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. 

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

Opus Sextile - Part I

Opus Sextile, or Sectile, a very ancient form of mosaic, probably is the ancestors of all floor mosaics. When our ancestors got tired of walking on mud, they paved their dwelling with flagstones. Stones of different colours allowed for figurative or geometrical patterns, a sort of creative tiling.

Roman marble floor mosaic, Utica, Tunisia

Such technique has consistently been used since...

On Floors

House of Cupid, 4th cent. AD

It is particularly interesting in the realization of great floor patterns such as the Labyrinths of various medieval and modern churches ...

Amiens Cathedral, France, 12th century AD

 

Church of the Nativity, Dothan, AL, USA, 2004 AD

And on walls :

Basilica of Junius Bassus - Rome, Italy - 331 AD

In a next post, we will look at the use of Opus Sextile and similar technologies in furniture building ... Stay in touch !

I am a modern mosaic artist who greatly admire Roman and Byzantine Art. My mosaics are often inspired by the works of ancient masters. You can visit my site at mosaicblues, or my facebook page. If you are interested by my work, please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com or by phone at (334) 798 1639.

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In which I keep you informed of my work, techniques, history and archaeology of mosaics.

Twin Sisters

Today is a great day. I have the great honor and privilege to introduce, for the first time on stage together, the soon to be famous Twin Sisters : Mariam and Mariam Mesh.

On this picture, Mariam (on the left) is close to ready for delivery (she will be flying to France at the end of the month). She has been framed, I only have to left  to grout the gap between the frame and the piece itself, and some waxing and buffing. 

As for Mariam Mesh (on the right), she needs a second round of grout before I send her to Eddy to be framed.

I grout each piece 3 times. It may sound a little extreme, but it is the best way to achieve a very good finish. I actually spend quite a few hours finishing each piece after flipping them ! 

This evening, I did the last round of grouting on Mariam, (edges only) and the second round on Mariam Mesh. Tomorrow will be cleanup day for my beauties ! 

Mariam Mesh will be available for sale in July, if you are interested, please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com or by phone at (334) 798 1639.

You are also very welcome to contact me to discuss any aspect of the inspired  Art of Mosaics.

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Medusa

Medusa was one of three sisters known as the Gorgons.

Originally a golden-haired and very beautiful maiden, she was as a priestess of Athena, devoted to a life of celibacy; but wooed by Poseidon, whom she loved in return, she forgot her vows, and became united to him in marriage. 

For this offence she was punished by the goddess in a most terrible manner. Each wavy lock of the beautiful hair which had so charmed her husband, was changed into a venomous snake and whoever would gaze directly upon her would turn to stone. 

Rhodes Medusa Mosaic - 4th century BC

From then on, her life became very complicated. It ended tragically when Perseus beheaded her.

She became however a favourite theme of ancient mosaics.
 

Brading Roman Villa, Isle of Wight, UK

I started to work on my own Medusa during the summer of 2011.

As usual, I used my preferred reverse method for this piece.  I laid the first tesserae  - Black granite and Beige Travertine - on August 28.

Medusa, August 28, 2011

On August 30 I completed the outside frise - a geometrical pattern often found in ancient Greek mosaics.

Medusa, August 30, 2011.

It took one week to complete the full head. Medusa is made mostly of stones : marbles of various colors, travertine, granite, and I used small pieces of red smalti for the snakes tongues.

Medusa, September 7, 2011. Dry

One way to better visualize the final result why working the reverse method is to spray water on top of the piece... The water brings out the actual colors as if the piece had been polished.

Medusa, September 7, 2011. Wet

I flipped Medusa at the beginning of October and used a dark red grout to fill the gaps between the tesserae.

Medusa, October 8, 2011

You can appreciate on these 2 pictures how the quality of light impacts the way you see a mosaic. This is an important factor to consider when you place a piece in your home. Generally, a warmer light better brings out the colors of a mosaic.

 

Medusa, October 8, 2011

As Medusa was destined to be a table, I polished her very finely. 

Although a polished mosaic does not catch the light as beautifully as an unpolished one I like to polish my tables. The feel of the hand on the well polished stone is a very pleasant one. 

Finally, Medusa was inserted into a beautiful bronze coated frame made of cast aluminium and steel.

Medusa, October 12, 2011

The 3 legs of the table represent the winged horse Pegasus. 
 

Pegasus,  Apulian red figure vase 4th Century B.C.

Medusa, November 2011.

