Mosaic Worshop at the Red House

Amanda McGuire's Red House Residence mosaic.

 

Two weeks ago I returned to the Red House in Bath County to take part in the workshop offered by the then-current resident artist Anne Atkins, a master in mosaics. Anne is from the Richmond area, and I met her through the Chickahominy Colored Pencil Artists (CCPA) group. I wasn't sure exactly at what time the workshop was starting, so I left my house early in the morning for the two and a half hour drive there. 

It was very foggy when I left, I could only see about 50 feet in front of me while moseying out of my neighborhood. As I sped out onto I-66 and then south on I-81 the fog gradually cleared, and somewhere before reaching Harrisonburg, the sun broke through the clouds for dramatic glimpses of our valley and its mountains with wisps of fog. 

 

Anne (standing) preparing for the workshop.

By the time I got there it was 10:30 AM and sunny. As it turned out, the workshop didn't start until 1:00 PM, so I had a chance to visit with Judy, the artist who helps Amanda with the artist residency, as well as Anne. Anne's old pit bull Sumac kept her company during her stay at the Red House, and she'd also brought her three lovely pet painted finches.

The workshop was held in the roofed shed next to the Red House; Amanda had set up another tent next to it so we could spread out and have plenty of room to work--the day was very warm and an electric fan kept us cool.

 

Anne with students.

Anne answers questions.

Anne had all the materials organized: different colors and sizes of mosaic tiles (both ceramic and vitreous), glass, and broken shards of pottery in zip-lock bags, 8"x 8" plywood panels for the supports, small plastic bottles filled with glue, tile cutters and files for each student and a styrofoam tray to sort our tiles and apply the glue, everything was so well planned!

There were seven of us there, and a few of us already had an idea of what we wanted to create, while others improvised, inspired by the assortment of colors and textures. We settled down to our work while chatting, and the afternoon just flew by. In the middle of the afternoon it started to rain lightly, but under the tent, everyone stayed dry and kept on working until the rain eventually tapered off.

We didn't have time to get into the grouting portion of the workshop, since only a few of us had finished gluing the pieces to our substrate, myself included--I particularly loved including a few of Judy's colored pencil stumps for the stem of my flower. One always wonders what to do with these stumps of colored pencils, it seems like such a shame to throw them out when they become too short to be usable.

We had so much fun! It can be tricky, trying to fit these small pieces of tile, glass or found objects the way one would fit a jigsaw puzzle, but it sure can be addicting! Take a look at some of the pieces created during the workshop--each one is so original!

 

Judy's "picassette" style mosaic with costume jewelry and beach glass.

Nell's flower and bee mosaic (in progress)

Amy's crab mosaic (in progress)

My ruby-throated hummingbird mosaic (in progress).

  

Most of the participants left right at 4 o'clock, and I wasn't able to photograph everyone's piece. I stayed a bit longer trying to get my piece as far along as I could but there wasn't enough time to finish it, so Anne was very kind to let me take the cutters and materials home to try to finish my piece here.

There weren't enough vitreous white tiles to finish the background, but I visited the website Anne had recommended and purchased a small package of those, and one of assorted tile colors, hoping to create more mosaics later on. My ruby-throated hummingbird with cardinal flower mosaic is now complete, and ready to grout.

 

Ruby-throated hummingbird and cardinal flower mosaic.

 

At the Red House

 

View of the Red House in Bath County.

It's been a ten days since I arrived at the Red House in Millboro, VA to be Artist-in-Residence for four weeks. Bath County is one of Virginia's western mountain counties that borders with West Virginia and is home to several natural spring resorts that became popular vacation spots in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In the days before air conditioning, many people flocked to these cooler mountain resorts during the sweltering summers of the DC and Richmond areas. Today the area remains rural and very scenic, popular with hikers and outdoor enthusiasts.

The animals here are my only companions: Moonstar, the horse, and two goats, Brownie and the Old Lady--they live in the sheds behind the house and enjoy an ample and lovely pasture on the hillside.

 

Moonstar and the goats.

Moonstar

 

I arrived on a Sunday afternoon and was greeted by a light shower that kept up all through unloading the car--I unloaded only the items I would need for the night and my groceries, leaving most of the art supplies for the next day. Around evening, the clouds cleared and the sun came out, so I got out a small sketchbook,  palette and brushes to do a quick watercolor of the hillside while the evening light lasted. 

I reheated the leftover spaghetti I'd brought for my first meal and made a salad to go with it but--oh, no! I'd forgotten to bring the wine! And a bunch of other groceries too: dairy, deli cuts, half and half for my tea and such. Oh well, I could survive without those for a few days.

The next morning, Amanda stopped by to look in on me and we chatted for a while. When I told her I'd left my supply of wine at home, she was kind enough to offer to bring me some she had at her house, which she did in the evening when she came by to put out feed for the horse and goats.

My BASNCR friend Judy Thomas, who was the first Artist-in-Residence here last fall and is now assisting Amanda with the program as Art Director, drove up from Richmond on Tuesday morning so she and Amanda could lead me on a hike around the property and show me around. They had found some showy orchids (Galearis spectabilis) in a patch of woods on the property two weeks earlier.

 

Putty root orchid (Aplectrum hyemale)

The Galearis had finished blooming and some flowers were setting seed, but we found several Putty root orchids in the same area of the woods. The soil here seems to be rich in the mycorrhizal fungi that helps native orchids grow and thrive. I wonder what other orchids could be found here?

After our hike, Judy stayed for lunch and we chatted about trails and areas of interest that she had explored during her residency here last October and the workshop she had done here. I too will be offering a workshop, this coming Saturday, so the tips were appreciated.

Judy had planned a three-week trip to the Acadia National Park in Maine for later in the week, and left after lunch to start preparing for that. I planned to go back the next day to sketch the orchid from life, which I did--more on that in the next post.