I became a mosaic artist because I didn’t have an option. One evening, years ago, while my husband and I were walking in the downtown San Diego Gaslamp I wandered into an art gallery. And there a quirky charming table caught my eye. The base was wrought iron and the top covered in broken tiles, dishes and seashells. Little did I know that table would change my life.
At home that night I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was even in my dreams, spiraling with colors and textures. When I woke up the next morning, I drove back down to the gallery and bought the table. It graced our living room with its presence. A few weeks later I enrolled in a two- day mosaic class from the artist who had mosaiced the table. I had a great time creating a small piece into a tray using found objects. From there I continued to work on my own and soon became obsessed.
The stress reduction was amazing. That year I would come home from teaching my fourth grade class-from-hell, put dishes in paper bags and break them with a hammer. Once I even called in sick so that I could finish a piece. Manipulating the broken pieces became a healthy addiction, my form of meditation.
It’s almost twenty years later and I have often asked myself why I wasn’t called to a smaller or neater art form, like jewelry making or origami. But for fulfillment it’s important to create where the heart leads.
Where does your heart lead you?
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