Category Archive

Little Chapel, Architecture & Garden art on Flickr - the-electronic-firefly

The Little Chapel in Guernsey is just five metres by three metres and “possibly the smallest chapel in the world”.

picassiette steps to archway to little chapel on Flickr - zenitpetersburg

In 1913 Brother Deodat, a religious refugee from France, saw the location and received a vision of recreating the Lourdes grotto and chapel on the hill.

picassiette archway to little chapel on Flickr - zenitpetersburg

Little Chapel broken china, plates, crockery on Flickr - photo_blog_farley

picassiette mosaic walls of little chapel on Flickr -zenitpeterburg

walls broken china pebbles of little chapel on Flickr - zenitpeterburg

picassiette mosaic walls of little chapel on Flickr - zenitpetersburg

Mosaic Art walls chapel at Guernsey 104 on Flickr - Annemoni

broken china in walls of little chapel on Flickr - zenitpetersburg

Little Chapel pique assiette exterior on Flickr - Van Tassel

He actually built it three times, demolishing it twice, the first time as a result of unspecified criticism,

Little Chapel picassiette architecture - Guernsey on Flickr - modogoo

the second because the Bishop of Portsmouth hadn’t been able to get through the doorway.

Little Minature Chapel mosaic architecture on Flickr - Artoo UK

In 1939, he built this version, the smallest of the three attempts.

little chapel mosaic interioron Flickr - zenitpetersburg

The chapel is decorated inside and out with seashells and pieces of china:

mosaic chapel wall texture picassiette on Flickr - dmcneil

little chapel picassiette walls on Flickr - xxxrmt
by the time he had come to the third attempt, his project had become famous and islanders brought him tiles and coloured china from all over the world.

Little Chapel pique assiette mosaic interior on Flickr - dmcneil

The Little Chapel picassiette mosaic ceiling on Flickr - Artoo UK

Little Chapel pique assiette interior stained glass shells tile Flickr - dmcneil

St. Bernadette picassiette mosaic on Flickr - Auntie Doris

infront of little chapel picassiette on Flickr - zenitpetersburg

From a distance the colours and design make a pleasing whole, close-up it’s amazing to see all the different pieces used to create the effect.

Where is Guernsey?

The Bailiwick of Guernsey (French: Bailliage de Guernesey) is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.As well as the island of Guernsey itself, it also includes Alderney, Sark, Herm, Jethou, Brecqhou, Burhou, Lihou and other islets. Although the defence of all these islands is the responsibility of the United Kingdom, Guernsey is not part of the UK but rather a separate possession of the Crown, comparable to the Isle of Man. Guernsey is also not a member of the European Union. The island of Guernsey is divided into 10 parishes. Together with the Bailiwick of Jersey, it is included in the collective grouping known as the Channel Islands. Guernsey belongs to the Common Travel Area. Guernsey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mosaic Art Source mosaic definition:

pique assiette

pique assiette - or picassiette ( a french term -”stolen from plate”) - pieces of broken pottery, china, glass, buttons, figurines, and/ jewelry are cemented onto a base to create a new surface. Almost any form can be used as a base, and any combination of pieces can be applied, restricted only by the individual creator’s imagination. m.a.s. mosaic glossary

Mosaic Art Source picassiette mosaic photo & resource archive

Tags: art, mosaic, mosaic art, garden art, pique assiette, picassiette, chapel, little chapel, guernsey, smallest chapel, mixed media, architecture, shells, pebbles, broken china, china,

Mirrored Mosaic Horse Disco Ball on Flickr - glub

Horse Mosaic Monument Cimetiere de Passy Paris, France on Flickr - Claudecf

horse mosaic chagall four seasons, originally uploaded by kellyhafermann.

horse mosaic on Flickr - flx_brn

Mosaic Shire Horses based on a Judy Woods original on Flickr - mosaicman2004

Horse mosaic Chinatown Vancouver, BC Canada on Flickr - mag3737

Two horses tile mosaic Portugal on Flickr - Mosaik!!!

