Meet the Parents : Mosaic Portrait of Natalie and Aaron

Last week I wrote about the portrait of Lane and Ella. 

Mosaic Portrait of Lane and Ella

Aaron had commissioned this mosaic in 2013 as a Mother's day present for Natalie. 

Today, I would like you to meet their parents Natalie and Aaron. Natalie commissioned this portrait in 2016 for their 10th anniversary !

Mosaic portrait of Natalie and Aaron

I have known Natalie and Aaron for close to 20 years when the 3 of us where practicing Karate. Being myself in Auburn to judge a testing last week end they invited me to share their meal (Great cooking, they raise their own chickens and grow vegetables in their yard, just like I do in Headland !) and our friend Julie (the Deer Hunter) took this great picture of the three of us under the mosaic !

Fred, Natalie and Aaron and their mosaic.

Do they look happy or what ?

To commission a mosaic portrait, you can contact me at : frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

I am a French mosaicist

living in Headland, Alabama, USA.

My Art is about inspiring people.

You can see some of my work 

at www.mosaicblues.com

You can contact me either by phone 

at (334) 798 1639 or by email at 

frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

You can also subscribe to my

MosaicBlues Newsletter

 

Long-lost Roman Mosaic built for Caligula and smuggled to the US finally returns to Italy.

The destiny of Works of Art can be surprising !

In the 2015 movie Woman in Gold an elderly Jewish refugeefights the Austrian Government to reclaim a portrait by Gustav Klimt of her aunt Adele Bloch-Bauer, portrait which had been stolen by the Nazis prior to World War II.

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimt

Closer to us, last September, prosecutors seized in New York City a piece of floor mosaic from one of Roman Emperor Caligula’s opulent private ships discovered in 1928 by Italian Archaeologists.

One of Caligula's ship discovered in 1928.

The mosaic, stolen from an Italian museum during World War II was in the possession of an antiques dealer of New York. She had bought it in good faith in the 60’s from an aristocratic Italian family and was unaware of its origins.

For much of the past five decades, the four-by-four piece of mosaic - featuring a complex geometric pattern made of pieces of green and red porphyry, serpentine and molded glass - had been sitting in their Park Avenue apartment, where it was used it as a coffee table.

The mosaic retrieved from the Caligula Ship

Caligula, whose real name was Gaius Julius Caesar, was emperor between 37 and 41 AD. His short rule came to a bloody end when he was assassinated by officers of the Praetorian Guard, amid a revolt over his terrible behaviour and reckless spending.




The mosaic is on its way back to Italy.
 
In a next post I’ll tell you about a Roman mosaic looted from a Syrian museum by ISIS, which a Turkish smuggler proposed to sell me.

Mosaic stolen from a Syrian Museum.

I am a French mosaicist

living in Headland, Alabama, USA.

My Art is about inspiring people.

You can see some of my work 

at www.mosaicblues.com

You can contact me either by phone 

at (334) 798 1639 or by email at 

frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

You can also subscribe to my

MosaicBlues Newsletter

 

A mosaic portrait of two happy children

In May 2013, I created a mosaic portrait of Ella and Lane, the children of my good friends Natalie and Aaron from Auburn, Alabama.

Mosaic Portrait of Ella and Lane

in 2014, Natalie sent me a picture of the kids under their portrait ! 

The kids under their mosaic portrait

The first thing you see when you come into the house is the gorgeous smile of the kids on the mosaic on the wall facing the entrance door !

Last week end, as I was bringing them a small mosaic derived from my Miura Project, Aaron invited me to share their meal (Great Hamburgers and grilled chicken) and he took this picture of the kids and me under the mosaic ! 

Fred, Ella, Lane, under their mosaic portrait.

Knowing that people I appreciate enjoy my art daily is very rewarding to me. I feel I am contributing something positive to their family. Art should be present in everybody's daily life. We mostly remember ancient civilizations and cultures for the creations of their artists and architects.

If you would like to commission a mosaic portrait, you can contact me at :

frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

In one of my next posts, I'll tell you of the other portrait I created for Natalie and Aaron. 

