Embedded Files
Object: The Loss
Materials: Stone & Aluminum on Cement Board
Dimensions: 46” x 21"
Method: Direct with mortar
The text from the ancient “Poetic Edda”, originally passed on through oral tradition, resonates with me in 2025.
In Norse mythology, the ravens Hugin and Munin fly across the world to gather information for the god Odin, who seeks knowledge and wisdom.
The lines in my mosaic, etched in stone, contemplate if the value of informed thinking will endure.
Credit for calligraphy & etching: Merri Klar
Hugin (thought) and Munin (memory) wing the wide world each day;
I tremble for Hugin, lest he come not again,
yet for Munin, more,
I fear.
Selected for the "Mosaic Arts International Exhibition 2025"
SAMA's Annual International Juried Exhibition
See more about the exhibit
On display in 2025:
Albin Polasek Museum, 633 Osceola Avenue Winter Park, Florida: August 26 – December 7, 2025
Close-ups & Process
Close-ups & Process
01 Detail
02 Detail
03 Detail
04 Detail
05 A few years ago, during a glorious drive from Banff towards Jasper in Canada, I took some pictures of ravens.
06 Ravens have always been on my wish list to make into a mosaic. Their stoic intelligent bearing is irresistible. My photos contained all the needed information for the proper rendering of the birds, for a mosaic I intended to be completely black.
07 Since I was using my own photos, and the silhouettes where the foremost compositional consideration, I did not take the intermediate step to make a drawing, I merely made different compositions within Fresco on my iPad.
The images were manipulated to suggest what areas might get some shading. Since this was not a piece for a client, I had the freedom not to have everything spelled out for approvals. After various configurations, this strongly horizontal layout, with its moody depth play, became the winner.
08 At this stage, the text's layout & design was merely roughed in, though I had locked down the ravens and prepared an enlarged drawing to transfer to my substrate. Little did I know, incorporating the text would open up a whole new world of creativity for me. Just as each square of the mosaic would be cut by hand, the poem's words would come to life with the art calligraphy, with ink drying on paper, executed by a human hand.
09 Testing out various marbles for color, texture and cutting characteristics. The focus was clearly on black with some supporting grey.
10 I settled on my range of values with an introduction of subtle green. Then, some testing swatches were made to see how the chosen colors played together.
11 Cutting my rods for lots of raw material. Ready for the hammer & hardie to cut into the tesserae, the smaller squares for the mosaic.
12 Meanwhile... Merri Klar, a skilled calligrapher, provided me with options for ancient fonts suitable for a quote from the Poetic Edda. Roughs were provided for me to temporarily use for scale while she hand-penned the final version of the words in the chosen Carolingian miniscule font. The snapshot above shows the old roughs alongside her penultimate layout: a laser engraving test in cardboard.
13 As always, I start by dry fitting tiles around crucial areas to establish my values; where the darkest darks will land, where the lightest lights. The poem quote is still in a rough form, printed on paper. I had decided at that point for 3 "panels".
14 An almost all black head; letting the andamento (flow of the tiles) define the surfaces and textures. To keep the raven's whiskers light and airy, I made them out of strips of aluminum.
15 The original lines I transferred onto my substrate guide me for the direction of the feathers. I place some tesserae in open areas as targets to flow into.
16 This raven's shape is only a suggestion in the distance, thus placing just the right tile shape and color is crucial.
17 On to the background. To keep the focus on the birds, the background is deliberately kept calm: its only purpose is to add value. Some brighter green tiles are used to keep the overall color lively.
18 Hurricane preparation pays off even during a regular storm. The electricity was knocked out for a few hours and I was able to plug in my light to our emergency battery backup to keep working. A classic halo around the main subjects of the mosaic is used very selectively. When that pattern draws too much attention, it is faded away to disappear into the background.
19 Just as I was completing the background, nearing my placeholder quote tiles, the final calligraphy arrived! Carefully covered with tape while applying mortar, I can insert "la pièce de résistance", the item that gives my mosaic its meaning.
20 It is fitting that these ancient thoughts are elegantly hand-inked and then engraved in Basalt, volcanic rock which erupted from the earth's crust so long ago.
The tiles slowly rise out of the mosaic, to support the rhythm of the words.
21 Completed, except for that which gives the raven its light, its intelligence ....
22 ... the eye. Always my favorite final touch, the spark of life.
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