Best Architectural Mosaic, Mosaic Arts International 2008, "The DeLuci Fish Sculpture"
Mosaic is a medium that never ceases to amaze me. Just when I think I have the measure of it or it can’t possibly hold any more, some amazing new facet reveals itself.
I don’t think there is another medium like it. From that simple cube, generating pattern which is open and accessible to anyone, young or old, no matter how limited their artistic ability, mosaic seems to open its heart to all. There is definitely something very primeval in a human’s ability and need to seek out pattern in our lives, and mosaic is a great way to feed that need.
I also find great satisfaction in the combination of artistic and aesthetic endeavour, together with the sheer physical force of mosaic making—the breaking of tesserae, mixing cement, and pushing the pieces in. Mosaic has a truth and balance built into its existence: the balance of design and labour, and a truth in the direct way that the tesserae reveal that labour in all its myriad forms.
As one fellow mosaic artist whispered to me recently… mosaic is magic!
—Gary Drostle