as a slightly 3-D work that can hung as a 2-D art work or a self-standing sculpture?
Lynchburg artist Bonnie Kinnaird is joining me with this class. Her experience working in concrete will be as asset for teaching the creation of armatures for making figures and animals.
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| Crimson Rhythms - mosaic over a travel guitar |
Students will work on a simple shape to mosaic each session of this 7-week class. During each session students will take part in demos to create substrates and armatures for different shapes to make a variety of forms and learn to prep ready made forms. What type shapes? They may include: pillows, spheres, ceramic animals, concrete garden critters, free form shapes, mannequins, cones, figures-human or animal. |
| Hard hat mosaic - Work In Progress |
"Earth Layers" in a 9 diameter gazing ball.
A friend gave me the hard hat and asked if there was anything I could do with it. After a long time it may be ready to return soon ... covered with a design inspired by a story.
The lighthouse mosaic is on a wood structure from a local craft store. While wood is not the best substrate for mosaics, if the wood is sealed and the mosaic is kept indoors and away from moisture that will help to avoid problems with warping.
"Thunderbird Tepee" was made using hardware cloth to make the basic shape as it was for "Remnant: Reversible Blue" to the left. This shape is affixed to Hardi backer board and wired for hanging.
The registration information should be on Bower's website very soon. Come join this fun class.
$170. ($140 tuition/$30 supplies)
Thursdays: 6PM-8:30
Oct 10, 17, 24, 31, Nov, Dec 5, 12
There are several dates skipped - this will give students additional time for any projects they may wish to work on at home or at Bower Center between sessions.
www.bowercenter.org
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Mosaic Mirror class begins August 1.
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| 6-10x10 mirrors Materials in above mirrors include: Colorfusion Crystal glass, Van Gogh glass, Bisazza Opus Romano glass tiles, Iridescent tiles, Millefiori, recycled glass tiles |
Still time to register for my
Mosaic Mirror class at
Bower Center.
It begins Thursday, August 1,
6-8:30pm, and continues
for four consecutive
Thursday evenings.
Make a 10" square accessory mirror.
Brighten up your own decor or give as a gift.
Go to Bower Center's website to register: www.bowercenter.org ... or if you are close by come into Bower Center's office Tues-Sat 11am-4pm.
Only $95. ($75. tuition and $20 supply fee)
Monday, July 15, 2013
The Cornerstone Gallery opens in Bower Center for the Arts
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| The Cornerstone Gallery 5 L-R: Bonnie Kinnaird, Sergei Troubetzkoy, Dotti Stone, Gene and Sally Carter |
This project started with the vacancy of the space adjoining my Bower Center studio - seemed the perfect place to be able
to showcase work without
the clutter of the studio environment.
It was small so not overwhelming to get cleaned up.
Sally Carter, who has a pottery studio on the other side of me asked if I'd be interested in sharing. Her husband, who recently got back into pottery joined in and we invited two more artists working in mosaics - a team was formed!
It took several weeks to get the place prepped, painted, some repair work done, the floor tiled and display panels and pedestals made. Bonnie was a life-saver helping with the step-up on the back wall,tiling the floor and preparing display panels from hollow core doors.
Feedback from visitors has been positive and we are all encourged and excited to be a part of this venture. And ... Bower center benefits since a % from sales goes to programming at the Center. A win-win for all!
When you come to visit, while at Bower Center be sure to check out the studios of Janie Mantooth, just before the hallway to Cornerstone, Karen Carter, directly across from Cornerstone and Nancy Laurent on the third floor.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Look to the East entries in winter exhibit at Bower Center
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| In the Looking Glass |
It had been on my mind to create a mosaic of a design I fabricated in stained glass many years ago. It was one of my favorite commissions during the days when I operated Great Falls Stained Glass in Northern VA. Bower Center's winter Look to the East exhibit was the perfect time to stop thinking about it and get to work.
This recently completed mosaic will be included in the opening exhibit in the new Cornerstone Gallery at Bower Center for the Arts. Don't miss the opening on Second Friday, July 12, 5-8PM.
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| Azalea Bonsai |
Creating a mosaic bonsai was another idea that had entered my mind and it, too, met the Look to the East theme. Orsoni smalti seemed to be the perfect glass to use. To keep the background simple, but have some texture, sand over thinset was used. Azalea Bonsai is a relatively small work at 7" square. This is currently exhibited at TECAC, The Electric Company Artists' Co-op through July. Don' forget to stop by on Second Friday, July 12, 5-8PM ... 207 East Depot St, Bedford VA.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Remnant: Winter White
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| Remnant: Winter White |
Creating a series hadn't occurred to me until about three or four years ago. Even as I was working on this sculptural mosaic this thought hadn't gelled until I was well into the project. The idea was to create something that had a softness about it while using the hard materials associated with mosaics. During the process I realized it would be interesting to continue beyond this first piece that resembled a scrap of fabric and create more shapes that would represent remnants of material that came from old clothing or other items, i.e. a curtain, bedspread, anything that could reveal a story of days gone by.
