Background is everything.

So we are into the last few days and most people are finishing off their work and look like they will finish on time. A couple have already completed theirs and are now helping others.
I decided that I hated the the look of my background - the stone colour at the top looked so flat and dead that I removed it. Instead I concentrate on the background of the lower section. I decide to continue my neighbour Orlando's background - this is a flow of thin, almost diamond shapes, mainly blues and greens that swirl around. It reminds me of both Monet's dabs of colour and Van Gogh's portraits.  This is not my usual way of working, but time is running out and I want to experiment with Isidora's method of pre-cutting shapes and laying them down to create a certain type of pattern.  This is how she achieves the speed of her work - with many artists just pre cutting simple shapes that others then apply to the wall.  I wonder if if will look to hectic but its too late to change it and I really start to enjoy the pleasure of losing myself in just the colour of the tiles.

In the evening was day 3 of our talks. I especially enjoy Sherri Warner Hunter and Gary Drostle talks. Both are such highly skilled mosaicists and its fascinating to hear about how they achieve their large scale public work.

On Thursday afternoon we all go to the park where the Mayor had arranged a lovely cocktail party. There was a traditional Chilean band playing and dancers to entertain us. This was followed by a marvelous  banquet of food and drinks.  It was hard to drag ourselves away from such a lovely afternoon in the park - but in order to hear the last of the lectures we had to.  I was glad we did though as it was brilliant to hear first hand about the work of Laurel True. Her global mosaic project is simply amazing  and it was so inspiring to hear about how her work in Haiti is empowering the local community.  She really is one of the greatest  community/public art mosaic artists that I have had the pleasure to meet and I hope that we will get to work together in the future.

Mosaizm http://www.mosaizm.com/  a European mosaic collective also gave a very interesting talk. They have all graduated from the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli in Spilimbergo (Italy).
 http://scuolamosaicistifriuli.it/ They showed a stunning collection of photos of their work - including many restorations of ancient mosaics.  They make me feel very unskilled - but its great to see what you can aspire to in the actual craft of mosaics.

There was also a short talk from Stephanie Roberts - a fellow artist from the UK - Wales to be precise. I really like her work. It is very fresh, original and it incorporates a lot of metal and found objects.

We end the evening with a wonderful nighttime barbecue at Isidora's house.

                                          Kim Grant working on her mushroom

Close up of some of the pieces I donated to her section 

Orlando's section gets grouted

Laurel True's amazing swan

Mosaizm shows how you really brand a background

Talk by Maria Gacitua

Joshua at the cocktail party in the park 

It's good to talk.

Mon 20 & 21^th Jan

So Monday it’s back to the town hall for the second week of the project. I feel confident that we will get ours completed on time as we really only have the background to do.  We start by filling in the top of the section with grey/brown tiles. This is to join the top of our mushroom scene to the top line of the castle edge that goes around the entire length of the magic garden. Isidora has tried to use this edge to unify everyone’s work with the front entrance and create the look of a continuous castle wall around the building.  Where our work joins Orlando’s section on the left we attempt to continue his swirly multi-coloured  style of background.

Justyna Budzyn comes and ask me if she can have a couple of my tiles to put into her section. She explains that this is not a commissioned piece and that therefore she wants to express herself in this work. She takes a ‘Ten Esperanza’ and ‘Life is fragile’ tile.  I am really pleased that my little ceramic messages are now spreading, and popping up in other sections of the magical garden.

At 5.30pm the first of 3 scheduled days of conference’s starts.  The idea is that those who want to can give a short talk/slide show of their work.  I, along with a few other artists have been asked to present a slightly longer prepared talk.  Unfortunately there are the usual IT problems and of course it takes twice as long to give a talk that needs to be translated so not everyone gets to give their talks. 

These conferences are incredibly important as it allows for us to share our skills and experience and gives us a chance to get to know a little more about each other.  Of course not everyone could attend them all, many are just unable to spare the time from their mosaics.  But I am lucky that I can watch them all. 

Tuesday is pretty much more of the same. But the big excitement of the day is that the major news Channel for Chile, 13 News are coming to cover the project. The Mayor is there of course too and is filmed being interviewed a few places down from my mosaic’s.  During this interview he speaks about this being an International exchange and that the artists are bringing a little of their own imagination, culture and self to this project. He says that the Chilean people must be open to the artist’s new and different visions. I think it is the officials that have more of a problem with some of the ideals and views expressed than the ‘people’.  Afterwards I take my opportunity to speak with him about my censored skulls.  My prepared script about them representing death and the ceramic babies heads life is never needed.  The Mayor informs me straight away that it is now fine to express myself however I want too.  I am not sure he fully appreciates what a renegade potter I am but continue my work happy in the knowledge that I now have his personal backing. Creative freedom has been achieved.

Apparently the wine bottle has got the go ahead too – the only request being it represents the local vineyard, a little bit of local product placement.

Our grey stone background going on. 

Laurel True with her wonderful mosaic.

Orlando working on the background of his piece. 

The Weekend starts here.

Sat 18th & Sun 19th Jan

We are some of the few artists to turn up on Saturday for an extra day of mosaicing. Most seem to have been at the party held last night at the 'Hippie House" and were dancing until the wee hours.
It's so hot that I can barely be bothered to work myself, but I am determined to try and finished off all the mushrooms today.
Between us we manage to get a fair bit covered.
In the early evening we meet up with many of the other artists as we return to 'Parque Nuestra Senora de Gabriela' this time for an evening of Chinese entertainment entitled 'Summer Fantasies'.

