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Here’s What’s Below:

Flint Faience reinstalled at Jane Addams Elementary. Photo courtesy Diana Barrer.

Mobley's Magic: Part 2

Last fall Larry Mobley of Mobley & Co., Cohoctah, Michigan, successfully removed a Flint Faience fireplace mantel and drinking fountain from Longfellow Elementary School in Royal Oak, north of Detroit. See Past Enews.

Recently, we heard from local resident Diana Barrer, who spearheaded the effort to save the tiles. “Larry has just been wonderful and on Jan. 21 he reinstalled the drinking fountain [in Jane Addams Elementary]. It looks more beautiful than we had ever thought. We hope to have enough money raised to reinstall the fireplace after school gets out this summer. We had a great and pleasant meeting with the NAACP, but we have one more meeting before we have final approval from our school board. Without your help we would not have known where to begin.”

Thanks Diana. That's what we're here for!

Fireplace surround by J. & J.G. Low Art Tile Works. Photo courtesy Christine Minnix.

Low and Behold!

THF member Christine Minnix at G & N Flooring by Design in Stratham, New Hampshire was kind enough to send us this breath-taking fireplace surround by the J. & J.G. Low Art Tile Works of Chelsea, Massachusetts. “I thought you would like to see this beautiful fireplace of Low,” she wrote. “The woman [who owned the house] died last year; she was in her 90s.” According to the Low's 1887 catalog, it's called “Butan” with an original copyright date of 1881. What's especially fascinating is that the catalog shows the right side on the left and the left side on the right. The center tile up top is not a portrait but a bowl. It's always unfortunate when tiles are removed from their original location unless, of course, the house was scheduled for demolition. In this particular case the tiles were purchased by an antique dealer whose intention was to resell them.

Pond in the Round by Patsy Rodriguez. Photo by Timothy Healy.

Patsy Rodriguez' Pond in the Round

“I wanted to share with you “Pond in the Round,” a public art installation in the first universally accessible playground in the Tampa Bay area. Freedom Playground had its grand opening February 2nd, and Tampa turned out with pirates, roughriders, violinists and storytellers. It was a great success and good exposure for our craft. I also wanted to thank Tile Heritage Foundation for its advice along the way. Knowing you are there as a resource helped give me the confidence to take this project on.”

Fountain in Lafayette by True Mosaics. Photo courtesy Laurel True.

True's Nouveau Roman

Laurel True, True Mosaics in Oakland writes: “We just installed a mosaic fountain at a new upscale shopping plaza in Lafayette, California. The project was created in our studio and installed on site. I contracted for the project in December of 2006 and the designs were approved in June of 2007 (they suggested Roman style, but I offered 'Nouveau Roman' style). We created the piece in November and December and just installed it this week.”

“These projects can be really drawn out, but it is always so cool to see the result. It was a fun project. There is a restaurant right next to the fountain site that just opened and will eventually have outdoor seating right next to the fountain. So those of you in the Bay Area who find yourselves in Lafayette, you can have a cocktail at Yankee Pier and throw some coinage into the fountain.”

“Born to Dance,” a triptych by Eric Rattan. Photo courtesy of the artist.

“Born to Dance”

Eric Rattan's slate mosaic, “Born to Dance,” is a triptych, each panel measuring 4 feet by 8 feet (the whole measuring 8' x 12'). The mosaic loosely portrays the teachings of Paracelsus, a 16th century alchemist, philosopher, mystic, astronomer and physician. The mosaic reflects the commonality potentiality of the components of our universe. In this case, the slates coming out of the ground closely relate to our above ground earthly environs and to what we see in the sky. The sylph, the salamander, the nymph and the gnome were imaginary beings inhabiting the four elements once believed to make up the physical world.

“Born to Dance” was created from slate, garnets and miscellaneous colored slates. Symmetry in the piece was achieved by striking the natural fissures in the rock to delaminate and render mirror image pieces. No paints were utilized in the coloration of the stones.

The work is currently on display at Restaurant Magnus in Madison, Wisconsin, the artist's hometown.

Palapa at Todos Artes

Todos Artes in Baja Sur

Todos Santos is a unique, desert oasis on the Tropic of Cancer, nestled amongst ancient orchards of mango and palm, with spectacular views overlooking its white sand beaches and the

Plumbers Donna and Katia at work.

Pacific Ocean. The town is located in Mexico near the southern tip of Baja Sur, equidistant between the resort cities of Cabo San Lucas to the south and La Paz to the northeast. Blessed with a favorable climate, Todos Santos has become a haven for artists, craftsmen, surfers and travelers seeking adventure, natural beauty and a healthy lifestyle. It is here that mosaic artist Donna Billick has established Todos Artes, a center for seasonal workshops in tile making and the art of mosaic.

At Donna's invitation, Sheila Menzies and I joined tile makers Irene de Watteville and Katia McGuirk for five days in early January. Fun in the sun? Fun, yes, but we were inside most of the time working on a 80 sq. ft. mosaic for one of the bathrooms in the complex.

"It's got to fit somewhere!"

The first day we cut the backer board to fit the space in one of the shower rooms. We did two walls, each 8 x 5 feet, with the boards stacked on two adjacent walls. We then laid out the boards on tables in the workshop/studio and set the mosaic on the

The mission gets its final touches.

flat surface. Donna did a rough sketch on paper, as she does, and Sheila and Irene worked out the center of the design while Donna, Katia and I were at the beach. They accomplished so much in the three or so hours we were gone that the rest of us pitched in with gusto.

There's a large courtyard behind this building and beyond it another large building that Donna has built from scratch. It houses two separate units, each with a bathroom/shower. Each unit is equipped with a small kitchen and a living room. Again the Saltillo pavers

Irene: "Even the French don't make tiles this hard!"

throughout pull the whole complex together. The ceilings are tall, like maybe 10 feet or more. Up top is her palapa where she has a full sink and counters, a wet bar, and a dining area, all under a grass roof. From that height you have a 360 degree view of the ocean, the town, and the far off mountains. It's pretty incredible.

The complex itself—Donna calls it Todos Artes—is very impressive. Although there's a lot of work yet to be done, it's incredible what she's accomplished in a few short years. The building closest to the street has three bedrooms, each with a separate bathroom

Mosaic complete with the final taping.

and shower, a full kitchen, a large common room that's currently unfurnished, and the studio/workshop. The walls are painted in an assortment of bright Mexican-style colors and the whole place is held together by the 12 x 12 Saltillo pavers that have been expertly set.

Keep an eye on E-News and Workshops at the Tile Heritage website as there will be opportunities for you to join us in this magical place in the not too distant future.

Joe Taylor