Appleton Mosaic Horse Ocala, Florida on Flickr - Dyjohen a.k.a. Joel Illidge

Horse pebble mosaic, Genova on Flickr - kani-jessy

Black horse. mosaic berlin, germany on Flickr - gak


Roman Horse mosaic in Ostia Antica historic port of Rome on Flickr - Nofelete

Roman Horse Mosaic Istanbul, Turkey on Flickr - Ken and Nyetta

Small Horse Mosaic Bardo museum Tunis on Flickr - Ken and Nyetta

Roman Mosaic Hippocamp and Icthyocentaur on Flickr - Piedmont Fossil’sThis decorative mosaic pavement comes from Daphne, a suburb of the ancient Roman city of Antioch in present-day Turkey. The full panorama shows (from left to right) a nereid (sea nymph), a hippocamp (winged horse), a bearded icthyocentaur (Triton) and a second nereid (sea nymph).naturally colored stone mosaic

c. 2nd century AD, Antioch, Daphne
Roman Mosaic Hippocamp (Close-Up) Baltimore Museum of Art , Maryland on Flickr - Piedmont Fossil

Poseidon, Oceanus and Tethys with horses Mosaic Gaziantep Zeugma on Flickr - History

POSSEDION, OCEANOS AND TETHYS MOSAICOs Deuses das Águas.This mosaic which is estimated to be floor of a pool or a dining room.The most important gods of the sea are pictured. At the top Possedion can be seen riding a creature called Hippocam which has the head and front legs of a horse and is a fish at the back. Possedion holds a pitchfark. In the lowerpart of the mosaic another sea god Oceanos and Tethys which symbolizes Femaleness in the seas are pictured. The rest of the mosaic is decorated by various sea animals.


O Cavalo de Poseidon Gaziantep Museum Zeugma, Turkey Mosaic on Flickr - History

Four horsemen of the roman circus Laziom Rome on Flickr - pro cras

Mosaic horse faction Circus Maximus, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome on Flickr - antmoose
roman mosaic horse bardo museum tunisia on Flickr - sallycat101

roman mosaic horse bardo museum on Flickr - sallycat101

Effete horses, roman mosaic from Emerita Augusta (Mérida) Spain on Flickr - cloudsoup

0163-Horse Mosaic, Qasr Libya-20060402, uploaded by www.h4ppy.com.
Roman Mosaic Horse Cyrene museum Libya, Africa on Flickr - h_savill

Roman Wild Horse Mosaic Sizilien-Villa Piazza Armeria- Italy on Flickr - vouffy

Osso’s Horse Mosaic Battle of Alexander the Great on Flickr - ari kokomosaico

horse’s snout on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Horse Butt - Alexander the Great Mosaic Pompeii, Italy on Flickr - Claiqre

“Sparky”, mosaic cat sculpture originally uploaded by julielucus.

“Sparky” cat face mosaic detail on Flickr - julielucus

“Play” mosaic sculpture 2 of 5 on Flickr - julielucas

“Play” sculptural glass mosaic - julielucas

“Play” glass mosaic ball close up on Flickr - julie lucas

“Frog-goyle” glass mosaic sculpture on Flickr - julielucus

“Frog-goyle”_side mosaic glass sculpture on Flickr - julie lucas

“Frog-goyle”_back glass mosaic sculpture on Flickr - julielucus

Mosaic Artist - Julie Lucus

Mosaic Art Source Archives - more mosaics by Julie Lucus

Fifth Avenue Mosaic - DY Mosaics, originally uploaded by mosaic art source.

WordPress has added dropdown menus & clouds! You’ll find some changes on the left hand sidebar which I hope will make navigating a tad easier.

Fifth Avenue (above)
12″ x18″
2004

Meanwhile, a few of you have asked to see some of my mosaics so I finally got my courage up & attached my first mosaic using smalti… it’s a combination of materials: smalti, vitreous tile, stained glass & pottery shards.

Mosaic in Progress on Flickr - by Jaina Bee

mosaic: bee fish (detail).JPG on Flickr - by Jaina Bee

mosaic: Yellow Submarine critter on Flickr - by Jaina Bee

mosaic: tortoise on Flickr - by Jaina Bee

Mosaic grouting on Flickr - by Jaina Bee

Mosaic Ceiling! on Flickr - by Jaina Bee

Southeast corner on Flickr - Jaina Bee

South wall on Flickr - Jaina Bee

Tortoise wall on Flickr - Jaina Bee

Christine’s Tortoise on Flickr - Jaina Bee

Queen Fish on Flickr - Jaina Bee

Toilet Fish Crew on Flickr - Jaina Bee

Mosaic Artists - Jason Mecier & Christine Shields.  Thanks for the artist’s info Jaina Bee

