By popular demand (ie. two people), today I am sharing a couple of pics of my Mondrian-inspired mosaics.  They are the sort of pieces one might make when one is between projects, and wanting to make something easy.  You know, just for fun.

Piet Mondrian was a Dutch painter who pioneered the modernist art movement of the early 20th Century.  Mondrian used primary colours (red, blue and yellow), contrasted with black, white and grey to form a geometrical design out of perpendicular shapes.  He had his reasons for this artistic approach, but as I’ve never studied art or art history, it’s all just dutch to me.  However, as someone who makes intricate, naturalistic mosaic art, I can appreciate the appeal of returning to simple colours, structure and form.  Of course, I should have stuck to my plan, but before I had even started I was bored by the idea of straight lines.  So I went for just a little bit of curve.  (Apologies for the glare.)

m1.jpg

Then a little bit more.

m2.jpg

What was I thinking?  Each piece of tile was hand-cut and shaped.  I was very glad to finish the two pieces.  To date, I haven’t had the urge to repeat the experience.  However, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them and they have pride of place on my lounge room wall.

My next mosaic project will be something simple — a couple of little birds perhaps.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Mondrian Madness – Red and Yellow.  60 x 30 cm.  Ceramic tile on board.

 

 

 

 

 

51 thoughts on “Colour Cast”

      1. I didn’t care for it when used in a house but I love your mosaics. I think you gave it movement that made the difference for me. I tried to comment on the possums but not sure if it got thru. Have limited wifi where I am. Groan!

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  3. I think they’re fabulous, Tracy!! And isn’t it fun to sometimes stretch your artistic wings a little and try something new? 😄 And I can’t wait to see your next mosaic with the two little birdies!

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    1. Thanks Sarah. I do like to try new styles. Experimenting is never wasted because I can apply the lessons to future projects, sometimes in strange and unusual ways. I’m thinking about the next piece. You know how that goes ……. long time thinking. 🙂

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      1. Well
        “Artists gotta create”
        And so keep doing what you do
        –
        And I made a mosaic for an art show about 15 years ago – it was a cube and it sold!
        My children entered the art show and we were dropping off their two pieces each – and the awesome art teacher director told me there was an adult’s show and invited me to enter –
        I went home and spent all weekend on the cube – we had this wooden box I used as the base and because we had just finished tiling bathrooms and living room I had scraps of tiles! I did go and buy a few plates to add patterns – blue and white print and others – and I made paths on each side the converged and changed – I did seal the grout but have no idea if it held up.
        Only bad part is that it was super heavy!

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      3. 🙂
        but was exhausting near the end – and the other project I whipped together (mind you I worked all weekend)
        for the next year – I made a talking stick.
        My boys had some large branches (cane size) and I used sharpie marker and added designs all over – patterns – shapes – etc – and then glued on a real opal in a nodule – had little gems – and a teacher that worked at the center bought it during the preview night – She was going to use it as a story cane – something like that

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  5. Wow! Thank you for sharing these! I can only imagine the time it took to plan and hand cut each tile. May I ask, why is this kind of piece more complicated than one of birds? I would think you have to hand cut each tile for a bird figure too, no? I’ll have to go back and look at your other animal mosaics.

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    1. Thanks so much. You’re right, it is not more complicated. Every piece has its challenge. It is just that I expected it to be not quite so exhausting and fiddly. The drawing part was easier than my animal mosaics. Also, when I say I’ll make something simple, I’m actually joking because that almost never happens. Haha. I did a really big project last year. An orangutan. It was incredibly difficult but satisfying. I’ve included the link because I think you might like it. https://reflectionsofanuntidymind.blog/2019/01/17/bit-by-bit/#more-2955

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  7. I love these, Tracy! I remember a field trip we had to New York with my high school art class. We went to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and I got to see his work in person. I was wowed. These are wonderful and deserve a place of pride in your home.

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  11. Very impressive. I like the mid-century vibe. Are these all found materials shaped by hand working or are you creating these tiles? The amount of work is staggering. Beautiful work Tracy.

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    1. Thank you, Sid.

      I actually bought those tiles. Over the years I’ve spent a lot of time ‘out the back’ in tile shops, rifling through all the out of fashion tiles that nobody else has wanted. Some people have little imagination.

      Many of the red and yellow glazes are very toxic. Those were English tiles, so I am hoping the factory had very good safety measures in place for their workers. It was certainly was a lot of work. Exhausting too!

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  12. I hope I was one of the encouragers as I love Mondrian inspired art and your tile works are beautiful to look at. The red is eye-catching and I love red but on the other hand I adore the swirly lines on the second piece. I also had a laugh because in the 2nd piece, the tall blue bit that reaches up from the bottom with a white shape adjacent at the top – made me think of a distorted toothbrush 🙂 You did mention ‘fun’ somewhere in your post so I hope my uneducated observations don’t offend. I’d be SO proud to have these on my wall – I admire how they’re the result of your own inspiration and hard work.

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    1. I made these in 2011, Liz. Hard to believe it was so long ago. I am getting a slight twinge to make another abstract piece. I never know where that feeling will take me. Thanks for all your comments and appreciation, Liz, including the “uneducated” ones. I’m glad I’ve retained a hint of quirkiness. 😄

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    1. Thank you, TiongHan. I’m so pleased you like them. As I mentioned to one of my other readers, when I first made them I tried to sell the mosaics at a craft fair for $200 each. I now count myself lucky that no one bought them.

      Also, thank you for the Follow. I hope I didn’t lure you here under false pretenses. I am really lazy so my art output is quite modest. I’m too slow. I once read about Spinoza that when he woke in the morning, he would sit on the side of the bed for hours just thinking. I can relate to that. 🙂 That’s the sum total of my knowledge of Spinoza, although I think I was fairly impressed by him at that time. I just looked him up again. He was Dutch. What a coincidence. 🙂

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