The Eyes are the Scouts of the Heart

Inspiration is a funny thing. A good friend of mine advised me to specialize in eyes mosaics after he'd read an article about Lover's Eyes. I thought the idea was interesting and a challenging one !  So I went to work and am really enjoying this ! I have a great number of eyes on the bench ! And intend to produce quite a few more, every piece is an experiment, this is so interesting, I am really enjoying doing and sharing this ! 

And then, as I was researching for a different purpose 12th century French Fabliaux, I fell upon a quote I had read a while ago, by Joseph Campbell about the way French Troubadour - Guiraut de Borneilh (c. 1138-1200) described how the EYES are the first helpers of the Heart in search of Love...

Eva

So through the eyes love attains the heart:
For the eyes are the scouts of the heart,
And the eyes go reconnoitering
For what it would please the heart to possess.
And when they are in full accord
And firm, all three, in one resolve,
At that time, perfect love is born
From what the eyes have made welcome to the heart.
Not otherwise can love either be born or have commencement
Than by this birth and commencement moved by inclination.

Maribel

By the grace and by command
Of these three, and from their pleasure,
Love is born, who its fair hope
Goes comforting her friends.
For as all true lovers
Know, love is perfect kindness,
Which is born - there is no doubt - from the heart and eyes.
The eyes make it blossom; the heart matures it:
Love, which is the fruit of their very seed.

Sean

So not only do the eyes tell us a lot about a person. They also have a major and active role in the search of Love !

And THIS is an other good thing about this eyes mosaicing of mine !

If you are interested in my Mosaic Eyes,  or would simply like to learn more about mosaic, please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com, or by phone at (334) 798 1639. I have several Eyes available, and also take commissions of new Eyes ! It takes approximately 2 month to realize the mosaic after we complete its design together.

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Framed with Steel

My mosaics are now generally framed with Steel. Steel is strong, and prevents warping of these long and narrow pieces. In addition, if a piece falls the steel frame will prevent it from being shattered. 

 

Eva's eyes fell from the top of a shelf about 7 foot high. Because of its steel frame, it was just slightly cracked and I could easily repair the damages. However, the table it fell on did not appreciate the impact...

Although in a previous life I have worked with quite a few amazing welders, I would not want to disgrace my mosaics by wrapping them in a frame of my welding.

If you want things well done, call a professional...

Eddy Farmer welds my mosaics frames. Eddy is a great welder, and a good man. Here we are standing on both sides of Sean's Eyes.

Sean's Eyes, before flipping.

Eddy and I  have known each other since I first came to America 24 years ago. We built various things together for 10 years until our ways split in 2001. We met again 7 years ago when he started to work for an other one of my friends.

We cannot achieve much without help from other people. It is very important to stay aware of this, and be thankful for those people who participate in our works.

Eva's Eyes is now available; Sean's Eyes will be available in May 2014. If you would like to know more about these pieces or are interested in a commission, please contact me by phone at (334) 798 1639 or by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com .

You can also 

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Attention les Yeux !

"Attention les Yeux" - is French for "Protect your Eyes".

You'll use this expression to warn people that they are going to see something so beautiful and remarkable that their eyes might be hurt by such sight !

As I finally completed my Fall Foliage mosaic, my work benches are now available for new projects. I will create 2 Mariam's Eyes mosaics. One to be delivered in France next June, and the mirror image of it which I will build using an experimental method. More about this later. 

Veiled Black and White is 40 % complete

Sean's Eyes are waiting for a frame and grout.

Lots of EYES can be SEEN at Mosaicblues.

I dreamed of a Show dedicated to  mosaic eyes, I would call it "Attention les Yeux".

If you have contacts who could help make this possible, of would like to help yourself, please contact me at (334) 798 1639 or by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com.

I've been taking my shower with Sean Connery for the past 3 weeks...

Let me explain...

I build most of my mosaics upside down, this is what us mosaists call the reverse method. Once all tesserae have been laid on the model and a support glued on top of them, you flip the mosaic and before you can further finish it.  Then you have to - painstakingly - remove the glue used to set the tesserae on the model. I tried different ways, but finally figured out the easiest way was to do this in my shower...

I am building a collection of Mosaic Eyes - Eyes are the first thing most of us consider when we first meet a person.

Apparently, nobody has ever done this, at least in mosaics. My good friend Joe Byers - a Viking shipwrecked in Pensacola, FL, told me that during the Italian Renaissance a famous painter specialized in eyes portraying.

Wealthy patrons would ask him to paint the eyes of a person they loved, who they should not have loved... They would keep the portrait in their office, knowing who these eyes belonged to, while visitors could only wonder...

I find it a beautiful idea. I researched it, for reference, but could not find the source. if you know about it, please let me in the dirty little secret !

Since 2010 I have created a few eyes portrait. Two of them are now displayed in the collection of the Alabama College of Osteopathic medicine and one of them shipped in November to Dubai and has now been sold to a collector in Pakistan.

Today, I would like to share with you the magic of unveiling a mosaic. This one is a portrait of James Bond's eyes - Sir Sean Connery.

I have explained before how I use the Reverse method for most of my work. In this method, you build your mosaic upside down and you do not really see it before you flip it.

So it is really a magic moment. Every time I come to this point, I hold my breath ! What is this going to look like ? 

I have never been disappointed so far ! 

And I believe like every sensible person does that Sean Connery is the one and only James Bond ! 

You can see some of my EYES MOSAICS on my Website Mosaicblues. If you would like to commission a Mosaic Eye Portrait of a person of your choice, please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com, or by phone at (334) 798 1639.

Green Eyes Video

Here is a short video presentation of Green Eyes, who departed from Headland to Dubai in December 2013. Please be indulgent with the quality, I made it myself and I am more talented with mosaics than with videos ! But I intend to improve !

Green Eyes is the first of a popular series of Eyes mosaics I started to work on in 2011. 

I have made and sold several other eyes mosaics since her.

Eva Green's Eyes  (Eva's Eyes) 

and 

Tuareg's Eyes 

are presently available for sale. 

I am presently working on Sean Connery's Eyes

and on another veiled woman's eyes

If you are interested in one of these mosaics, or in commissioning on piece, please contact me at frederic.lecut@gmail.com or by phone at (334) 798 1639. You can also drop me a line in the comments window below this post. I would love to share my passion for mosaics with you !

Sean's eyes

I finally laid the last tesserae of Sean's Eyes.

Sean's eyes is made following the reverse method. It is built upside down, then glued to a support, then flipped. The picture you see here is a mirror image of the finished product to be !

The reversed method is much more labor intensive than the direct method, but it allows a greater choice of materials of different thickness. Its results are also in my opinion much more beautiful ! 

Sean's Eyes is 14 x 50 inches (35 x 125 cm). It is made of stones, ceramics and glasses.

Sean's Eyes is part of my popular series of Eyes Mosaics.  Sean's eyes will be available next year. Eva's eyes and Tuareg's eyes are presently available for sale. 

If you are interested in one of these, or in commissioning a special piece for you, you can contact me at frederic.lecut@gmail.com or by phone at (334) 798 1639.

You can also contact me for any other reason related to my work. I'd love to share my dreams with you !