Follow Cindy
When I first relocated to a tiny mountain town near Boone in Western NC I set up my studio and named it simply: Cindy Michaud Art. I had painted for over 25 years but was known to “chase shiny objects” so “Art” included any and everything creative. The little storefront also served as a gallery where I could work in silence away from home. Little did I know that almost 12 years later it would be filled to the brim with tables of mosaics and jars full of tesserae!!
I was introduced to mosaics when a new friend invited me to her porch to glue broken tiles onto concrete stones. The concept was new to me but sitting outdoors, breaking up colorful tiles, and then rearranging them into new, simple shapes was meditative. It could have been the growing friendship, the cool mountain air or maybe the change from mixing paint but after a few visits I was hooked. By the time we had enough stepping stones to pave half of NC my dear friend moved and I was on my own.
Since I was a “painter” not a mosaicist, I took a couple local workshops to learn more but still did not consider mosaics my “serious” pursuit. All that changed when I when on a cross-country camping/biking trip with my sister. As we biked the greenways and trail ways of cities and towns I had never visited I began to see more and more public art that were mosaics. Benches, signs, walls and sidewalks….many constructed with community contributions. All permanent legacies of those who made them. Suddenly I had a mission. I was determined to return home and start sharing mosaics as public art.
I usually leap before I look and this pursuit was no different. I spent months and money on two ill-made 5x5 posts and had my bubble burst when I discovered that local parks were not fighting to put them up. Weary of regulations and red tape I contacted my Arts Council for some advice and (thank you Art Gods) the director was just starting an “Outdoor Art Initiative” and was willing to take a chance on my work based purely on my enthusiasm and commitment.
We labeled the first post “experimental” and installed it to test the freeze/thaw challenges we face here. I then got busy with research and learned that outdoor art has not only a steep engineering curve but also huge contractual hoops - all must be navigated on paper before one tiny tess is adhered. I love a challenge and fortunately had many contacts in the field. (Most artists are so generous in sharing their knowledge and I’m proud to be in that tribe.)
I think the most challenging part of any mosaic is the prep work: choosing the substrate, deciding how it will hang, selecting the appropriate adhesive, acquiring the proper materials, designing the colors and finally, knowing the grout best suited for the environment. All this requires a lot of decisions before you even think about the artistic design of subject matter. If this work is not done before hand it is quite possible to spend hours of work and loads of money on a gorgeous piece that wont last 6 months outdoors in the snow!
I have several “favorites” I have created. There is a hallway altar I made in a workshop (pictured) where I put special little treasures i find and always have a photo of someone, often that person needs specific energies or prayers and this reminds me to honor them.
Another favorite is a door topper in our kitchen (pictured). “Basecamp” is what we named our home and it sparkles with a whimsy and carefree sense of someone just learning the art of mosaics.
But my most favorite of favorites is a work in progress that will stand in a small, special park located on the emerging MiddleFork Greenway. The trail will connect two cities in our area and have trailheads throughout. This piece (pictured) involved over 40 citizens making small glass tiles which are then affixed to a solid concrete post which will have a directional topper on it. Titled “My Watauga” (our county) it expresses a variety of things we love about our area. We had 10 volunteers come out the day we mixed concrete and poured the monolith. It has been a joy and a pleasure to work with each and every person who has made some contribution to this piece of art.
The absolute greatest payoff has come even before the piece is finished. Out in the park recently a couple stopped to tell me how much they enjoyed watching the development of the mosaic post. They took the time to tell me about favorite tiles and what some meant to them, they mentioned they had sent photos off to a friend, they asked if anymore would be put up elsewhere. In other words, they made all the time, effort and cut hands, all the over-budget money, the extra hours of paperwork, the research and the punting when something went wrong….all of that, every minute, they validated and appreciated. It was the most heartwarming experience of my “art-life.
And that is fairly intoxicating. My advice? Don’t be afraid to try. I tell my students that nipping and adhering is not brain surgery - no one dies!! Sometimes mistakes are better than the original plan, the best way to learn is by doing. There is always a work-around or a fix. Don’t waste time feeding the perfection monster. Jump in and swim. A broken anything can be made into a beautiful something!
