The Troy Benches - Les Bancs de Troy.

The Wiregrass Mosaic Project consists of covering several sets of concrete table and benches located on the Dothan Campus with individual mosaics created bya a great number of individuals. 

Over 500 people each created a small mosaic on a piece of fiberglass mesh.

Now I am setting these mosaics on top of the benches.

Later on this summer  I will fill the space between tiles with a coloured grout.

Hopefully we will have a grand magnificent opening in the early fall !
 



 
This project is being realized in partnersip with the Troy University Library and the Wiregrass Museum of Art

Le Projet de Mosaïques du Wiregrass consiste a recouvrir plusieurs ensembles de tables et bancs en béton avec de petites mosaïques individuelles. .

Plus de 500 personnes ont chacune réalisé une petite mosaïques sur un morceau de toile de verre. 

Sur cette vidéo j'installe les mosaiques sur les bancs. 

 
Je suis désolé, la première partie de la vidéo est en Anglais, j'ai ajoute des sous-titres. 

Plus tard cet été je remplirais les joints avec un mortier de remplissage. J’espère avoir une inauguration au début de l'automne. 

Ce projet est réalise en partenariat avec la bibliothèque de la Troy University a Dothan, Alabama, et le Wiregrass Museum of Art. 

I am a French mosaic artist based in Alabama. My Art is about Inspiring people, I am presently working on these huge portraits of the eyes of Yezidi Refugees. If you are interested by my work, please contact me by phone at (334) 798 1639 or by email at frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

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Je suis un Artiste Mosaïste installe en Alabama. Mon Art est a propos de l'Inspiration. Présentement, je travaille a ces grands portraits des Yeux de réfugiés Yézidis. 

Si mon travail vous intéresse vous pouvez me contacter par téléphone au 334 798 1639 (aux Etats Unis), ou par email a frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

 

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Yezidis 011 and 021

There are a few things I really do not like. Child abuse is one of them. And so child abuse on a large scale, such as what the Yezidis children is something that deeply saddens me. And I do not like what is happening to the Yezidis women who are systematically raped and sold in slavery by their captors eager to go back to their interpretation of the Arabian 7th century society.

I cannot fix greed, hatred and stupidity, but I can try to help. 

I already have created one portrait of one of these children. This portrait is at the welding shop right now to get its frame made, and I will publish it once it is complete, but you can get some idea from my November 12 post "Yezidi Eyes"

I am presently working on two more portraits. 

Here are the models : 

A little girl

Yezidi 011

And a young boy.

Yezidi 021

I am realizing these mosaics according to a new and very unique method. To my knowledge, nobody ever made mosaics this way. The mosaics are realized in black and white, using only tiny glass tiles of various shades of grey.


The result is unique and stunning, as you will see it very soon once the first piece comes back from the shop. 

For the time being here are 2 pictures taken on Dec 4. As you can see, I am working in a very different way from the usual.

Yezidi 011- December 4.

It is however, a reverse method on mesh similar as what I have done for my last Pomegranate Tree. At the time I am writing (Dec 7) I have progressed some more, but have had to stop for I am waiting for a shipment of tiles ! 

Yezidi 021, Dec 4.

These kids were able to escape the persecution. They are now hosted in camps in Turkey and Iraq, financed by the Free Yezidi Foundation.

My goal is to auction these mosaics sometimes in the spring to raise money to help the foundation. I will donate 50 % of the profit of the auction to this cause.  

I have no idea of the way to organize this, so if you like this project and would like to help or participate, please let me know at frederic.lecut@gmail.com, or call me at (334) 798 1639.

 

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 this project or by my work in general 

or if you would simply like to drop me a line, please 

contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com  

or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

 

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Yezidi Eyes Mosaic Project, 

and my other projects.

 

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. 

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Spring Festival Mosaic.

It all started with an email "Frederic, we have this Spring festival on the Headland square in 10 days, do you think you could do a mosaic class for some kids ?"

I was not really thrilled at such a short notice, but when I realized this could be a great opportunity to  further test some ideas I had had in the back on my mind for a while, It became much more interesting !

Could I take 20 kids, teach them how to make a mosaic and get a decent result out of it ? 

