Featured Artist Carol Davis

Artist Carol Davis shares her inspiration and technique of using mosaic glass to create vibrant works of art. See more by visiting her website.

 

 

Mosaics have a long history, starting in Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BC. They were typically made from clay tiles, pebbles and sometimes glass. They often depicted religious subjects or were purely decorative.

 

 

I do mosaics differently.

 

 

I grew up with art. My father was a painter and always had a painting he was working on in our den. I often got to go with him to the locations where he was working on a piece, and would watch him build that painting in real time from start to finish. It was really fascinating for me. He was an impressionist painter and mostly painted landscapes. I love his work.

 

 

With mosaics, I love how the different bits come together to make a whole, which is Impressionistic as I see it.

 

 

I was enticed to make mosaics as a means to interpret images and forms in ways different from painting, design and collage, all of which I have a background in.

 

 

Glass is transparent and opaque at the same time, and I love how the cuts are not perfect. I fully embrace the Japanese idea of Wabi Sabi, the beauty in imperfection.

 

 

Stained-glass glass is the only type I use in my mosaics because the colors are so incredibly vibrant. I actually relish the constraints that the glass gives me. Since I cannot mix my own colors, this forces me to choose carefully when selecting colors and textures in each particular piece. It is creative problem solving at its finest.

 

 

I see myself making mosaics differently than others do, by involving elements in a painterly way. Light logic, perspective, point of focus, balance, movement and proportion are all considered.

 

 

Often starting with a photograph that I’ve taken, I go from there by reinterpreting the colors and adding graphic elements. Sometimes I combine images, and sometimes I add words, which create another layer of consideration. This leaves it to the viewer to interpret the words as they see them within the context of the piece.

 

 

I appreciate ambiguity in art where each viewer can see and think about a piece in their own light. As a viewer, I like to come to art on my own terms, and I hope that my viewers do the same with my art.

 

 

I am hoping my viewers will find my work unique and refreshing.

 

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