Part II: Mosaic bloggers and social media users

 Mosaic bloggers and social media users I never miss

In this second part of my two part series on Writing a Mosaic Blog I am going to tell you about my favourite mosaic bloggers and social media users. The reason for doing so is three fold:

• a) to celebrate those people out there who are already writing, sharing and enthusing about the mosaic world,
• b) to call all mosaicists not already on social media to join up now! and
• c) to mark my two year mosaic blogging anniversary by acknowledging other bloggers and social media users who have been an inspiration, font of knowledge and/or source of amazing photographs and information.

  

It wouldn’t be practical to name all the people who I regularly follow on various kinds of social media so this is not meant to be a comprehensive list. It’s more like a ‘selected highlights’  of some of the mosaic bloggers and social media users whose contributions have caught my eye over time and triggered a sense of gratitude, awe or both for their ideas, reflections and tips. There is, as you will see, a bias towards those who share my interest in Roman mosaics or who work with stone but I must stress that I also hugely enjoy the work of mosaicists working in other medium (see photo at top of the page). My list of mosaic bloggers and social media users isn’t necessarily the same thing as a list of fellow mosaicists whose work I admire (although it might be tempting at some point to write about them too) but it is just a way of calling attention to one part of the great mosaic community – the part that is willing to share whether it be their work, their photos, their trials and tribulations, their news, or just their sheer passion for this art (or is it craft?!) form.

Whenever I see the word ‘mosaics’ on social media, I leap to become a new ‘follower’ (although one turned out to be a page devoted to women’s bottoms!) but despite my diligent attempt to chivvy out every mosaicist in the entire blog/social media sphere I am well aware that there must be plenty more serious and dedicated mosaic makers, teachers, and researchers who remain unknown to me. So I am hoping that by writing this, a few more might come out of the wood work and join the online mosaic community.

I am going to start by going slightly off piste by mentioning the Comptemporary Mosaic Art website run by the energetically inimitable Pam Givens. The site is a perfect distillation of all the wonderful aspects of the online mosaic world which I have grown to rely on and seek inspiration from. It has everything: forums, groups, listings  of mosaic events, individual artists’ pages, an on-line collection of 34,000 mosaic photos and even a mosaic agony aunt section where you can freely confess your worst mosaic nightmares in the certain knowledge that other mosaicists will come forward with advice and solutions to the thorniest of mosaic problems.

So here goes, the mosaic bloggers and social media users I never miss (in alphabetical order):

Chicago Mosaic School on Facebook. (also on Twitter, Youtube and Pinterest). Runs a series of ‘mosaics of the day’ featuring carefully selected mosaic artists from all over the world as well as sharing news and events.

Drostle Public Arts Ltd on Facebook. The London based artist is on Instagram too but I havent worked out how to use it yet and probably never well so I keep up to date via his Facebook page. Gary works on large scale mosaics for landscape and architecture and I love seeming them evolve.

Following Hadrian’s blog. (Also on Twitter and Pinterest and on Flickr as Carole Raddato) Written by Carole from Frankfurt, an amateur but deeply commited historian, who shares her fascinating journey following in the footsteps of the Roman emperor Hadrian. A prolific photographer who often comes across obscure and interesting mosaics.

Jacqueline Iskander on Tumbler (also on Facebook and Twitter) writes an occasional blog about her mosaic work in thoughtful and open detail. ‘I’ll be contemplating the inevitability of hurt and loss as I work on this…’

Mosaic Art Now an online magazine about all sorts of contempoary mosaic matters (also on Facebook and Twitter). A really good place to find wonderfully unusual and well researched articles about mosaics. I recently came across a fascinating piece by Lillian Sizemore on Picasso’s missing mosaics.

Ostia Antica on Facebook (also on Twitter and Pinterest) is a non profit organisation which provides information about the ancient site of Ostia Antica and its surroundings and keeps up a constant flow of interesting photos, many of which are of mosaics.

Sonia King Mosaic Artist on Facebook (Also on Twitter and Youtube). Has an uncanny ability to know the mosaic news hours before everyone else, posts regularly about her work and frequently shares photos of her mosaic travels.

Mused Mosaik (also on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Vimeo) writes a visually stunning mosaic blog while studying mosaics full time in Spilimbergo, Italy. The blog shares ‘news, views and facts on mosaic art and craft’ illustrated by superb photos and video.

Roman Mosaic Workshops on Facebook (also on Twitter and Youtube and writes an online newsletter).  Packed with information, photographs, tips and news about anything to do with the Roman mosaic world including ‘how to’ videos, workshop events and a steady stream of detailed analyses of individual mosaics to help you understand how the ancients worked.

Jeremy Scholten on Facebook is an insatiable sharer of photographs connected to the ancient world including, of course, mosaics.

Julie Sperling (also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) writes an insightful, wry and fresh blog about the process of mosaic inspiration and making. ‘Perhaps it’s coincidence. Perhaps it’s my brain working in mysterious ways…’

The mosaic bloggers and social media users I never miss are original, passionate and consistent. They are a crucial part of my daily mosaic learning process and I owe them a huge flashing neon thank you, so here it is (you have to imagine the flashing bit):