“Bead Snake” contemporary mosaic art. stained glass,
found ceramics, stones, beads, grout on panel. 24 in x 24 in

“Bead Snake” Contemporary Mosaic Art

The “Bead Snake” mosaic was done for fun while I was working as an engineer and didn’t have much time to work on my art.  Mixed-media mosaic can have great impact because the textural and sculptural aspects of the piece can be as strong as the pictorial.  Most people cannot walk past this mosaic without running their hands across the snake and the stones.  The white sky is made from found pieces of porcelain and other ceramic with weathered surfaces.  “Found- object” art has always interested me, and I actually stumbled into mosaic from that direction when I started arranging all my fossils and arrowheads and marbles in patterns.

I have to admit that since I started the mosaic supply business, I have seen a lot of “found-object” and mixed-media mosaics that seem uninspired or at least very poorly executed.  I get the impression that most of what I see in the “arts&crafts” world was completed in a single afternoon and the people that made them just wanted to get done more than anything else.  If I could tell amateur artists only one thing it would be this:  don’t rush, take the time to enjoy and learn from what you are doing.  That is what keeps the project from being just another chore on your to-do list.

This mosaic was made over the course of many afternoons in the back yard while sipping a beer under a tree.  There wasn’t any rush to get done.  The beads on the back of the snake bulge out from the surface of the mosaic, as do the large black stones.  This mosaic is more like a sculpture that needs to be touched to be fully appreciated.  The largest of the black stones is about the size of the palm of a hand.