ISIS tried to sell me a Mosaic looted from a Syrian Museum.

In January 2016 I received through Facebook Messenger a message from Turkey. The author was offering to sell me a mosaic - supposedly excavated from the area of Hatay Antakya (Ancient Antioch) - which had been discarded by the archaeologists. The offer came with pictures. 

Screenshot messenger offer

When I saw how beautiful the mosaic was I could not believe anybody with common sense could have discarded it ! 

Mosaic offered to me through Messenger

I quickly suspected this piece had been stolen. 

I tried to engage the man trying to sell this piece.
He answered to me in Italian and suggested I get in touch with him though a WhatsApp telephone number.

Messenger Communication

In the meantime a search for "Roman Mosaic of Syria" brought up the description of the actual mosaic in the book "Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World" by Katherine M.D.Dunbabin.

Thetys from Shahba Museum

To Balty’s later group (of mosaics) from Shahba belongs an astonishing bust of the Sea-Goddess Tethys... Fish entangled in her hair, a sea dragon coiled around her neck, and she holds a steering oar. The figure of the Sea Goddess occurs frequently on mosaics of the region of Antioch, but never with the power shown here: almost to large for the frame, the figure dominates the small room where it is set. The characteristics of the «Constantinian renascence» are apparent in the broad smooth surfaces and the careful delineation, for instance of the wide opened eyes; but the combination of the massive force of the face and the restlessness of the dark hair makes this work of exceptional quality. Around it, a wide border shows Erotes in boats and fishing, on a sea marked by broad bands of colour.

From there I was able to find professional pictures of the mosaic and confirmed the piece had actually been looted from the museum.

Thetys mosaic stolen from the Shahba Museum in Syria

Detail of the stolen Thetys mosaic.

CBS News' article Following the trail of Syria's looted history describes how artifacts looted by ISIS or under the authority of ISIS regularly end up on the antiquities markets in London, Paris or even New York.

I went to the FBI website to report this matter and have not heard anything about it.

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 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

Modelos personalizados de mosaico

¿Alguna vez has querido dar un intento en el arte del mosaico, parero te sintiste abrumado por su aparente complejidad? 

Tradicional herramientas del artista de mosaico.

Creé en 2015 una técnica de mosaico nueva y fácil de implementar. La llamé “Opus Pixellatum”.

Opus Pixellatum es una técnica de introducción perfecta para el arte del mosaico. Debido a que al principio esta técnica sólo utiliza tesseras cuadradas de las mismas dimensiones, dispuestos en líneas horizontales y verticales, no se necesitan ninguna corte. Tu simplemente tienes que pegar tus tesseras en un modelo, llenar la brecha entre ellos, y voila, tu mosaico está completo.

Y como funciona esto ?


Envíame una foto de lo que te gustaría representar en mosaico.

Guepardito del desierto de Serengeti.

De tu imagen, creo un modelo que se parece a una hoja de cálculo.

El modelo plastificado en su mesa.

Se compone de muchos pequeños cuadrados numerotados.

La esquina inferior izquierda del modelo del guepardito.

Cada número corresponde a un color de azulejo específico. También proveo las cantidades que necesitarás de cada azulejo.

Azulejos de mosaico del Guepardito.
Referencia de azulejos	Número de azulejos
1	100
26	250
27	324
29	100
42	1408
44	860
62	1206
109	286

Las referencias son las de las tesseras de vidrio de 8 mm de Mosaicartsupply en Atlanta, GA.

Tu puedes ordenar los azulejos de MosaicArtSupply o puedo hacerlo para ti.

Si deseas utilizar otras teseras, puedo diseñar un modelo basado  en ellas.

Una vez que tengas tu modelo y azulejos, puedes ir a trabajar.

Coloque su modelo en su mesa de trabajo y empezas a pegar sus tesseras en él. Puedes utilizar cualquier pegamento soluble en agua como el pegamento Elmer.

Mosaico del guepardito, primer día de trabajo.

