My mosaic journey began on Denman Island, a small island off the west coast of British Columbia over 20 years ago. My aunt had invited my mother and I to join her for the island Home and Garden tour and told me that afterwards, “we would do a mosaic”. Mosaics were not on my radar then. I was not even sure I wanted to “do a mosaic”. At the time, my art was focused on block printing, creating painted floor cloths and fabric art. She had told me to bring a board and, being the obedient sort, I did. After dinner we sat down with our boards, some tile mastic and a box of broken tiles and dishes. I started at 7:00 pm, finished my first mosaic at midnight, and have never looked back. I was completely hooked.

I worked most of my life in public and post-secondary education. For much of that time I was experimenting with a variety of art forms and had the good fortune to study with many accomplished artists. I was lucky to retire early and my focus since has been on mosaics. During that time I have taken many classes with internationally respected mosaic artists as well as completed a week long mosaic class at Orsoni’s Glass Factory in Venice, Italy.

As a mosaic artist, I work hard to create mosaics that not only are beautiful, but that lead viewers to examine the piece closely. I love the challenge of combining a wide variety of tesserae in such a way that when viewers examine the piece closely they will be delighted and surprised by what they find. The tesserae I use can include crockery, glass tiles, smalti, jewelry bits, pebbles, shells, found objects, mirror and more. I love contrast - in colours, in texture and between items the viewer might recognize with some that they may be curious about.

An on-going goal for me is to educate others about mosaic art and to promote contemporary mosaic art in my community. Too many people today still think of mosaics only as broken tile or dishes glued randomly on a plant pot or reproductions of ancient Greek and Roman mosaics. However, contemporary mosaics are much more than that. They are finding their place on the stage of fine art in many parts of the world. Unfortunately, it is still a relatively unrecognized art form in Canada, particularly on the west coast. I want to help change that.

Professional Development
2008 October 20-24 Venice, Italy
Master in Mosaico at the Angelo Orsoni foundry
with Instructor Antonella Gallenda
2013 April Tacoma, WA
Society of American Mosaic Artists (SAMA) conference
Elements of Design: Color with Instructor Lynn Chin
2014 October Ashland, OR
Contempory Mosaic Arts (CMA) Summit
FUNdandemento: Shape + Direction = Flow with Kelley Knickerbocker
2014 Online
Mosaic Window Hanging class with Instructor Sharra Frank
2015 October Ashland, OR
Contemporary Mosaic Arts (CMA) Summit
River of Smalti with Instructor Mireille Swinnen
2016 April San Diego, CA
SAMA conference
volunteered for Margo Anton’s Precision Jewelry class
2019 Online
Mosaic Arts Online - Kickassiette with Kelley Knickerbocker
August 2019 Sooke, BC
Picassiette Portraiture with Gila Rayberg
February 2020 Tasmania, AU
Individual instruction on hammer/hardie skills and andemento with Rachel Bremner
March 2021 Online
Mosaic Arts Online - Intuitive Malmischiato 1 & 2 with Rachel Sager

Member of:
BC Mosaic Artists (find us on Facebook)
British Association of Modern Mosaics (BAMM)
Mosaic Artists of Canada (MAC)
Mosaic Association of Australia and New Zealand (MAANZ)

Exhibits:

Canadian Annual Mosaic Exhibition (CAME), Juried Exhibit, Roots, September 2021, Art Gallery of Alberta
Solo Exhibit May 2022 McMillan Arts Centre, Parksville, BC, Tessellations: Mosaics in a Modern World
Watch a video interview about my exhibit to see the mosaics that were on display: Backstory @ The MAC with Debra Hagen
Mosaic Artists of Canada (MAC), Juried Mosaic Exhibition, Transitions, July-August 2023, Parksville, BC