Client: Private Client

Overview

Ceramic bas-relief sculptural mosaic represents hope and beauty despite how difficult life is sometimes. Beautiful growth finds a way in the cracks of our lives. Hand-built ceramic, glazed, deconstructed, and reconstructed mosaic. Extremely durable high-fire ceramic. Twenty square feet, Fitzgerald created every element by hand. A hand-cut stone mosaic border surrounds the floral composition. The entire artwork is custom-fitted into a pre-engineered void in the wall. “The client’s desire for such a HOPEFUL theme intrigued and challenged me. This unique bas-relief is my very favorite installation. ”

Goals

The client’s initial request was to create a “show-stopping” artwork situated by the front door of her under-construction estate home, Chateau Blanc. As I spent time with the client, I realized that what she really wanted was an artwork that represented her life. She sent me “inspirational images” of cracked earth, drought, and the devastation of war. Yet, our conversations were about hope and beauty. Mosaic is a metaphor for making beauty from the broken. The white color palette became an obvious choice; everything about the design and construction of Chateau Blanc was white, a symbol of innocence, peace, wholeness, and completion. The design was driven by the revelations I learned while carefully listening to the client and analyzing what she referred to as “inspirational images”.

Process

Once the design was approved, I worked with a commercial ceramic studio to create several glaze and clay body tests. The artwork had to withstand the freeze-thaw cycle and be low maintenance. The wall void was engineered with the architect and builder, and the installation methodology was approved by the building inspector. A very large slab was created with a consistent thickness. Surface texture was added, and then the slab was hand-torn into mosaic sections. A high degree of organizational skill was required to ensure the de-constructed slab could be re-constructed! Each dimensional flower, rosette leaf, and wiggle was handmade, numbered on the back, and mapped to the approved artwork. The second glaze firing was done at a commercial facility with access to a huge kiln. All the materials needed to be fired exactly the same to ensure the consistency of the surface glaze and texture, a matte white custom-made glaze. This was a challenging installation; 50% could be completed in the artist's studio, and the remaining work of attaching the large flowers and rosettes to the substrate was done on-site.

Additional Information

This custom work was the most challenging creative endeavor of my career. The client had a vision she could not initially articulate—other than wanting a very beautiful artwork gracing the entrance to her home. By listening to her and discussing why she was sending desperate "inspirational images"—war, drought, loneliness—I understood how personal this was for her. She is a survivor. This is an artwork the client sees every day; it is visible from several windows in the house, and any guest waiting for the door to be opened experiences it. The artwork prepares the visitor for the interior of the home, which is also painted and adorned in white. The artwork is a signal you are entering a hopeful and beautiful space.