A friend and client showed up with a shower curtain and her impressively heavy medicine cabinet mirror and asked me to mosaic the frame inspired by the colors in the curtain. It was daunting at first, but a lot of fun to create. Now, this client has moved to a new house, but she contracted with someone to make a new cabinet door, and is taking the mosaic one with her. I am pleased that this commission gets to move with the rest of the family, and it’s now in my studio awaiting some small patches where the hinges were, and will move into a downstairs powder room in the new location.
Triptych for Michelle Panel 1 by Margaret AlmonTriptych for Michelle Panel 2 by Margaret AlmonTriptych for Michelle Panel 3 by Margaret Almon
This project was a joy! The client came to see my studio, to look for something in honor of her 40th birthday, and what caught her eye was a small panel, 8×8″ on my living room wall, which I’d made for myself. Michelle commissioned me to make three panels, 12×12″, to go over her mantle.
Triptych in Process in Margaret Almon’s Studio
I started by making the middle panel, inspired by my own piece. Then I worked on the two side panels in tandem, so I could visualize the whole pattern. Each square is a different variation on Log Cabin or Square within a Square quilt patterns, and each has its own personality. Michelle said her mother said they are like jewels. I love that image! I am honored that Michelle chose my work as a way to celebrate a special event in her life, and that I could bring vibrant color and sparkle into her living room.
Triptych Mosaic Panels for Michelle by Margaret Almon
I discovered Sarah Hall Studio‘s solar panel art glass, and found the meshing of color, light, glass and energy thrilling. Sarah Hall is a Canadian glass artist, and was commissioned by Holy Family Cathedral of Saskatoon to create stained glass windows that take advantage of the city’s average of 2381 hours of sunshine annually, more hours of sunshine than any other city in Canada. The Lux Gloria windows are embedded with more than 1000 solar panels.
Sarah Hall, Lux Nova, solar lit glass at Regent College
I also discovered that a book I already own, The Color of Light: Commissioning Stained Glass for A Church, was written by Sarah Hall. I bought the book because liturgical and sacred art glass are realms I am drawn to with my own glass art, and Hall discusses important questions for churches to pose in the commissioning process and gives artists an understanding of the process as well.
Sarah Hall is quoted in the article Windows a Striking Feature of New Cathedral, as being happy for the possibility of strong color on the outside of a building, even at night, because of the internal light source, and the joy of being able to collect energy for the building’s electricity needs is gratifying as well. Let there be light!
Bertha Lum, 1925 Branche of Oranges – Japonisme comes to America
Bertha Lum(1869-1954) caught my eye on Pinterest, because of the rich orange tones of her woodblock prints. She attended the Art Institute of Chicago as a young woman, and when she married at age 34, persuaded her husband to go to Japan on their honeymoon, in search of printmaking supplies. I can’t help but be drawn to a woman who builds a honeymoon around art techniques.
Bertha Lum, The Fox Woman(1916)
I’ve included several links to various biographical sketches of Bertha Lum, which are like pieces of a puzzle, each important but kept separate. Details like returning to Japan a second time to apprentice with Japanese printmakers, being the only westerner to exhibit art at Tokyo’s Annual art exhibition in 1912, divorcing in 1917 and moving to California and making a living from art to losing most of her blocks in the earthquake of 1923 in Japan, to living in China for 2 years with her 2 daughters while learning Chinese printmaking, and finally the fact that her son-in-law Antonio Riva, was executed by the Communist government in China in 1951, and she moved to Italy to be with her daughter, and died there in 1954.
Zest is a thing that adds flavor, often the peel of an orange or lemon, piquant, but also a keen enjoyment and enthusiasm, a zest for living. I was fascinated by zesting oranges when I was little, and my mother would get out the bumpy grater and transform the normally inedible rind into fragments of color that burst into flavor in frosting. A little goes far. Zest is what enlivens us.
Stratoz was inspired by a photo he took of a tulip, looking straight down into its unfolding beauty, and translated into green and yellow glass before giving it to me for the brilliant orange mosaic center, with metallic glass tile, stained glass and dichroic.
Illumination is to throw into the light. I like the active tenor of this word. Working with glass has made me aware of the importance of illumination in bringing the work fully alive. Stratoz especially has challenges because he makes stained glass, and light is a kind of electricity that transforms the colors. This is his first night light, and the beauty of such an object is its purpose to bring light.
When I signed up for Tara Gentile‘s Website Kickstart class, I was nervous. I had been interviewing web designers for a new Nutmeg Designs site for the collaborative work Stratoz and I do together, and didn’t even know what questions I needed to be asking. In the midst of this, I got an email from Tara about the next Kickstart class, and I took this as a fortuitous sign. At one point I attempted to start my own website, and the frustration was overwhelming, and the mass of details seemingly endless. I eventually went with blogging software for my Margaret Almon Mosaics site, and assumed I’d never try the mysteries of FTP, HTML or CSS again, but the timing was right for Tara’s class, which included technical support. I wouldn’t be going it alone.
Tara wisely begins the class with encouragement to Celebrate the Learning Curve, and even to rejoice in all that there is yet to be learned. This goes against my belief that I must do things perfectly, the very first time, instantaneously. I am aware that this is unattainable, that all human learning is by trial and error, but even though I understand intellectually, the old pathways are grooved deep. But every action I take to learn something can take me closer to what I want to achieve, and that I can ask for help.
The Joy Mandala is our new favicon(that little icon that shows up on open tabs in your browser), which is fitting since it is a collaborative piece, and Stratoz and I are joyful that we can share our art with the world.