I am a French mosaicist

living in Headland, Alabama, USA.

My Art is about inspiring people.

You can see some of my work 

at www.mosaicblues.com

You can contact me either by phone 

at (334) 798 1639 or by email at 

frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

You can also subscribe to my

MosaicBlues Newsletter

 

How to create several mosaic portraits from one model.

Opus Pixellatum allows for an amazing range of variations and improvisations.

To illustrate this versatility, I have worked from an actual model of a mosaic portrait I have executed several times.  

Green Eyes, opus pixellatum, 6 levels Grayscale

This model is designed on a six levels gray scale. The numbers are the references of Mosaic Art Supply "elementile 8 mm" recycled glass tiles. The mosaic once complete would measure 13 x 27". This mosaic is what you would obtain if you would scrupulously use the references printed on the model.

While the model calls for set colors, the mosaicist has all latitude to change them to fit his creativity and fantasy.

He can for example decide to change the colors from a Gray Scale to a Blue Scale.

From Gray to Blue Scale.

This is the simplest change that the mosaicist can use.

Other modes of variations can use 2 different scales. In this combination of a Blue and an Orange Scale, the respective darknesses of colors has been respected.

Variation # 6

In this one, however, the progression in darkness is different for the colored scale than it is for the gray scale.

Variation # 1

There are many more possibilities as illustrated below.

Green Eyes Mosaic, Variation #1

In the piece below, only every other tesserae are laid in accordance to the grayscale of the original model. then, the other tesserae are laid, the colors progress from Red on the Left to Blue on the Right.

Green Eyes Mosaic, Variation #2

The progression of colors in Variation #3 is similar to the Variation #1, with warmer tones.

Green Eyes mosaic, Variation #3

#4 has brighter colors.

Green Eyes mosaic, Variation #4

On #5 based on #3, every other tile is filled with a gray color.

Green Eyes mosaic, Variation #5

#6 is a different repartition of brighter colors, still Blues, Yellows and Reds

Green Eyes mosaic, Variation #6

In #7 based on #5, a gradient of colors has filled up every other tile.

Green Eyes mosaic, Variation#7

#8 is a brighter, more contrasted version of #7

Green Eyes Mosaic, Variation #8

The filling gradient of #9 is darker than the one of #8

Green Eyes Mosaic, Variation #9

# 10 uses Green tones instead of the previous Blues used in #2 to #9

Green Eyes Mosaic, Variation #10

In #11 the lower veils is using reds where as the top of the image is similar to the top of #10

Green Eyes Mosaic, Variation #11

A totally different type of variation consists in the superposition of two layers of different images. In the 3 following examples, I have used an opus tessellatum image on top of the Opus Pixellatum. 

Green Eyes Mosaic, Variaton #12

Practically, this is done by first building the opus tesselatum piece by gluing the tesserae on top of a vinyl sheet that covers the tesselatum model, once this done, the mosaicists removes the Tesselatum model and inserts the Pixellatum model under the vinyl, and resume the execution of the mosaic, following the design of the Pixellatum model.

Green Eyes Mosaic, Variation #13

This may sound a little complicated, it is not really. I Plan to teach this technique during a seminar next spring.

Green Eyes Mosaic, Variation #14

Opus Pixellatum allows for a formidable array of variations. Only your imagination is the limit. Several of my students have experimented and obtained amazing results with this technique (Click here for my Post on Daniel Adams).

I encourage you to give it a try. 

I will email you, for free, the Gray scale Model at the top of this article.

Just contact me at frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

You just have it printed and get to work !

I am a French mosaicist

living in Headland, Alabama, USA.

My Art is about inspiring people.

You can see some of my work at www.mosaicblues.com

You can contact me either by phone 

at (334) 798 1639 or by email at 

frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

You can also subscribe to my

MosaicBlues Newsletter

Mosaic Art - Portrait of a German Shepherd.

Here is an other example of a gorgeous opus pixellatum mosaic pet portrait.

Amy Galbavy is the owner of Sassy Glass on line. We met last April in Atlanta where I was teaching a class on Opus Pixellatum Mosaic Portraits.

Amy and her eyes mosaic portrait.