In Pieces - Exhibition of stained glass mosaic art
Artwork of Robin Lowe


Mosaic Art Exhibition - In Pieces - Robin Lowe - Vancouver, BC

Opening Reception
Thursday, May 3, 2007
7 - 11 p.m.
Live Music, Snacks & Beverages
at
Broken By Design Mosaic Studio
219 East 16th Avenue
Vancouver, BC
604-871-0900

In Pieces Exhibit
May 3 - May 27, 2007
www.robinlowemosaic.com
Gallery Hours:
Tuesday - Friday 12 -7
Saturdays 11-5

Mosaic Art Source - Mosaic Exhibition - In Pieces - Robin Lowe

L’Ambasciatrice
27″ x 16″ x 13″
Stained glass and millefiori on mixed media base

Mosaic Art Source - Mosaic Interview - Julie Richey

Julie Richey won the Members’ Choice Award at the Mosaic Arts International Exhibit this year. L’Ambasciatrice (photo above) was the most refreshing piece in the show & definitely had that WOW! factor.

I was so enamoured with this exquisite piece, when I saw Julie in Mesa, I pretty much grabbed her. I just had to let her know how much I loved L’Ambasciatrice & (of course) started bubbling over with questions… how did she come up with the concept… what kind of base did she use??? Julie (sweetheart that she is) generously shared her whole process…

Mosaic Art Source Article - full interview with Julie Richey

Mosaic Art Source mosaic definition:

millefiori

millefiori - italian “mille” (thousand) “fiori” (flower) - decorative glass made by cutting and arranging cross sections of fused glass rods of various colors and thicknesses. m.a.s. mosaic glossary

Mosaic Art Source - Mosaic Art Focus April Newsletter

Please Note: These Mosaic Images may not be reproduced in any form without the legal authorization of the artists. Please be aware that Mosaic Artists worldwide have united to form an International Mosaic Art Watch Group that will support the prosecution of anyone who does so.

Mosaic Artist Jo Braun mosaic detail

The Society of American Mosaic Artists (SAMA) Mosaic Arts International 2007, the organization’s annual juried mosaic exhibition, opened at the Mesa Contemporary Arts Center and will continue through April 29th. The mosaic exhibit features 62 pieces selected from 397 entries by mosaic artists from six countries.

Mosaic Art Source - Mosaic Exhibit - MAI 2007 mosaic art exhibit photos

Mosaic Art Source - Mosaic Art Focus April Newsletter

Please Note: These Mosaic Images may not be reproduced in any form without the legal authorization of the artists. Please be aware that Mosaic Artists worldwide have united to form an International Mosaic Art Watch Group that will support the prosecution of anyone who does so.

Mermaid mosaic, originally uploaded by Jester’s Closet.

Mosaic at Maleny, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Yemaya mosaic artist Lori Greene on Flickr - by morninglori281956

Artist Kelly Davidson Mosaic Mermaid on Flickr!

April Whitt at Miss La Tina’s mermaid mosaic unveiling on Flickr!

Miss Beaufort’s Beautiful Tail Mermaid Mosaic detail on Flickr!

Miss Beaufort’s Tail Mermaid Mosaic detail on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The mermaid mosaic sculptures above are part of The Big Swim: Mermaids by the Arts Council of Beaufort County, SC

red light lady, originally uploaded by shanrosen.

another mosaic torso on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Mosaic Torso Lamps at the farmer’s market, Brisbane Powerhouse made in Bali, artist unknown.

Mosaic Art Source Archives - more mosaic mannequins

Buddha, originally uploaded by purplecosmid.

Mosaic Artist - Who was Niki de Saint Phalle? « Mosaic Art Source

Jeweled bug, originally uploaded by Arlette.

The Glass Quilt, a mosiac-covered VW Beetle.

Glass Quilt on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

LET IT BEGIN on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The California Fantasy Van, a 1975 GMC van completely encrusted in brass — sculptures, belt buckles, bells, coins, canes, you name it.

Side mirror on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Lion Fish on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Carthedral on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Cobra on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Doll head on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Mosaic Art Source - Mosaic Art Car Image & Video Archive

10-foot Gibson Guitar on South Congress, originally uploaded by NoNo Joe.

IMG_7833.JPG on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The Guitar as Mosiac on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Ten-foot Gibson guitar by Aly Winningham of Terra Firma Studios, covered with mosiac glass in front of Guero’s restaurant on South Congress, Austin, Texas.