Pegasus, the result of the marriage of Poseidon to Medusa, was born when the hero Perseus cut her head off.

Detail of the Table leg.

Medusas dimensions are : 
Mosaic diameter : 27"  (69 cm)
Table Height : 24" (61cm)
Table Diameter (horses level) : 34" (86 cm)


If you are interested in the Medusa Table, would like to commission a different table or mosaic, 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.

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How to Video : Cut your own stone tesserae.

In this short video I am showing how to cut short cubes (The "tesserae") out of the long strips of materials we cut in the previous video. These tesserae are the actual building blocks of all traditional mosaics. 

As explained in the video, the tools I am using here, the small anvil - the "Hardie", and the special hammer - the "Martelina" are the same tools our Roman ancestors were using to cut their tesserae.

Wearing eyes protection is extremely important. When you work in a dry environment, or cut in a wet environment with a non continuously rimmed blade, stone, ceramic and glass may break and project in small cutting shards that can be very damaging to your eyes. One of these sliced my nose 2 weeks ago when cutting ceramic tiles. A nice little cut on the nose that bled for quite a while. I just do not want to imagine the damage that would have done to my eyes had I not be wearing goggles.

Practice...

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 !

The stuff of Mosaic : Stones

Stones are classified base on 2 criteria : how they are made, and what composes them.

Stones were formed a long time ago according to 3 different processes

1 - Born of fire : the Igneous Stones.

These are stones that were once very hot and liquid and cooled down underground. Their grains look like small flecks typically spread consistently throughout stone. They are hard (cannot be scratched by steel) and dense.

Granite is a typical igneous stone used in mosaic. 

Blue Granite

2 - Sedimentary Stones

These stones are formed through the compacting of grains or pieces of any kind of existing rock material. These existing rocks may have been weathered, transported, deposited and then cemented over millions of years by the movement of the earth’s tectonic plates. Sedimentary stones sometimes contain fossils or other distinct features formed at the time of deposition.

Limestones and Travertines are sedimentary stones used in mosaic.

Raw travertine

Gold Travertine

3 - Metamorphic Stone – “Changed in Structure”

They were formed at extremely high pressures and temperatures but did not melt like igneous stones did. The presence of swirls, linear patterns or banding is a key characteristic of metamorphic stones

Marble, Agates, and Slate are metamorphic stones used in mosaic. 

Raw agate

4 slates.

Marble.

2 . Mineral Composition of Stones

Stones basically made of 2 different stuffs  : Silicate (Silicium Oxyde SiO₂₎ and Calcium Carbonate (CaCO₃)

21 - Silicates

These stones are made mostly of quartz-like particles called silica. They are very hard, durable and generally acid resistant.

Granites, Flint and Slates are Silicates used in mosaic. 

22 - Calcium Carbonates 

The minerals in these stones were formed under pressure over millions of years from the bodies of tiny fossilized creatures. These stones are softer, less durable than silicates and acid sensitive.

Limestones, Marbles and Travertines are Calcium Carbonates used in mosaic.

 

 

 

Tesshu's Tiger - Travertine and Granite

UBI TU GAIUS, EGO GAIA

The Romans had various forms of marriages, Generally, the first part of the ceremony took place at the house of the bride's paterfamilias where the bride's parents would hand over the bride to the groom. There would be happen some important verbal exchange. 

The bride would tell the groom :  

"Ubi tu Gaius, ego Gaia," 

"Where you are Gaius, I am Gaia." 

And the groom would reply :

"Ubi tu Gaia, ego Gaius"  

"Where you are Gaia, I am Gaius."

The pronuba, matron of honor, would then join the couple's hands. The marriage was now legally valid, and more festivities followed.

The ceremony could take place even if the groom was not able to be present. In that event, he would send a letter with his part of the verbal exchange.

        I am presently working on a mosaic on this theme - Pure Classical Roman style - no flashing colours, only natural tones of the kind the Roman mosaicists used up to the 3rd century - after which they started to use glass tesserae)

This is going to be my first mosaic of a pure Classical Roman style in a long time. The last one I did was the Labyrinth table - it was about 7 or 8 years ago. I came to mosaics because of my love of Roman archaeology, so this is a great pleasure to be working on such a project !

You can see on the picture above how I am - again - using the reverse method for this piece. Although this process is slightly more difficult to handle than the direct laying, I like the result much better ! It is also the only way for me to use materials of various thickness. 

Roman Marriage

 

More to come on this piece...