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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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The Girls & Boys of Mother Goose
Wednesday 13 December @ 21:15:22 |
 by BETSY MOWRY
This little artist, she worked her hardest,
On nursery rhymes for children galore.
Mosaics, no doubt,
Gave her reason to shout,
Upon publishing tales of yore.
People don’t come up with fascinating nursery rhymes anymore—poignant stories with deep, hidden meanings and nonsensical storylines. But creative interpretation of the classics is clearly in the hand of artist Barbara Keith, who for the past year has been diligently making a series of mosaics based on favorite nursery rhymes. The work illustrates 20 nursery rhymes in Keith’s self-published book “The Girls and Boys of Mother Goose,” (Brownian Bee Press), and this weekend she’ll be on hand at local mosaic purveyor Mosaic on a Stick for a book signing.
With a wide range of experience in design, visual arts and as an elementary school teacher, it was a natural progression for Keith to plan and render pictures in mosaics. “I work as a freelance graphic designer and I had been designing books, creating book covers and even illustrating (with digital and paints) for other people,” she says. “I finally got to do it for myself!”
After researching hundreds of verses, Keith says didn’t find any books that focused specifically on the children in nursery rhymes. For “The Girls and Boys of Mother Goose” she chose 20 stories she liked and thought would translate well to mosaics. The selections include both well-known classics and more obscure nursery rhymes.
“Mary, Mary Quite Contrary” stares resolutely at the viewers, surrounded by colorful flowers and cockle shells. Meanwhile, “Little Miss Muffett” frowns at a pesky spider that dangles in front of her curds and whey. With so many playful images throughout the book, it’s difficult to pick just one favorite.
Each of Keith’s nursery rhyme mosaics are 24” x 24”, exquisitely rendered in colored glass. Glass gems, beads, buttons, shells and “what-nots” are also applied to finish the pieces, giving them vibrancy and imagination. What also makes these pieces so remarkable is Keith’s technique which balances opus paladanium (glass pieces laid out on the artwork in an irregular format) and and opus regulatum (pieces laid out in a regular pattern). This method helps illustrate differences between the characters and the stories.
One of the most interesting aspects of the project is the way Keith created the faces of the children. Clip art images of Victorian children are copied onto thick rag paper, painted with watercolors and adhered to clear glass. Some are used entirely, others are broken into bits. Keith then sketches a rough cartoon of the rest of the design around the face before finishing the rest of the mosaic. The final outcome is an enchanting picture book.
People often look at mosaic work and think, “Oh, I could do that!” But few realize the amount of work and the variety of materials required for a project. Tiles, ceramics and found objects are just some of the materials, along with adhesives and grout. Each substrate, or base, must be properly prepared, and then there is trial-and-error, trial-and-error and, oh, trial-and-error. Besides the technicalities, mosaic artists must also have a sense of design and an understanding of how to use color and shape. It’s a medium that requires loads of self-discipline, and it can take hours, weeks or months to complete a project.
Keith hopes to find a permanent home for the collection of mosaics, perhaps in a children’s hospital or care center. So far, the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics has purchased four mosaics, and a few other facilities have expressed interest. ||
The Girls and Boys of Mother Goose is on exhibit through Dec. 31 at Mosaic on a Stick, 595 N. Snelling Ave., St. Paul. Barbara Keith will sign books on Sat. Dec. 16 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. For more information call 651-645-6600 or go to mosaiconastick.com. You can also contact Keith at barbarakeithdesigns.com or brownianbee.com.
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