Very cool mosaic! Thanks for the added info Aly 

Mosaic Art Source Archives - more on mosaic artist Aly Winningham

The Palau de la Música Catalana Exterior Mosaic Images

Amazing on Flickr - Photo Sharing! by 300 spartans

Outside detail on Flickr - Photo Sharing! by 300 spartans

El Palau on Flickr - Photo Sharing! by spacedoll

The Palau de la Música Catalana Interior Mosaic & Stained Glass Images

Inside El Palau on Flickr - Photo Sharing! by spacedoll

my favourite part on Flickr - Photo Sharing! by 300 spartans

The glass ceiling on Flickr - Photo Sharing! by 300 spartans

Beethoven on Flickr - Photo Sharing! by 300 Spartans

The Palau de la Música Catalana Exterior Mosaic Facade & Column Details

façade detail on Flickr - Photo Sharing! by kitta

Sección de la fachada del Palau de la Musica. on Flickr! by xip

Span_20051005_1685 on Flickr - Photo Sharing! by Meg Hajekova

2006_Spain_Barcelona_44 on Flickr - Photo Sharing! by shengmei_zhang

Palau de la Musica Catalana on Flickr - Photo Sharing! by leprechaun_il

The Palau de la Música Catalana Exterior Mosaic Ticket Booth & Floral Column Details

old ticket booth on Flickr - Photo Sharing! by hirsak

Mosaico on Flickr - Photo Sharing! by manelcap

Mosaic on Flickr - Photo Sharing! by Van Tassel

Barcelona - Palau de la Musica Catalana on Flickr - by biketrouble

2005-12-31-Barcelona, Palau de la Musica Catalana on Flickr - Photo Sharing! by Matilde Gaspar Silva

Palau de la Música Catalana - Barcelona, Spain

The Palau de la Música Catalana (”Palace of Catalan Music”) in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, is a concert hall built between 1905 and 1908, designed by the Catalan architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. It was inaugurated in 1908, and its style is known as modernisme, the local term to design the Art Nouveau, whose most noteworthy practitioner was Antoni Gaudí.

The Palau de la Música Catalana was built to be the concert hall of the Orfeó Català (”Catalan Choir”), the most important choir in Catalonia in the beginning of the XXth century. The project was financed by this institution, principally, but also by the donations of the well-living bourgeoisie in the city.

Due to the wealthy circumstances and the increasing sympathy of industrialists and bourgeoisie to Catalan nationalism, Montaner was asked for a national, symbolist architecture and building. So he added the traditional ceramics and “maons”, and asked other well-known Catalan artists to work with him. As a consequence, the Palau shows a wide variety of techniques and materials, both inside and outside.

In 1997, it was added as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Palau de la Música Catalana - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mosaic Art Source - Spain Mosaic Image Archive

Die Kaiserin on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

KursfahrtNSP (37) on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Niki de Saint Phalle

Who was Niki de Saint Phalle?

Niki de Saint Phalle, née Catherine Marie-Agnes Fal de Saint Phalle (October 29, 1930 - May 21, 2002) was a French sculptor, painter, and film maker

The Early Years

De Saint Phalle was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine in Paris to Jeanne Jacqueline (née Harper) and Andre Marie-Fal de Saint Phalle, a banker. After being wiped out financially during the Great Depression, the family moved from France to the United States in 1933. During her teens, she was a fashion model; at the age of sixteen she made the cover of Life magazine (September 26, 1949), and later the November 1952 cover of the French Vogue magazine. At eighteen, de Saint Phalle eloped with author Harry Mathews, whom she had known since the age of twelve, and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. While her husband studied music at Harvard University, de Saint Phalle began to paint, experimenting with different media and styles. Their first child, Laura, was born in 1951.

De Saint Phalle rejected the staid, conservative values of her family, which dictated domestic positions for wives and particular rules of conduct. However, after marrying young and giving birth to two children, she found herself living the same bourgeois lifestyle that she had attempted to reject; the internal conflict led to her to suffer a nervous breakdown. As a form of therapy, she was encouraged to start painting.

MAG—Niki-de-Saint-Phalle on Flickr - Photo Sharing From the about to open “Master Printers” exhibition at the Municipal Art Gallery of the City of Los Angeles.

