Creative Collaboration - Society of American Mosaic Artists

From the President
SAMA
Board and Officers
President
Shug Jones
Vice President
Gwyn Kaitis
Secretary
Yvonne Allen
Treasurer
Jim Penak
Board of Trustees
Karen Ami
Dianne Crosby
Susannah Dryden
Sharon Plummer
Hillary Sloate
Advisory Board
Monica Agnew
Julie Dilling
Kim Emerson
Brian Felix
Staff
Executive Director
Dawnmarie Zimmerman
Operations Manager
Chris Forillo
Membership Director
Yvonne Allen
Volunteer Coordinator
Monica Agnew
Webmaster
Bill Buckingham
Groutline STAFF 2B Custom Publishing
Editorial Director Barbara Coots
Design Director
Associate Editor
Managing Editor
Copy Editor
Photo: Julie Dilling
Barbara Dybala
Theresa Brander
Karola Brookshire
Jennifer Blakebrough-Raeburn
Advertising Sales Brian Felix
951-204-7887
advertising@americanmosaics.org
This issue's contributors: : Nancie Mills Pipgras
Groutline is published quarterly to promote
mosaic art in the U.S. and abroad.
©2010 Society of American Mosaic Artists.
Reproduction or distribution prohibited
without permission.
Address: P.O. Box 624, Ligonier, PA 15658-0624
Editorial queries may be sent to
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Articles and opinions expressed in Groutline represent
the views of the authors and not necessarily the views
of SAMA, its board of trustees, or the membership as
a whole. Advertisements are purchased and do not
imply endorsement by SAMA, its board of trustees,
or its members.
COVER: Swirlendipity I (2009), installed at
COVER: Providence A portion Park Hospital in Novi, Michigan.
Mixed media; 3 x 5-foot unframed. Story on
page 10.
Photo by Lin Schorr
2 Society 2 Society of American of American Mosaic Mosaic Artists Artists
When I was young, my mother told
my siblings and me that we could
accomplish anything we wanted. I’ve found this affirmation to hold true throughout my life.
As I step forward to take the reins of SAMA, I’m meeting the challenge with eagerness. The
task is somewhat daunting, but the full support of the SAMA Board of Trustees and advisors,
Summer 2010
President's Column 2
Tip of the Quarter 8
Annual Board Retreat 16
SAMA Committee Corner 17
An Honor for Irina Charny 17
Volunteer Spotlight 18
Features
Lin Schorr’s Collaborative Murals 10-11
A Survey of Regional Groups 12-13
Mosaic on ABC-TV’s Extreme Makeover 14-15
Departments
Inspiration: Michael Sweere 3
Regional: Philadelphia's Tell-Tale Tiles &
Fractured Fantasies 4
Artist Profile: Shug Jones 5
Step By Step: Getting a Handle on
Your Nippers 6-7
Teaching Series: Elementary Students 8
10th Anniversary Series: JeanAnn Dabb 9
our executive director, Dawnmarie Zimmerman,
and our operations manager, Chris Forillo, gives
me the confidence to steer SAMA into its second
decade.
As I write this letter, I still feel the excitement
of the successful 2010 American Mosaic Summit
in Chicago and the subsequent Strategic
Planning Retreat in Austin, Texas. Please take a
moment to read the retreat report later in this
issue of Groutline, because it contains important
information for SAMA members.
Going forward, I pledge to do everything
I can to raise awareness about SAMA and its
relevance to the art community. I will work to
create, solidify, and deepen our relationships
not only with other mosaic groups but also with
traditional fine art organizations. I promise to
represent SAMA in a professional, thoughtful,
and friendly manner.
Now I want to ask you something. Think
about what you have to offer your organization.
Do you have special skills that would be
valuable in fundraising, such as writing requests
for grants? Are you knowledgeable about marketing,
or do you enjoy computer work? Do you
have time to contact potential advertisers and
sponsors? No matter how much time you can
give, whether it’s three hours a week or three
hours a year, whether you can do only one small
thing or devote time to an ongoing project,
SAMA appreciates your involvement. The more
you give, whether in time or money, the more
SAMA is able to give back to you in programs,
workshops, exhibitions, and publications.
In our current economy, it’s up to all of us to
do what we can to keep SAMA a vibrant, exciting,
relevant, and educational organization.
