“Blackbird Flying Over the Delta” contemporary mosaic art. smalti on panel. 18 in x 22 in.

“Blackbird Flying Over the Delta” Fine Art Mosaic

When the River flows down into the low country, it slows down and meanders back and forth in great bends.  The river bed actually moves around over the years as sediments build up in some places and wash away in others.  Eventually, some bends will get cut off as the river bed moves.  These cut-off bends are called oxbow lakes.  They are filled with catfish, bream, croppy, gar, turtles, snakes and surrounded by cypress swamps.  Fly over the Delta, and you can see how fields, levees and roads follow the contours of the river bends and the oxbow lakes.

The Mississippi Delta is where the folk music known as the Blues was born.  Eventually, the Blues would give rise to Jazz, then Rock and Roll.  Thus the Delta Blues is the grandfather of virtually all popular music worldwide.  I wasn’t thinking at all about the rhythms of Blues or Jazz or any type music when I made this mosaic.  I was thinking more of the slower rhythms of the river flooding and moving and shaping the land.  But every time I look at this mosaic, I think it does successfully (although unintentionally) make some reference to the swirls of rhythm coming out of the Delta.