And now...a Fine Art Installation for Residential, Corporate, Retail and Hospitality.

One of a kind.
Hand made.
Unique.

The Art Room - a fine art gallery in Petersburg, VA - features a wall of squares...not quite tiles, and not exactly like many other installations of this kind. Today, 135 individual little masterpieces adorn one wall.

The squares, loving called "miroir aux alouettes," are not manufactured, not mass produced, not based on trends, and not for everyone. The name refers to traps for larks [the birds!] which always feature mirrors, like these small treasures.

They're not glass or wood... they are small canvas squares [6x6x1"] that are hand painted and embellished with all sorts of unusual things... old Christmas cards, real gold foil, vintage pendants, glass mirrors, cannibalized jewelry, keys, tiny animals, beads, rhinestones, toys, tiles, tacks, gears, bait, buttons, bows and bits and pieces of a zillion different things. No two are alike. 
They are hand made by a duo of artists [known as Ibby & Ommie] who found inspiration in many places, and save every little thing that might be useful.

Many other artisans create or manufacture memory blocks, tiles, or boxes...in plaster, paper, copper, tile...create installations of a few or hundreds of pieces. Here are some examples from Sid Dickens, Houston Llew and Cedar Mountain... and hand made mosaics from Dusciana Bravura in Venice, Italy.

Houston Llew Copper

Cedar Mountain Mass Produced Blocks

Dusciana Bravura Mosaics

Sid Dickens Plaster Memory Blocks

 
For a high-end client who wants to make a similar impact, but also wants something no one else can possibly own, consider a grouping of these unusual little masterpieces -- that will begin many a conversation. Everyone that sees these unusual works of art stays and looks, and wants to know more.

On a bookshelf

Tiger, tiger...burning bright

Oh, Deer!

Penguin on a Bike!

They are elaborate, yet lightweight and can hang on a single small nail. They are not perfectly square. The edges are painted and adorned with ribbon or webbing; all are sealed with gloss coating. They will last for years without any maintenance

Orange Mandala

A client in Calabasas, CA with her first

!

Currently priced at $125.00 USD per piece; with volume discounts for groupings. The artists can customize pieces with your clients' colors, themes, and can include bits and pieces, logos, marketing materials, etc. They can match pantone colors or interior paint colors.

And, they make lovely, unique gifts!

For more information, visit The Art Room's Facebook Page...The artists can also be contacted through www.TheArtRoomPetersburg.com
Follow on Instagram

The Kindest Cut

Yes, it's me and my scissors again.

I am working on this intricate portrait. As I was going yesterday, I started to think of how many times I cut ONE piece of paper to create the "tiles" I fit together.

1. First, I cut the from the "raw material"- whether it's a postcard, catalog cover, packaging, business card...etc. One hack to separate a block of color from the rest. 
2. Next, as I go through any particular box of colors, I look for the exact shades and CUT a strip.
3. I cut the strip into squares. 
4. That's two cuts - one on each side.
5. Now, some of the pieces are fine as a square, but not too many. If it's good the way it is, it gets glued.
6. But, if I'm going around a curve, there's another cut to make it fit.
7. If it's in a tight spot, it might take another trim or two
8. or another. I counted. Most squares get cut at least once more, many of them three times. Which means I'll glue it down, pick it up, trim it again.

Sure, it's pretty tedious to cut ONE PIECE of paper [and there are hundreds if not thousands included in each piece of work I finish] as many as EIGHT times, just to get it right.

I never repeat the same source of paper next to another - so if you'll look closely, you'll notice bits from that postcard from the neighborhood dentist is next to an old birthday card, next to the Nordstrom catalog cover, next to the insurance salesman's business card, next to a magazine fly card, a movie ticket... and so on. Why? It's just the way I do things.

So, I am somewhat process driven, somewhat image driven, and color is always behind everything.
Check out my work here: http://www.schimmelart.com

Mind over Matter

My artwork is not about the material used, instead it is about the mind, the thoughts behind the composition. What I use as an art supply - is something I happened on as a solution to a problem.

1. When approaching a new canvas, I don't think about the material, I think about the composition. I have long conversations with myself about what I am doing. Every line, every movement is thoughtful.
2. My purpose in creating my work is totally about the feeling I wish to evoke through the portrait, through the image.
3. I use paint to create a face. The colors I wish to use, the decisions about where on the canvas the subject goes... shadows, eye color - everything is in my mind and not influenced by material.
4. I respond to my resource image [real or imagined] and the improvisation starts there.
5. The process that begins once I finish the painting is all about manipulating the materials at hand.
6. Sometimes, the material used relates to the subject or the emotion, but it is not ruled by the material.

I want you to look at the work and respond to the image first. Then, you can look closer to view the materials, then you can think about the process I created to place each piece exactly where it needed to go to create the image.