En este particular mosaico del Gueparito, estaba trabajando del método inverso, pegando mis tesseras al revés encima de mi modelo plastificado.

Para trabajar en el método directo, to pones un pedazo de malla de fibra de vidrio sobre tu modelo y pegas sus tesseras en esta malla.

Los ojos de Amy. La mitad de las tesseras en la malla.

Después de un rato, tu mosaico está listo para montar en un cuadro rígido.

Mosaico del guepardito, todas tesseras pegadas.

Si trabajas el método inverso como lo hice este mosaico del guepardito tu pegas el soporte encima de él.

Mosaico del guepardito con su soporte pegado encima.

Si trabajas método directo, simplemente levanta la malla del modelo laminado y pegala sobre su soporte.

Mosaico de los ojos de Daniel. Todas tesseras pegadas.

Una vez tu mosaico fijada en su soporte - unas pocas horas en el método directo, 48 horas en el método reverso - y tu puedes lechar y terminarlo.

El autor al lado del retrato del guepardito.

El Gueparito (Cheetah Cub) por encima se realizó de colores, mientras que los ojos de Amy abajo se construyeron de una escala de grises.

El modelo y su mosaico!

De un mismo modelo, muchas, muchas variaciones son possibles. Puede cambiar la paleta de colores de la escala de Grises a Sepia, escala azul o escala de Grises invertida. También puede optar por realizar partes del mosaico del Opus Tessellatum ordinario - la técnica clássica romana o griega.

Opus Pixellatum es una técnica increíblemente versátil. Empieza como "mosaico por número" y luego te permite una infinidad de variaciones. ¡La gran belleza de esta técnica es que permite a un principiante total realizar una primera pieza muy hermosa!

Estudiantes del Seminario "Mosaic Fiesta" de Abril 2017 en Atlanta, GA.

En un próximo artículo compartire con ustedes algunos mosaicos increíbles hechas por algunos de mis estudiantes y clientes.

Si deseas crear tu propio mosaico basado en tu propia imagen o diseño, póngate en contacto conmigo al (334) 798 1639 o frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

Soy un artista de mosaico francés.

En 1992, Alabama se convirtió en mi hogar

Mi arte es inspirar a la gente.

También puedes suscribirte a mi

Lettra de Informacion MOSAICBLUES

Mosaique Fiesta 2017

Et voila, plus que 4 semaines et nous organiserons notre premiere edition de Mosaic Fiesta en la belle ville de Decatur (a cote d'Atlanta), en Georgie.

J'ai recu les photos de nombreux participants et suis presentement en train de realiser les modeles qu'ils utiliseront pour batir une mosaique de leurs propres yeux en utilisant ma technique Opus Pixellatum.

Ma derniere creation Pixellatum: Timeo Danaos et dona ferrentes

Je suis tres fier de partager publiquement cette nouvelle technique. C'est une chose a laquelle je tiens beaucoup. Je pense que lorsque vous creez une technique nouvelle, vous devriez la partager, au moins partiellement, avec le reste de votre communaute, afin que les gens puissent l'essayer, en detecter de possibles faiblesses et eventuellement l'ameliorer pour le bien etre commun. Je sais que d'autres personnes ne sont pas d'accord la dessus, mais c'est ainsi que je pense. 

Une petite video...

Joe Moorman, de Mosaic Art Supply sera notre hote pour cet evenement, et nous allons nous efforcer de faire en sorte que tout se passe dans une ambiance agreable et amusante. 

Pour en savoir plus  :
Email Joe a : inspire@mosaicartsupply.com 
Appelez  Frederic a : (334) 798 1630

Frederic Lecut est un mosaiste francais.

Il est alle s'insteller en Alabama en 1992.

Il s'efforce d'inspirer les gens par son art

Vous pouvez le contacter soit

par telephone au (334) 798 1639 ou par email a

frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

Vous pouvez egalement 
souscrire a sa lettre d'information

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