While I usually include the questions asked of the artist being featured, this month, as you will see, has taken a different turn. I am going to be sharing what this month’s featured artist shared in her own words, as it has a wonderful “andamento” and I did not want to hinder her story with the usual format.
It was years ago when I first met Terri Pulley through the SAMA, (Society of American Mosaic Artists) convention in Lexington, KY. Terri organized and hung, (among many other things), the art works for MAI (Mosaic Arts International), a show that coincides with the SAMA conference. I had a piece accepted to the MAI show, and was living only a few hours from the venue, and decided to personally deliver my work. This decision would be one that would change my life.
Life’s journey has been compared to a tapestry, weaving moments together that become the fabric of our lives. It has also been likened to a mosaic; the pieces, when put together, form a larger picture. Terri may be just a thread in my tapestry, or one tessera in my life mosaic, but she is a big one! She not only has completed a section of my life’s tapestry, but continues to run through it and influence the pattern being woven. The truly wonderful thing about this is that I know she has been and continues to be, the same for so many others, not only in the mosaic art world, but in the world as a whole.
Meditation by Terri Pulley
Terri:
Mosaics are all about the tesserae and adamento that create an image. In reflection, my life is ever growing mosaic of reinventions of myself.
I remember as a child the immense possibilities of life, so many choices, avenues and adventures to experience and I wanted to do everything! The truest part of me is expressing my intuition through art. Drawing and painting has always been my touchstone.
Traveling this life’s road has presented many doors along the way and I have always stepped through them exploring different sides of my creative personality. I have been a Los Angeles based Screen Actors Guild Actor in Television and Film, a Theatre actress in LA; I was a Casting Director, owning my own agency, casting talent for print, film and television; A film, television and broadcast concert producer for Television, Film, rock, pop, and country music videos; the Creative Manager for two major Nashville Country Music Record Labels, I owned my own film, television production company; I was the Managing Editor of a Music magazine. I am a Music Publisher, one of my songs was featured in the movie “Sweet Home Alabama”, and the song is “Mine All Mine”, recorded by Shedaisy. All these doors were creative bliss, but sadly my personal art slid into the background.
Foucault Pendulum by Terri Pulley
In the 1990’s, I was living and working in Nashville and needed a creative weekend away from all the craziness of celebrities and their entourage. I found out about a workshop by Sherrie Warner-Hunter, not far from Nashville, in Bell Buckle, TN. I had inherited a lot of stain glass from my Father, but I didn’t enjoy the rigidness of the process. I wanted something with a creative flow….hence my introduction to the world of Mosaics. I enjoy piecing shapes together, puzzles and quilting so mosaics felt a natural Segway in my art.
Moving to Atlanta, GA, I retired from the entertainment world, and focused on sculptural mosaics and actively pursued architectural mosaic commissions. Moving back to Kentucky to care for ailing parents, I have completed several architectural commissions, and served as the Gateway Regional Arts Center Art Chair. Having a background as a producer, mounting monthly art exhibitions was a natural for me. These exhibitions showcased local, regional, National and International artists in all genres of art. I also incorporated two Mosaic Exhibitions, “Bits and Pieces”, an International call and co-produced Emma Biggs’ Pattern Now XIV, with Vicki Hanson-Burkhart. After leaving the Arts center, I produced two Mosaic Exhibitions in Lexington, KY, “Characters in a Book”, 2016, and “Art in Pieces”, in 2017. The Lexington Arts Center has again invited me to curate a Mosaic Exhibition in 2020.
Currently I am working on a solo exhibition for November-December in Lexington, based on Lewis Carroll’s “Alice through the Looking Glass”.
Mosaics have been a large part of my life for the past twenty years. My crowning commission was to produce the 144 square foot stained glass mosaic floor for Lexington Library’s Foucault Pendulum. I worked on it for a year and finished installation in November 2015. Visitors come from across the US to visit and they even have frequent International visitors.
Gateway Regional Arts Center Community Built Mosaic by Terri Pulley
Recognition of Fine Art Mosaics in the United States is growing and I can only hope to walk into State and National Art Museums and see American Mosaics on permanent display.
My advice to mosaic artists is actually one of my favorite quotes from Sylvia Plath, “The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt”. Never doubt your creative intuition, listen to all prompts and feelings and express this through art.
Kentucky State Arboretum Children’s Garden by Terri Pulley
Bluegrass Community College dedication of Peace Garden Sign (with college administration) by Terri Pulley
Life is adapting to constant change. For the past two years I have been studying and obtaining certifications in Life Coaching, NLP, Hypnotherapy and Tarot. Another door has opened for me and I will soon launch a new business and website, Lone Talisman Tarot Life Coaching. I will offer email readings, podcasts and Life Coaching resources. My new focus will be this new business and my relaxation/alone time will be in my art studio. I am no longer pursuing commissions but prefer to create my own intuitive artworks, in painting, drawing and mosaics. I have lived with Scleroderma for the past thirty years and it is now taking a toll on my hands. Painting and drawing are kinder on the digits and will be my focus. A few of the paintings and drawings might become mosaics. I have a studio stuffed with stained glass and smalti I need to use up!!!! The profits from Lone Talisman Tarot Life Coaching will flow to the National Scleroderma Foundation, to help find a cure for this auto-immune disorder. I have an Amazon Smile account that also contributes to this organization. www.scleroderma.org
You can view my artworks and commissions at lonetalismanarts.net, Lone Talisman Eclectic Artistry on Facebook and back issues of SAMA’s e magazine, Groutline. My new website, Lonetalismantarotlifecoaching.net will debut in the Fall. My email is already set up terri@lonetalismantarot.com.
The 5 Kingdoms by Terri Pulley
What the Rock Said by Terri Pulley
