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Showing posts with label frederic lecut. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frederic lecut. Show all posts

Sunday, January 3, 2016

The Mosaics at Tel Aviv Airport



The first thing you see when you arrive at Tel Aviv Airport is a set of 3 huge mosaics above the gate to the Immigration lines ! 





On the Left, a magnificent mosaic floor was discovered in a Byzantine structure (5th-6th C AD) in BethLehem of the Galilee  features animals, birds, trees, grapes, and geometric patterns.



 
On the Upper Right a mosaic floor from Beth-Shean was dated to the Byzantine period, 5-6th Century AD. It is decorated with a pattern of green parrots, each bird wearing a ribbon tied around its neck.  
 
 

 





The Greek inscription at the top reads : "Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out." (Deuteronomy 28:6). This text from the Bible is indeed appropriate for welcoming the visitors to the Holy Land.





On the Lower Right, the 6th Century AD mosaic on display comes from Caesarea Maritima. It is lavishly decorated with birds, geometric shapes, animals and trees, and in its center a woman holds a fruit basket. Her Greek name, Kalokeria, is inscribed around the figure and suggests prosperity.


 
 
 
I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see some of my own mosaics on my site mosaicblues.
 




If you are interested by my work
or if you would like to drop me a line, please 
contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com  
or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 
 
 
You can also




to receive regular updates on my present
Yezidi Eyes Mosaic Project, 
and my other projects.
 


Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Chi lavora con le sue mani è un lavoratore...

Chi lavora con le sue mani è un lavoratore.
Chi lavora con le sue mani e la sua testa è un artigiano.
Chi lavora con le sue mani e la sua testa ed il suo cuore è un artista.

San Francesco D’Assisi




Who works with his hands is a worker,
Who works with his hands and head is a craftsman,
Who works with his hands, his head and his heart is an artist.


  
S. Francis of Assisi


Qui travaille de ses mains est un ouvrier
Qui travaille de ses mains et avec sa tete est un artisan
Qui travaille avec ses mains, sa tete et son coeur est un artiste !

Saint Francois d'Assise 




Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Charlotte & Carlotta


On this August 2nd, 2015, Charlotte finally met Carlotta ! 


Charlotte - Cellist, London, UK


Carlotta - 24 x 24", 61 x 61 cm, glass, ceramic & stone


The encounter was a surprise, Charlotte was not aware I was making her portrait !




Do you see a happy young woman, or what ? 




My Mosaic Portraits make great and unforgettable presents...


If you think you might be interested by one of you or of a loved one, please contact me by phone at (334) 798 1639, of by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com.


I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. I share my passion in my newsletter, as well as the work of other more modern mosaicists working with traditional or non-traditional media.





You can see my own mosaics on my mosaicblues website. If you are interested by my work or would like to chat about mosaics, please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 



You can also




and become an insider to my passion, mosaic history, techniques and philosophy.




Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Premiere Vision - CARLOTTA


Une fois n'est pas coutume. This post is in French. 

Ce 14 juillet, j'ai ramene en France avec moi 4 mosaiques. Montees sur toile de verre dans mon atelier de Headland, en Alabama, ces 4 pieces incluent "Carlotta", Pomegranate  - le Grenadier (l'arbre, pas celui de Flandres) et 2 nouvelles editions de "Green Eyes". 


Vous voyez ici l'envers des mosaiques collees sur la toile.



Le montage des mosaiques sur toile permet d'en reduire le poids pour le voyage.

A notre arrivee en France, je realisai les supports a coller sur les mosaiques. 





J'enduisis les mosaiques de ciment colle, 




Et collai ces supports sur les mosaiques - c'est ce que nous appelons la methode indirecte, ou les mosaiques sont au depart realisees a l'envers.




Je partis alors en Irlande boire les quelques Guinness necessaires pour laisser au ciment-colle le temps de bien prendre...




Et de retour en Picardie filmai l'operation de la separation de la toile de verre de la mosaique elle-meme..








Je suis un mosaiciste francais etabli des deux cotes de l'Atlantique, en Alabama, et en Picardie. J'ai une grande admiration pour les arts Grec, Romain et Byzantins. Vous pouvez voir mes mosaiques sur mon site mosaicblues











Si vous aimez mon travail, avez des questions ou souhaitez simplement parler un peu, vous pouvez me contacter par email a  frederic.lecut@gmail.com ou par telephone au 001 334 798 1639. 


 
Vous pouvez aussi 
(je vous le recommande)







Sunday, July 19, 2015

Flying with Mosaics


Although my last mosaics are lighter than they were 5 years ago, they still are 5 to 10 times heavier than a painting of the same dimension. 




This may be why galleries do not like mosaics very much: they find them harder to hang on a wall. Actually, there are now easy ways to hand heavy loads on any kind of walls, at a reasonable cost. I'll review these methods in a next post.

An other negative aspect of a mosaic's weight is  Shipping...

Over the past 2 years, I have sold 4 mosaics in France. Shipping them would have been very expensive, so I simply travelled with them. I carried an extra piece of luggage with my mosaics in it.

As long as you keep the total of added dimensions under 64" (160 cm) and the weight under 50 lb (23 kg, it costs $100.00 for one additional suitcase on a transatlantic flight. 

