maestro giulio menossi, in collaboration with pam givens, has opened the mosaico - scuola menossi. i consider myself fortunate to know both giulio and pam, and to be involved in the fledgling school. i created a logo for the school website, and also a logo for some print materials. then, i got to create the print materials... a tri-fold brochure and a postcard. recently, i put together a one-page web flyer.

i enjoy this kind of creativity... laying out, organizing, etc.... faster than mosaic art, that's for sure... so instant gratification i suppose.

just explaining where some of my time and energy has been going... when it isn't going to family or italian. i am also working on a very exciting project with maestro menossi, but i won't say what it is yet. it is in its very earliest stages, and i won't have anything to announce about it until sometime next year.

this is all very exciting stuff, and i feel like it is worth doing... over my own personal mosaic work... for now. i still have a little time for mosaic work, but it is not the priority that is has been, and that i know it will be again... next year. its interesting.... although i have made the decision and commitment to ease off of my mosaic work, and though i feel that this is the right decision for me at this time, i do still miss my work... i miss building and handling and planning and the whole process.

i wonder why it has to be so complicated sometimes... to be a human being... or maybe just to be me. i want to do so much... and sometimes i want to be doing the very thing that i am not doing... but i also want to keep doing what i am doing... and MORE! ugh...

that's it for now... back to my italian...

ciao a tutti! its been a really long time since i have visited my journal. i am just not much of a journal kind of person. but i am going to give it a go today. hmm... what have i been up to?

in may, i went to cap cod to take lynn moor's smalti intensive course. it was a great time and i really enjoyed the course. i would love to get up that way again. from cape cod i went to italy. after a few days in venice, i went to udine to participate in the very first course of the mosaico - scuola menossi. the course was portraiture in the venetian double indirect method. this was a fantastic time and the course was great... only one week. now the school is offering two two-week courses next may/june, and i may be taking one, or both.

i have recently completed the portrait that i started in the course. it was a good challenge but i am happy that i have finished it. it is titled jesus of udine.

yes, it has taken a long time... but that is because i have not been doing much mosaic work, and won't be doing much at least through the end of the year i have made it my primary project to learn italian, and that is what i have been doing for several hours a day, 5 days a week, and a little time on the weekends. my goal is to be conversational by the time i return to italy next spring.

so much going on... in addition to the italian. my youngest started college this fall. he is going to university here in town, majoring in music composition. this is a major transition for him, going from home-schooling to college.. and he has definitely been having his ups and downs... and me right along with him. additionally, a family member's health has not been good, and that has been something to deal with as well.

and then... there is all the crazy rain that we have been having... very unusual for us... and i am getting tired of the gloomies day after day.

okay.... enough of complaining! my next mosaic project will be to finish a leaf that i started in lynn moor's workshop. i am not yet motivated to work on it, but hopefully i will get i gear this week. i am missing my mosaic work, but still determined to learn italian... so for now i will stick with my plan.

my friend, pam givens, has been working hard and fast to create her new online gallery, contemporary mosaic art. it is now officially open! the gallery features artworks from 10 international artists working in a variety of styles and materials. i am very honored to be exhibiting some of my decorative pieces in this gallery.

check out the gallery and take a listen to some of the artists speaking about their work, and visit the blog and leave a comment. ... contemporary mosaic art.

my portfolio is now up-to-date as of 2008, and i have been working on a couple of print options. one of them is blurb.com, and the other one will be available on my website very soon. here is the blurb badge with a link to the portfolio.

well... it has been quite some time since i last posted, hasn't it? the last few months have been very busy!

in october, i attended sophie drouin's and bill buckingham's listen to the stones: abstract stone mosaic workshop in chicago. my friend ruth and i flew in a few days early and had a great time hanging out and exploring chicago. the workshop was very good, although i found myself struggling and blocked... for various reasons... but still, a wonderful trip.

in november, i went to vienna, virginia... which is right outside of d.c..... for a portraiture workshop at maverick mosaics, taught by shug jones. this was a 5 day workshop... very, very challenging. shug is a great teacher and a lot of fun too, and bonnie fitzgerald's studio is wonderfully equipped and pleasant. but i found myself very challenged on several levels... despite this i feel like i learned a great deal. so far, this is the best workshop that i have ever taken. i have a lot of work to do still on my portrait, so i can't post it yet.

i submitted 3 entries for the MAI 2009 exhibition, and am very pleased that my 3-panel piece, pulse, was accepted. i also submitted a couple of entries for the sum of all parts 2 exhibition in dallas... and my newest piece, we, was accepted.

i am almost finished with my monthly series, rhythms... just one more month... december. i will be starting on that this week. it will be nice to get that entire series finished... i am happy that i had the discipline to finish it.

ruth and i are busy planning a trip to italy for next spring. we are lining up a couple of mosaic courses... including ravenna... and allowing for a few extra days for just hanging out and sight-seeing. 3 weeks in all....

and... christmas and new year's in hawaii this year. my son and i are looking forward to photographically exploring some new areas of hawaii and maui... the pics should be great.