In March, I had already experimented at the Wiregrass Museum of Art, with precut glass tesserae.

Each student had taken home their own mosaic. Now was the time to get people to cut their own tesserae. and to use each individual piece as part of a bigger work.

To make things easier, we would  use : 

• Ceramic tiles much easier to cut than stone, glass or porcelain;  
• 2 only colours : Black and White; and 
• 2 only basic designs for everyone to follow. 

I know, these are white and blue...

 

I could not get blue tiles !

On May 19, we set shop on the Headland Square. We had 2 groups of kids, those of ages 7 to 13 accompanied by their parents, and those over 14 by themselves .

At the end of the (long) day, we had 21 small squares mounted on fiberglass mesh. 

I took all of them home to my mosaicblues back yard to put them together on a framed backing board. 

The Panel before grouting.

On June 19, we had the grand presentation of the Panel at the Headland Municipal building. Some of the kids who participated in the project were present.

Everyone - that includes the kids themselves - was very impressed by what they had been able to do.

One important thing about mosaic, is that you can touch them, this is very important to children who have a very tactile reference to the world. 

I had brought the extra mosaic I had not been able to use for the panel (I only needed 20 and I had 21 pieces) and let the children handle it.

This project was made possible because lots of people pulled together. Rhonda Harrison, Executive director of the Headland Chamber of Commerce, Home Depot who gracefully subsidized most of the material and equipment, and the Headland Police Department who financed the rest of the project.

The mosaic is visible in the main hall of the Headland Municipal building on the Headland square.

What's next ? 

Bigger projects - first one will be in partnership with Troy University and should involve 80 to 100 participants, I will keep you posted.  Nexts are being presently discussed. I have big dreams ... And I'll need help ! 

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 !)

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Spring Mosaic Workshop, Adult class

Last march I gave a Kids mosaic class at the Wiregrass Museum of Art.

The kids had realized small (6 x 6") mosaics following the pattern of the Solomon knot.

Last May 9, I gave a similar class for a group of adults.

 They realized a same type of Solomon knot, only bigger (10 x 10").

The purpose of these 2 classes was more technical than creative. I wanted to show people how they could make their own mosaic. 

I also wanted to show how you can create a direct method mosaic on a mesh, which you would later be able to glue on a rigid - flat or curved - support.

Practically, the mosaics were realized by gluing on a fiberglass mesh small precut square glass tesserae. The fiberglass mesh was laid on top of a printed model, and the small glass tesserae glued on the mesh, following the pattern underneath it.

At the end of the class, the mosaics were left to rest for 48 hours, the time for the glue to set. 

On May 12, I separated the mosaics from their models. 

This piece is flexible and can be gently rolled. 

I clipped the mesh around them,

And lined them up together. 

See how beautiful this turns out to be ! These mesh mosaics could now be glued on any support. 

Can you imagine us getting hundreds of them ?  We could cover a whole wall, a column, a whole house, a statue...

And this, my little friends, we shall further discuss in the course of this year...

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 !)

SUBSCRIBE to my

NEWSLETTER

.

Fall Foliage

Fall Foliage is a mosaic commissioned by my friend Becky. She is a gardener, and loves to have breakfast on her deck, enjoying the sight and smells of her plantations.

Fall foliage will be mounted directly on her kitchen wall.

I decided to realize the piece with materials of the same thickness : glasses and mirrors mounted on a fiberglass mesh, according to the direct method. This technique allows for a very light mosaic.

Today I would like to share with you the moment when I separate the mosaic from its support.

Although the moment is not as exciting as the flipping of a reverse order mosaic, it is still an interesting time ! 

In the Direct Method, I use a non water soluble glue,  which adheres much stronger to the support. (You can hear the noise of the mesh getting separated from the plastified support).

Once the piece complete and installed, I'll create a specific post showing the various stages of realization, from design to final and installed product.

You dreamed of a unique decoration for your home, kitchen, bathroom, dining room or garden, or would just want to learn more about my work or the techniques of mosaic ? 

Call (334) 798 1639 or email me at 

frederic.lecut@gmail.com.

We will work together to make your dream come true, or simply chat about the wonders of the ancient musive art!