I have reduced the weight by 70 % by building my mosaics on fiberglass mesh. All that travels with me are the Tesserae glued on a very light mesh. No concrete, no backing board. I now have in France a small studio where I mount my mosaics on their final support and frame them.


Mosaicblues French Studio, Dec 2014


The important point is to pack them very carefully. 

Here are the 4 pieces flying to France with me mid-July 2015.




From top to bottom and left to right : 2 Green Eyes Girls, Carlotta, and the Pomegranate Tree. These 4 pieces are reverse method, so what you are now seeing are their backs. 

I built a wooden crate / suitcase for them. The contour of the crate was made of 3/4 " (19mm) yellow pine wood, the sides of 1/4" (6 mm) plywood, reinforced with fiberglass mesh. 

I placed a sheet of 1/2" (12 mm) insulation foam at the bottom and placed "Carlotta", sandwiched inside an envelope of tar paper on top of the foam.


I slightly sprayed the mosaic with water to increase its flexibility and I placed an other layer of 1/2" foam on top of Carlotta.



I then installed "Pomegranate Tree" on top, also wrapped in tar paper.


Covered it with more insulation...


I placed the 2 Green eyes Girls over this. 


And covered them with another foam sheet. 



I have some space left, which I'll use for various goodies to bring back home (Mexican Chorizzo among other things...)


Next Month I'll tell you more about each one of these pieces coming with me to France...
 






I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see my own mosaics on my site at mosaicblues







If you are interested by my work or would like to drop me a line please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

You can also

(and I recommend it !)





Monday, July 13, 2015

Red Scarf


Red Scarf is almost done...

She has been in gestation for quite a while... I found the original image early in 2014. A portrait of a beautiful enigmatic lady !



And I went to work... I wanted, of course, to concentrate on her eye. 



I did my usual graphic work, had the model printed, and started to work in April 2014. 

April 26, 2014.
I usually start with the outside borders. Here I used a beautiful, very hard spotted Green Marble which I knew would contrast nicely with the very reds tones of her veil.

In August 2014, I had added some black granites and began using various shades of red, yellow and orange glasses. 


August 1st, 2014




August 3rd, 2014.


After that, I got very absorbed in various projects and commissions, and spent little time on her until June 2015. 

June 19, 2015

I added quite a few materials, ceramics, porcelains, 


June 19, 2015


Glasses, Van Gogh glasses, most of them brilliantly coloured. 


June 22, 2015




On June 25, tiling was complete !


June 25, 2015






I set Red Scarf's support on June 26, and flipped her on June 28 with a few friends invited to the event !


June 28, 2015, first vision of Red Scarf !

There are still quite a few hours of cleaning and grouting, but we finally can look her in the eye !


June 28, most of the white glue is still there to be cleaned up !


Red Scarf will receive her steel frame and should be available before the end of August 2015. If you are interested by her, please contact me, preferably by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com. I will post additional pictures of her grouted and framed in August.



I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see my own mosaics on my site at mosaicblues







If you are interested by my work or would like to drop me a line please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com or by phone 
at (334) 798 1639. 

You can also 

(and I recommend it !)












Friday, June 19, 2015

Touching mosaics



One very distinctive characteristics of mosaics versus other media, is that you can touch them. 
If you get in a museum, you cannot touch, actually, you often have people here to prevent you from touching. 
It is understandable, because no painting could be touched by hundreds of people without being destroyed. 


However, when it comes to children, they really need to touch things to fully REALIZE what stands in front of them. For Kids, seeing is not enough.

On June 19, 2015, we unveiled in Headland, Alabama a mosaic made by a group of 20 children. During the workshop, each kids had built a small mosaic with black and white tiles.


Individual mosaics


Later on, I had assembled the mosaics on one only panel. 


The Final Panel



Some of the kids who attended the presentation had not been involved with building. They really loved the final result, but what really was important to them was to be able to touch the final piece, and one small piece leftover from the workshop (I had a total of 21 pieces, and the final panel included 20 pieces).



I really love this picture...



This is a very important point in favour of mosaics as an art media for children. The tactile aspect is very important, this is how they best relate to their environment...



I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. I live, create and teach mosaics in Headland, Alabama, USA. You can see my own mosaics on my site at mosaicblues






If you are interested by my work, my classes or would like to drop me a line please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com or by phone at 
(334) 798 1639. 

 
You can also 
(and I recommend it !)

Friday, June 5, 2015

The Mosaics of Wat Chieng Thong

Wat Xieng Thong (or Temple of the Golden City) is a Buddhist Monastery located on the peninsula of Luang Phrabang in Laos. 

It was built in 1560. One of its unique features are the glass mosaics used for its decoration.

The back wall of the main practice hall is decorated with a beautiful mosaic of a Tree of Life. 






Detail of the Tree of Life mosaic



And the outer walls of the Sanctuary of the Reclining Buddha, also known as the Red Chapel, are also decorated with a great number of mosaics.


Wat Xieng Thong Red Chapel


Details of the Red Chapel Wall mosaics.



Detail of the Red Chapel mosaics.

These mosaics in the Opus Sextile style, have the particularity that their background was realized by filling up the gaps between the different represented subjects  with a red grout, hence the name of the Red Chapel ! 


I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see my own mosaics on my site at mosaicblues




If you are interested by my work or would like to drop me a line please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 


You can also 
(and I recommend it !)