As published in: Glass Patterns Quarterly, Spring 2007
by Gina Hubler
It is with great exuberance that I undertook this commission. The opportunity to combine my true passion of working with mixed media mosaics, as well as my love of the Italian countryside was a great lure. This client first approached me in late 2004; they were building a large Italian style villa in an exclusive area in South Miami. At that time the home was just a shell. I went to the construction site with my client and we discussed my creating an installation which would be in the archway across from the entrance to her private wing. We originally spoke of rolling hills, vineyards, and a balustrade, which would become an interactive part of the entry, as it would be surrounded with trellises, which would be planted with bougainvillea.
As I was about to leave on my annual tour of Italy, the project was put on the back burner, I knew that being in the Tuscan countryside would provide the perfect inspiration for this mural. During my time in Italy I did some sketches and came back to my studio in May 2005 directly to work on the cartoon for the mosaic. After the initial fitting of the paper pattern I started drawing and then painting a rendition of the installation I envisioned.throughout the world to covet this tesserae.
After finishing the final cartoon, I started to consider the options of what materials would be used, how the elements would be created, and the technical aspects of the installation. I decided to work on Wedi board, a lightweight tile board comprised of a foam core with cementious coverings on both sides. This infrastructure proved to be easily cut into the arch shape necessary for the top of the panels. There were three panels which were to be fitted together. This made it fairly easy to work on at my studio and install on site at completion.
The sky at the top was created using a fresco technique with plaster and pigments, after which it was sealed with wax.
The balustrade was comprised of turned wood posts and carved styrofoam rails. The vase was also carved out of styrofoam, these elements were then covered with plaster, and tinted with acrylic and pigments. The vase was constructed so that it could eventually accommodate the bougainvillea sprays, which would be planted on adjacent trellises.
The Italian cypress and bougainvillea were set in smalti giving this area a raised effect. They were also set in a manner to depict the movement of painterly brushstrokes.
The remaining areas of the mural were set with stained glass. The techniques used in setting varied, through all were done directly. The lake and swan were set in an intarsia fashion, with piecing similar to a stained glass window. The details to be found in these areas would be layers of glass, which gave dimensionality in both the swan and water lilies. There were also small glass beads inset into interstices in the lake.
The background rolling hills and vineyards were set using stained glass in a classical mosaic style, accenting the lines of the plantings which would have been on the hills. There are also overlays used for the vines as well as the smaller trees in the distance.
The installation was delayed, as the construction on the house continued through March 2006. The owner called and the installation was scheduled for mid April Finishing touches were put in place at the studio, and the boards were transported to the site early in the day. I worked with one other person installing the panels, we adhered the boards to the wall, and then I went to work on concealing the joinery and some last minute tesserae placement. The finishing touch was the small pebbles, which were adhered around the panels, giving it a watertight seal and finished presentation.
And the swan did seem to sing, under the Tuscan stars the night that the chandeliers were turned on, and the house came alive...