Dig deep into your heart, and then contact
Monica Agnew, our volunteer coordinator, and
ask where you can be of help. Let’s all work
together to propel SAMA forward into our
second decade.
Shug Jones
In addition to being president of SAMA, Shug Jones is the
president and founder of Tesserae Mosaic Studio, Inc., in Plano,
Texas, where she creates fine mosaic art and installations.
www.tesseraemosaicstudio.com
Patron Members
Karen Ami
Timothy Falb
Gina Hubler
Jacqueline Iskander
Jane O’Donnell
Drucilla M. Perez-Tubens
Michael Welch
Kim Wozniak
Donna Young
The Chicago Mosaic School
di Mosaico
Design Impact/
Miami Mosaic Academy
Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics
Jane O’Donnell
Drucilla M. Perez-Tubens
Mosaic Rocks!
Smalti.com
Mosaic Art Source
Inspiration:
Michael Sweere
by Ed Kinsella
The work of Minneapolis-based artist Michael
Sweere graces the walls of the many corporations
and institutions that have commissioned
his work. Most of his mosaics depict lush, bountiful
landscapes.
Mike’s mosaic work is an evolutionary fusion of two
passions: a lifelong interest in painting and drawing
landscapes from direct observation, and his two-decade
career as an art director for an advertising agency. His
landscapes often become the cartoons or blueprints for
his mosaic projects, and the commercial techniques
and processes Sweere mastered over twenty years in
advertising often morph into new mosaic approaches.
Mike’s rigorous work ethic comes from his previous
career, where he learned the importance of project
planning, meeting aggressive commercial project schedules,
and running a successful, sustainable business. Extensive travel
exposed him to several styles of public mosaic art: the monumental
mosaics that decorate the subway stations of New York City, the
mosaics of Mexico made from commonly discarded everyday
materials, and the mosaics of the American Southwest that depict
local landscapes and surroundings.
While eating breakfast with his son one day, Mike was inspired
to create a paper mosaic from the cut-up pieces of a cereal box,
the type of packaging he designed at work. This pivotal moment
showed him the endless possibilities of the mosaic medium. In a
poetic way, his past designs found their way into his early mosaics,
which were paper collages created by recycling the packaging he
had accumulated throughout his career.
Mike notes, “Maybe it’s a little ironic that most of my paper
mosaics depict trees—the natural resource from which paper
packaging comes. Once a tree, still a tree.”
After thorough planning, Mike bid farewell to the corporate
world to follow his new passion and focus full time on a large
mosaic commission. More commissions came his way, and he has
now created mosaics nonstop for the past six years. Roughly half
of his current output is made up of cut tin creations, which feature
objects such as fruitcake tins, coffee cans, and TV trays. He flattens
them, rearranges them according to his cartoon, and nails them
Photo: Dave Fick
Two Haunted (2010). Glass, stone, and ceramic tile with bone and cultured pearls; 36 in. square.
down. For the rest of his work, Mike uses glass, ceramic, stones, and
found objects.
Central to Michael Sweere’s work is the accurate portrayal of light
qualities characteristic of, and unique to, a given place. Consider
the color-enhancing diffused light of the Pacific Northwest, or the
bleaching intensity of the southwestern desert sun, which fades color
while creating sharply delineated shadows. The fluidity of light and
the way it interacts with the natural world endlessly fascinates him.
Depending upon the season, the time of day, or the weather, the same
subject can look quite different.
Michael’s influences include the American Impressionists, whose
paintings capture light so skillfully, and various contemporary artists.
Andy Warhol followed a career path similar to Mike’s, beginning in
the advertising world before transitioning into the fine art world.
Like Mike’s, Warhol’s work shows the vestiges of his commercial art
experience. Andy Goldsworthy inspires Mike to use natural material
typically overlooked as art media, and to work in a larger scale. The
Rev. Howard Finster’s oeuvre inspires Mike to be a handyman-artist,
to experiment, and to be resourceful in solving artistic challenges.
SAMA was pleased to have Michael Sweere as a volunteer panelist for the 2009 Robin
Brett Mosaic Scholarship competition. Visit his website for additional information
and galleries of his work. www.michaelsweeremosaic.com.
Ed Kinsella has been creating mosaics in his spare time for almost three years.
www.flickr.com/photos/kinsella5555/collections/72157622737716035
Society of American Mosaic Artists 3