I hope everyone has enjoyed the holidays and is feeling refreshed and eager to start a new year of creating mosaics! Ready or not, 2018 is here and so is another new featured artist for you to enjoy!
Linda Biggers may be known for her eggshell mosaics, but to be completely honest, this is NOT what comes to mind when I hear her name. Hearing her name, evokes the highest quality in use of design elements in my mind. Although “precision” also pops up in my thought when viewing her work, it is the overall intuitive balance and execution that comes to the forefront for me.
I have been asked more than once, what makes “good art, or fine art”? My answer has always been something like this, “An innate sense of, and expert execution of de-sign elements.” Personally, I think it is a gift for most great artists, who intuitively know just what color, shape, flow, patterns, elements, etc. to use when and where during the creative process. However, that is not all there is to it…there are so many other things to be considered. If one was to ask a group of people how to hang a pic-ture on a wall…everyone has an opinion, many different methods of ensuring the levelness, and a multitude of reason and justification on what hanging hardware to use… so many ways and reasons to achieve the same effect, although not all partici-pants would agree whether it actually appears level.
When I look at Linda’s work, I say to myself, “She gets it! She has it!” Linda’s work is more than work; it is fine art. Some of the images included here are ones I have not seen before, and most certainly a joy for me to see now. Although not pictured in this article, some of my absolute favorite pieces of Linda’s are her sugar skulls and skeletons. In fact, I own one of Linda’s skeleton pieces, and I get the same sense of fun every time I look at is as I did seeing it for the first time!
Sun Dancers by Linda Biggers
LMA: How long have you been creating mosaic art?
Linda:I started making mosaics in 1998.
LMA: How did you get started in mosaics?
Linda: I always thought mosaics were one of the most beautiful, fascinating forms of art. During a period of my life where I was dabbling with different forms of art, drawing, painting, and crafting, I decided I wanted to try mosaic art. But I had no idea where to start, had no idea where to find materials and what to do with them once I had them! (this was before I had internet access). One day, while I was baking, a broken eggshell on the counter gave me an idea. After much experimentation, I started making eggshell mosaics. As my experience grew, (and I gained internet access), I found some wonderful mosaic groups and the members of these groups were a wealth of information, from them I learned so much! I then started working with glass and beads and more. 
Morning Breezes by Linda Biggers 
Sunshine by Linda Biggers
LMA: I know you do many varieties of mosaics…which is your favorite types of mate-rials to work in?
Linda: Of course, I love working with eggshell, but I do like to mix it up. I really like to work with stained glass and beads. I love mixed media
LMA: Have you seen the popularity of eggshell mosaics increase since you first began creating them?
Linda: I’m not sure if the popularity of eggshell mosaics has increased or that I am just more aware of it. Some of my students have continued to work with eggshell and have created some wonderful pieces. Through the internet, I have found a few eggshell mosaic artists that do amazing work. But mostly I see eggshell mosaic done more as a craft, rather than fine art. 
Killer by Linda Biggers
LMA: What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of mosaics?
Linda: Not having time or space to work is a big challenge, but aside from that, be-coming a full time mosaic artist is one of my goals. Right now, balancing my mosaic work and a full time job is challenging. Deciding when or if I can support a studio and make a reasonable income on mosaic art alone is my biggest challenge. As of now, I am not comfortable with leaving my job. 
Autumn Birches by Linda Biggers
The Loon by Linda Biggers
LMA: How would you describe your style of artwork?
Linda: I think my mosaics, especially my eggshell pieces have a painterly feel. People have described my work as impressionistic. When I think of my work as a whole, I think eclectic, especially with my mixed media pieces as I use so many types of tessarea; glass, beads, eggshell, slate, also polymer clay. My individual pieces differ so much, so as a result, I don’t have a cohesive body of work, so rather than say that, I’d preferably say my art is eclectic! 
Anna May by Linda Biggers
LMA: Do you support any charitable causes? Which ones and why? Linda: I regularly, donate to the Doctors Without Boarders Auction, coordinated by Lin Schorr. Here's which you can find the past auction artwork. linschorr.com
My sister-in-law is a physician and goes to Peru with a similar program. I’ve heard some amazing stories about the people there and what the doctors are doing to help them.
This is the link to the Doctors Without Borders website - www.doctorswithoutborders.org. I also donate to causes locally, for example, fundraisers for community member who are in need medically or have suffered a tragedy. 
Red by Linda Biggers
Cordelia by Linda Biggers
Murder by Linda Biggers
LMA: What is one of your favorite quotes or sayings, and why?
Linda:
“It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up”-Vince Lom-bardi
I’ve always believed hard work and dedication is the way to get what you want in life. Just because things get difficult, doesn’t mean you should quit. LMA: If you could give readers one single piece of advice, what would it be? Linda: Don’t be afraid to try new things, keep an open mind and learn all you can.
Through the Mist by Linda Biggers
The Monarch by Linda Biggers
The Monarchs by Linda Biggers
LMA: Tell us about your single greatest mosaic moment:
Linda: I have recently been working with elementary schools on grant projects, cre-ating large public mosaic pieces that are displayed in their school. I found the expe-riences wonderful for both the students and myself. I wanted to bring a mosaic pro-ject to the school where I work, so, along with a coworker, I wrote a grant to do a project with our fifth grade class at our school. The support that I got from admin-istration and public was amazing; everyone was on board! When I got the news that my grant was approved, I was thrilled! Needless to say this project took over my life for three months! I worked with about 140 fifth grade students on a mosaic that rep-resented the six pillars of character, responsibility, respect, caring, trustworthiness, citizenship and fairness. I had 6 fifth grade classes and each class took on one character pillar. The class as whole voted on a theme, a tree, and the character traits would be represented within the tree. The kids were amazing and they truly loved the project! This 5’ x 7’ mosaic is on display permanently at the school. We had a grand unveiling for the parents and community members. The kids were so proud of their accomplishment! This project really touched these kids in several ways. There will be some upcoming mosaic artists in the future! For many of the students, this was a rare opportunity to be a part of something important and beautiful, it was a way for them to connect with their classmates and community.
Tree of Character by Linda Biggers