The question as to how this was created has come up often. Hardware cloth (a wire fencing like material) was used to form the shape to be mosaiced. This step took a while ... cutting, bending, cutting some more, leaving the shape to sit for a while and going back to continue the shaping process until it felt right. The wire form was secured to Hardi backerboard that had been covered with a skimcoat of thinset and painted, in this case, grey. The next step was to put a layer of plaster gauze cloth on the wire shape in order to have a base. Next a layer of white thinset was applied to create a hard substrate to adhere the mosaic. Shades of white Orsoni smalti were used for most of the form with some white marble and silvery gold smalti interspersed here and there. A second layer of Hardi board (about 15" square), wired for hanging, was adhered to the back of the first layer (12" square). This second resulted because I decided not to use a floater frame, my preferred style of framing for mosaics. The mosaic looked better without the smooth edge of a frame and since the first layer of Hardi-board had not been wired for hanging and couldn't be with the form to be mosaiced already attached, it seemed the best solution was a second layer of backerboard. Though it added weight, the 1 1/2" wider surround for the main backerboard provided a nice look ... apparently it was supposed to be that way all along!
This is the first in a series that is on going - several are already completed. More works from the Remnant series will be posted in the future.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Jewel of the Hancock
Happy 4th to all!
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| Jewel of the Hancock 17" x 20" |
This is the closest I have to a mosaic with red, white and blue!
There is a story behind it. I first came to the central southwest area of Virginia in 2007 and often went into Roanoke since it was an easy shot from Wirtz where I planted myself before settling in Bedford. The designs on this building grabbed my attentions and were a fascination and I remember hoping that they would be saved. At that time the brick surrounding the decorative panels between the windows and covering the rest of the building looked like rough cut stone.
The Hancock Building at Campbell Ave and 2nd St in downtown Roanoke was undergoing major renovation. The exterior has been stripped of big panels that had covered up a beautiful facade created to unify the front of buildings purchased by N W Pugh Department Store in 1929. The block originally consisted of several structures, including Hancock Dry Goods built in 1898. Grand Piano and Furniture purchased the building in 1965 and completely covered the windows and the terra cotta mosaics. In 2007 the front of the building was restored to it's former beauty and the interior of The Hancock Building was designed for residential living.
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| The Hancock Building after renovations |
I love the art deco style and though I rarely use another's design to mosaic, I decided I'd like to fabricate this particular one in unglazed porcelain and glass. It was a time consuming laborious project, but I love having the panel in my studio.
If anyone who reads this post knows who the original artist was I'd love to learn more about who it was and other work the person created. In addition to these larger panels there are several smaller design elements on the building. They were all created so long ago perhaps that information was lost or never properly attributed ... hopefully not.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Harlequin
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| Harlequin |
I found an image of a harlequin figure among my many Mardi Gras photographs and decided this was a perfect subject for a mosaic. It brought back memories of Mardi Gras visits and offered the challenge of intricate work on the figure. This mosaic is 18" x 36" and incorporates unglazed porcelain and glass tiles.
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| Harlequin in foyer |
Roman Border Mosaic
The journey into mosaics started while I lived in Northern Virginia. In 2004 an Introduction to Mosaics class taught by Gene Sterud lured me into the exploration of this ancient and exciting medium. Gene makes reproductions
of many old mosaics and I found a Roman border design to be the perfect pattern for fabricating my first mosaic using unglazed porcelain. One mosaic down and I was hooked!
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| Roman Border Design |
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Welcome to My World of Mosaics
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| "Afternoon Sails" Sail boats on Smith Mountain Lake in Southwest Virginia (east of Roanoke) |
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| "Behind the Keyboard Mask" This mosaic, along with a few others, is currently on exhibit at TECAC, The Electric Company Artists' Co-op 207 E Depot St, Bedford VA |
Smith Mountain Lake Mosaics.
Visit my studio at:
Bower Center for the Arts
305 N Bridge St
Bedford VA 24523
Hours: Tues-Sat 11AM-4PM
Second Fridays: 5-8PM
The space next to my studio
is about to open as
The Cornerstone Gallery where,
in addition to some of my mosaics,
will be work by:
potters, Gene and Sally Carter,
mosaics, assemblages and concrete work by Bonnie Kinnaird and
3-D mosaics by Sergei Troubetzkoy.
The opening of this new gallery will be on July 12, 5PM-8 during Bedford's Second Friday.
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