Mary Padgett Fine Art

These mosaics are inspired by color harmonies and materials at hand. I’ve been the lucky recipient of stained glass scraps and broken ceramic dishes. You’ll see marble pieces, vitreous glass, luminesce glass, and gold and opaque smalti from Mexico and Italy. The color combinations harken back to my color theory teaching days and the pleasure of placing different colors side by side for effect. The mosaic takes on life as light shines on the tesserae surface, reflecting sparking color and a dynamic energy. Mosaics like my fish (above) are grouted. Most of my recent mosaics are done by placing tesserae directly into wet mortar, allowing me to angle some of the pieces in order to reflect light in different ways. I learned this technique studying with Luciana Notturni in Ravenna, Italy.