Jeffrey Bale, Rock Star

A recent article in the New York Times introduced us to the amazing pebble mosaicist Jeffrey Bale. The Portland, Oregon based artist has cultivated an A-list following for his eco-friendly, sustainable landscape designs that incorporate beautiful mosaics he makes himself.

We quickly e-mailed Mr. Bale at his website, www.jeffreygardens.com, to ask permission to use his photos. Faster than you can say “Buon Natale”, he emailed back from Rome with a “yes” and additional photos you see below.

(Photo of Mr. Bale by Stephanie Diani for the New York Times)

The Times article does an excellent job of covering Bale’s obsession with all things rock and masonry. He has travelled the world studying the masonry styles of various cultures and searching out new and interesting rocks and fossils to use in his designs. In fact, when we corresponded, he told us that he is off to Tunisia by way of Beirut after the first of the year.
We were very interested to learn that Bale’s installation techniques vary substantially from the “traditional” approach to pebble mosaicing in two ways. First, he uses the direct method, pouring mortar in small sections in situ and placing the stones in his designs within the short amount of time it takes for the mortar to set up. The Times got Maggie Howarth to comment:

“Jeffrey is able to cope with the adrenalin and backache, I’m sure, which goes with working against the setting time of the concrete,” said Maggy Howarth, a pebble mosaicist from Lancashire, England, and a scholar of the art form who wrote “The Complete Pebble Mosaic Handbook.” “So he gets a very organic, instinctive effect, which goes well with his rich colors and decorative designs.”

Second, Bale places his stones on edge with the majority of each piece being submerged below the surface. Bale says that this helps to eliminate the possibility of stones “popping out”.

The Times article centers around a project he completed this month for the actor Tony Shalhoub (of “Monk” fame) and his wife, the actress Brooke Adams. In the photo to the right, one can see him at work.

Mr. Bale tells us that the article has the usual “gross factual errors” in it and gave us the following corrections:

1) He uses mortar, not concrete
2) He does not use plywood borders
3) Mr. Shalhoub does not chew his nails

There you have it. A bit of a MAN exclusive. Oh my. Who’da thought we’d be correcting the Times.

(Photo of Mr. Bale by Stephanie Diani for the New York Times)

Don’t let these small inaccuracies stop you from reading the article which, like we said, is fabulous. There is a wonderful slide show as well. Click here:

Enjoy — Nancie

Random Acts of Mosaic Kindness

In the spirit of the season, we offer you the latest discoveries from that North American goldmine of Roman mosaics, Gloucester, Massachusetts.

The Mystery Mosaicist has been at it again, gifting the town with art-filled potholes. Both of these are on Middle Street; the fish mosaic in front of the YMCA and the geometric one near School Street in front of a church.

Random acts of mosaic kindness. We like this very, very much.

May your holidays — however and whenever you celebrate them — be filled with unbounded joy, good health and lots of love. We are sincerely grateful for your continued interest and support of MAN.

Blessings — Bill, Nancie and Michael

Someone You Should Know: Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian

From what we can see, the hit of the Asian Pacific Triennial (APT) in Brisbane Australia is “Lightning for Neda” (above), a 6-panel mosaic of mirror and painted glass by Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian commissioned by the Queensland Art Gallery.

That image, detail though it was, was enough to catch our eye and send us googling. We quickly realized that this was someone we wanted to know more about. The bio below is from the APT website:

Born 1924 Qazvin, Iran. Lives and works in Tehran, Iran

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian is a senior figure in contemporary Iranian art, with a distinguished career spanning over 50 years. Farmanfarmaian spent many years living in New York as an art student and later as a fashion illustrator at department store Bonwit Teller, where she worked alongside Andy Warhol. She returned to Iran in the 1960s and established herself as an artist, holding major exhibitions in Tehran, Paris, Venice and New York. After the Islamic Revolution of 1979, she took refuge in New York, returning to Tehran in 2000 where she continues to work today. Her distinctive aesthetic translates Persian pictorial language into modern forms by combining mirror mosaic and reverse glass painting techniques with contemporary abstract styles. Her shimmering installations draw upon Islamic geometric patterning, Sufi symbolism, symmetry and traditional craftsmanship. Farmanfarmaian is creating a major six-panel mirror mosaic work for APT6, based on the form of the hexagon, reflecting the six virtues of generosity, self-discipline, patience, determination, insight, and compassion.
Exhibitions (solo): Leighton House Museum, London, United Kingdom, 2008; The Third Line, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2007; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom, 2006. Exhibitions (group): ‘East-West Divan’, 53rd Biennale of Venice, Italy, 2009; ‘The Power of the Ornament’, Belvedere, Vienna, Austria, 2008; Biennale of Venice, Italy, 1964 and 1958.

What a life. What a woman. What an artist. More sleuthing turned up the wonderful photographs below taken at the Leighton House Exhibit of 2008, “Geometry of Hope” by blogger and writer Nazy Kaviani of Berkeley, California.

From Kaviani’s post on Iranian.com, we learned that Farmanfarmaian honors the Iranian tradition of “Ayeneh Kari” in this body of work.

“Aneyneh Kari” is the art of cutting mirrors into small pieces and slivers, placing them in decorative shapes over plaster, creating artwork that is at once bright, reflective of light, colors and images, and expressive of beautiful patterns.

Farmanfarmaian (above) has written a memoir of her extraordinary life, “A Mirror Garden” co-authored by Zara Houshmand. We’re putting it on our Christmas Wish List immediately.
Australian radio host Phillip Adams interviewed Farmanfarmaian last week on his Late Night show. To hear the interview, click http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2009/2763829.htm
To read a marvelous story/interview from December 5th of Farmanfarmaian by Rosemary Sorenson of The Australian, click here.
To see more great art from the Asian Pacific Triennial in Brisbane, click here.
Enjoy — Nancie