Janice Schmidt, Mosaic Artist

Growing up in Cleveland, my mother and grandmother taught me the joy of being creative and working with my hands. That creativity evolved into fascination with many mediums until I discovered mosaic. At first anything that wasn’t nailed down was fair game for brightly colored scrap glass, glue and grout. Those early attempts were followed by experimentation with breaking down a subject to its essence and reconstructing it bit by bit out of carefully cut glass pieces called tesserae. Because a mosaic is made up of smaller bits of color to create a whole image, it is similar in style to Impressionism. It takes a lot of patience and detail to do mosaic images, but the end result is magic.

Now, ten years later, my work ranges in scale from mosaic murals, restaurant, kitchen or bathroom mosaic installations; decorative mosaic mirrors, framed mosaic artwork, mosaic tables; to accessories – mosaic belts and mosaic bracelets.

Traveling and soaking in the sights and design of other cultures has influenced my mosaic – especially the bright color palettes found in Italy and Mexico. I had the privilege to study the ancient method of making mosaic in Ravenna and Venice, Italy. Those techniques are the basis of my contemporary designs.

While glass is my primary material, add to glass any material available…paper, metal, mirror, exotic stones and found objects and you have materials that provide inspiration and add dimension and interest in my mosaic designs.

Producing art is an incredible opportunity to grow, not just as an artist, but as a person. I use it as an attempt to express out into the world what’s in my heart and a way to connect with and inspire others.

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