Sunday was Isidora's birthday pool party - held at her parents amazing home that is situated just above our cabin.  A bus had been laid on to make sure everyone was able to reach this stunning location in the hills of Pirque - and those that made the effort to get there were in for a real treat.

All the artist's both International and Chilean were able to hang out together all day, with family and friends. There was a wonderful BBQ going on most of the day, endless drinks, dancing and a quick dip in the pool to cool you down.

What a lovely way for us to all get know each other and help celebrate Isidora's birthday.

Completed work 

"Summer Fantasies"

Me dressed up for a Frida Colada party. 

Nearly finished all the mushrooms....

Friday Jan 17^th

So it’s nearly the end of the first week and I am quite pleased that I our work has speedy up and we have nearly completed all the mushrooms.  It’s always the decision making process that slows you down – not wanting to commit to an idea until the very last moment.  We have decided on an acid yellow tile for the outline that will glow around our mushrooms – we hope it will help them stand out. 

So much of the day is given to making very thin lines of yellow. 

There is no word yet back from the Mayor about the wine or the skulls. I think they are less worried now about the Indian goddess and French gnome – and  to be honest there is not much they can do about it as we are half way through the project. Many of the Chilean artists come to talk to me and express support for the text and images that I have used in my work.  They tell me how happy they are to see these sentiments reflected and that I must defend the right to keep them there. 

The Chilean team have half completed the near total front of the building.   They really are working at an incredible pace. 

The work very closely together, laughing and joking - 20 of them working in very close proximately together.  It seems like the castle they are mosaicing  is  now becoming a fortress which  will guard the surrounding magical garden.

Gary Drostle's tile pallet. 

And Gary Drostle's amazing work.

Chilean Team working hard

Chilean team working on the leaves of a tree. 

Karen Baker from Australia's work 

Justyna Budzyn from Poland's work. 

A Mayor of the people

Isidora has oftened talked about the previous Mayor - Manuel Jose Ossandon as being the person who first started the mosaicing project  in Puente Alto.  He appears to be one the most popular Mayors in Chile and in 2009 secured over 70% of the vote. This is quite an achievement seeing as he is from the centre right and this area is a working class area and one that was the centre of resistance against the dictatorship of the former general Augusto Pinochet.
But he seems to have invested a great deal in open spaces, education and art. The article below is in English and gives a good insight into his policies. I am hoping to interview him before I leave for the UK.
The new Mayor Mr German Codina decided to also invest in the mosaic project - it was his decision to mosaic the front of the Town Hall. Quite a brave move really.
Mosaics are not paint - and once this work is grouted the only way to remove it would be to forcibly smashed them from the wall.
Maybe Boris could learn a thing or two from these two Mayors who have both seen this area radically change and prosper from Ossandon's  original idea's.

http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/puente-alto-mayor-ossandon.html

You got fight for your right to be crafty.....

 Thursday Jan 16^th

Today is an uninterrupted day of mosaics.  I am attempting to get all my mushrooms completed so I know what printed tiles I will have surplus and can give away.  I had duplicated many of the pieces, thinking they would be nice to leave behind as gifts.  Bruno Sirota –https://www.facebook.com/mutate.argentina?fref=ts  my friend from Argentina comes and ask if he may have one of my spare tiles to use in his own work.  I happily give him a copy of my favourite Jimmy Hendrix quote’s ‘ When the power of love, overcomes the love of power, the world will know piece”.

In response to the worries of the officials, Isidora walks around the project  with the Mayor.  Apparently there is still concern about showing a bottle of wine on a Government building.   The artist Kim Wozniak https://www.facebook.com/WitsEndMosaic explains that her reasoning behind the bottle was that Chile is famous for its vineyards and she wanted to show this in her work.   The Mayor appears to be someone who appreciates art and beauty and the concept of the International cultural exchange that is in process here on the walls of the town hall.  But I guess he still has his constituency   to think of and he tells Isidora that my 3  3D skulls must go as they might offend.  As a deeply Catholic country, he believes that they might be interpreted as something to do with the devil or upset people.  Isidora tells me to wait before removing them and try to speak with the Mayor myself, and to explain to him my reasoning behind them.

The artists to my left – Nat Lee, Tammi Lynch - Forrest and Robert Markley  http://rmarkey.blue-fox.com/ all offer to down tools and come out on strike if my skulls are removed.  They are more than willing to fight for us to have total creative freedom. Robert I discover is a political activist artist himself - my elder and a person who has worked on community mosaic projects across the world. 

All around me the walls are being covered in wonderful mosaics. It is clear that each artist has come with the intention of leaving a gift of the best work they can create in the time available. Many like me have brought their own artefacts to include in their work. There are special tiles, glass, mirror, metal, ceramics, natural rock, beads all being added.  You can feel the love that is being bestowed upon this building.  I think it comes from the deep gratitude of those present to be able to take part in such a unique and wonderful project.

I have hope that the Mayor can be persuaded and that nothing is removed from this magical garden.

In the evening Isidora takes us to meet her grandfather – Eduardo Martinez Bonati.  http://www.artistasplasticoschilenos.cl/biografia.aspx?itmid=535He is a well respected and well known Chilean artist and it is a real treat to see his work and hang out with him. 

Stephanie Roberts from Wales work.

Kim Wozniak from USA work.