Here is a terrible photo of my first Rapunzel mosaic. While designing a concrete sculpture back in September, I had an image of an exhibit featuring multiples of this image, done in different materials, colors and styles. I decided this would be a fun way to practice various techniques while drawing on one character from fairy tale lore.
I've always been captivated by fairy tales. I had a very thick collection of Grimms Fairy Tales as a child that I read over and over, and I now read them to my daughter. I think I re-read Rapunzel so many times because I found it so frustrating that Rapunzel wouldn't just cut off her long hair and use it as a rope to climb out of the tower. Or that the prince wouldn't simply bring a ladder or rope right away. What was the point of dragging out the process? Meanwhile, I wasn't allowed to cut my hair as a girl, so it grew down to my butt, always full of nasty tangles. My mom was known for her long, blonde hair, and she still refuses to cut it to a more manageable length.
I used this Rapunzel as an experiment with using small square tesserae to create facial contours. This piece is quite small for me (I prefer wall-sized projects), and it was a challenge for me to cut each little salvaged stained glass scrap into squares. I quickly began to feel impatient with it, but it was a good exercise for me. I think it is important, at this point, to go back and learn the foundations of mosaic technique, in depth. While I worked on this piece, I waited for the arrival of my newest mosaic book,
The Human Form in Mosaic by Elaine M. Goodwin. I'm looking forward to practicing with some new methods, nicely outlined in the book. Hopefully, within 6 months to a year, I'll find a gallery space and have a real art show with Rapunzel as the central theme.
By the way, my choice of themes is in no way related to the Disney movie that must have just been released. Pure coincidence.
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