After the class, Amy asked me to realize for her models for 3 mosaics, One of her beautiful daughter and two of her late German Shepherds who had passed not long before that.

She sent me pictures of them and I got in my design mode.

Jet was her male Shepherd.

Jet, Male German Shepherd

From this picture I created 3 different grayscale models and eailed them to Amy so she would chose the one she best liked.

3 modes of pixellizations

Amy went for the top model. The mosaic was to be 16 x 16", realized with 8mm tiles (5/16"). 

I created the actual model and e-mailed it to Amy. 

First page of the model

Because she had decided to print it herself I had formatted the model to be printed on 8 standard letter size sheets (8.5 x 11").

The 8 pages model.

Although the model was realized in Grayscale, Amy used a Sepia scale of colors to realize her mosaic. 

The mosaic completed by Amy.

One of the beauties of this technique is that it allows for many variations from a same model. (See my article about Daniel Adams)

I will create for you a model of a mosaic of your pet as I did for Amy. This printed model comes with a list and quantities of the tiles needed and instructions to carry out the work. 

I am a French mosaicist

living in Headland, Alabama, USA.

My Art is about inspiring people.

You can see some of my work at www.mosaicblues.com

You can contact me either by phone 

at (334) 798 1639 or by email at 

frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

 

You can also subscribe to my

MosaicBlues Newsletter

 

A mosaic portrait of Mugen, Border Collie extraordinaire.

About 12 years ago, I fell in love with Tosca, my sister’s Border Collie !

Tosca in Saint Valery sur Somme, France.

About a year later, a friend of mine having located a breeder with puppies not to far from home,  I went there to look at them. I wanted a black and white female like Tosca. I ended up with a Red Male...

Mugen, 3 month old.

I named him Mugen – a Japanese words meaning Endless or Infinity.

A loving and cheerful companion, Mugen had an endless creativity. Life never was boring around him ! 

Mugen loved water and destroyed a few water hoses...

Extremely loving and sociable, he knew everyone in the neighborhood and everybody knew him, cooked for him, invited him to play, drive, spend the night and they would drive him home. I was just known as Mugen’s Dad...

Mugen, 5 years old

When Mugen accidentally died in 2014 I was heartbroken...

Since I have this year created several mosaic models of beloved pets for their owners, I decided to build a mosaic to celebrate Mugen’s memory, based on the above picture of him.

This is the picture I worked from :

Mugen's Eyes.

Using my Opus Pixellatum technique to realize this project, I created a model and had it printed.

Opus Pixellatum model for the Mugen Mosaic.

I installed the model under a sheet of transparent vinyl on a bench in my studio. 

The model under its vinyl sheet.

I cut a piece of fiberglass mesh to be glued on top of it (the dark rectangle on the bench above the model)

And started to glue my tesserae on top of the mesh. 

The Mugen Mosaic, first tesserae laid.

I first lay every other tesserae, because it helps the glue set faster, and also because it allows me to later use - if I decide to do so -  colors different from what is called by the model. This is one of the many variations allowed by Opus Pixellatum. 

Mugen Mosaic, 50 % of tesserae laid. 

At this stage, I have to lay the remaining tesserae, I will use some iridescent tiles in lieu of the regular ones to complete the piece. Once everything is set, I will remove the enmeshed mosaic from the model, glue it to its support, and grout it. That will happen in the next article...

Tiles used for this mosaic are 8 mm recycled glass tiles from Mosaic Art Supply

If you would like to build yourself a mosaic portrait of your pet, I will create a model of it from your picture. This printed model comes with a list and quantities of the tiles needed and instructions to carry out the work. 

Beside the fact that such mosaic will end up costing you a fraction of the cost of a regular piece, you will have the great joy and satisfaction of building yourself a faithful and long lasting portrait of the beloved creature who faithfully shares or shared your life ! 

I am a French mosaicist

living in Headland, Alabama, USA.

My Art is about inspiring people.

You can see some of my work at www.mosaicblues.com

You can contact me either by phone 

at (334) 798 1639 or by email at 

frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

You can also subscribe to my

MosaicBlues Newsletter