IMG_6700 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

While in Paris, de Saint Phalle was introduced to the American painter Hugh Weiss who became both her friend and mentor, encouraging her to continue painting in her self-taught style. She subsequently moved to Deya, Majorca, Spain where her son Philip was born in May of 1955. While in Spain, de Saint Phalle read the works of Proust and visited Madrid and Barcelona where she discovered and was deeply affected by the work of Antonio Gaudí. Gaudí’s influence opened many previously unimagined possibilities for de Saint Phalle regarding the use of diverse material and objet-trouvés as structural elements in sculpture and architecture. De Saint Phalle was particularly struck by Gaudí’s “Park Güell” which convinced her to one day create her own garden work that would combine both art and nature. Saint Phalle continued to paint, particularly after her family relocated to Paris in the mid-1950s. Her first art exhibition was held in 1956 in Switzerland where she displayed naïve style oil paintings. She then moved onto collage work that often featured objects of violence, such as guns and knives.

Do you like my new outfit? on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

by Niki de Saint Phalle
Eye on Europe: Prints, Books & Multiples/1960 to Now

MoMA October 15, 2006–January 1, 2007

The Nanas

After the “Shooting paintings” came a period when she explored the various roles of woman. She made life size dolls of women, such as brides and mothers giving birth. They were usually dressed in white. They were primarily made of polyester with a wire framework. They were generally created from papier mâché.

Inspired by the pregnancy of her friend Clarice Rivers, the wife of American artist Larry Rivers, she began to use her artwork to consider archetypal female figures in relation to her thinking on the position of women in society. Her artistic expression of the proverbial everywoman were named ‘Nanas’.

“Black Nana of the Three Graces” on Flickr - Photo Sharing

The first of these freely posed forms, made of papier-mâché, yarn, and cloth were exhibited at the Alexander Iolas Gallery in Paris in September of 1965. For this show, Iolas published her first artist book that includes her handwritten words in combination with her drawings of ‘Nanas’. Encouraged by Iolas, she started a highly productive output of graphic work that accompanied exhibitions that included posters, books and writings.

In 1966, she collaborated with fellow artist Jean Tinguely and Per Olof Ultlvedt on a large scale sculpture installation, “hon-en katedral”. for Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden. The outer form of “hon” is a giant, reclining ‘Nana’, whose internal environment is entered from between her legs. The piece elicited immense public reaction in magazines and newspapers throughout the world. The interactive quality of the “hon” combined with a continued fascination with fantastic types of architecture insensifies her resolve to see her own architectural dreams realized. During the construction of the “hon-en katedral,” she met Swiss artist Rico Weber, who became an important assistant and collaborator for both de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely. During the 1960s, she also designed decors and costumes for two theatrical productions: a ballet by Roland Petit, and an adaptation of the Aristophanes play “Lysistrata.”

Niki & Jean on Flickr - Photo Sharing! The Tinguely Museum (Basel) with an exhibition of Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely called l’Art et l’amour

Her life with Jean Tinguely

In 1955 de Saint Phalle met Jean Tinguely and his wife, Eva Aeppli. She asked Tinguely to weld the armature for her first sculpture. In 1960, de Saint Phalle divorced her husband, writer Harry Mathews. That same year, Jean Tinguely and Eva Aeppli also divorced. De Saint Phalle and Tinguely subsequently moved into the Impasse Ronsin where they shared the same studio and lived surrounded by other artists, including Constantin Brancusi. It was in this period that Marcel Duchamp introduced the pair to the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí. De Saint Phalle later traveled to Spain with Tinguely in order to attend a celebration honoring Dalí; while there, the pair created a life-sized exploding bull with plaster, paper and fireworks for the arena at Figueras. In 1963, they bought an old country inn outside of Paris to serve as both their home and studio, l’Auberge du Cheval Blanc in Soisy-sur-Ecole, some 50 kilometers south of Paris. She married Jean Tinguely on 15 July 1971 acquiring Swiss citizenship.

The Tarot Garden

Influenced by Gaudí´s Parc Güell in Barcelona, and the garden in Bomarzo, de Saint Phalle decided that she wanted to make something similar; a monumental sculpture park created by a woman. In 1979, she acquired some land in Garavicchio, Tuscany, about 100 km north-west of Rome along the coast.

IMG_6664 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Tarot card #10 wheel of fortune on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The garden, called Giardino dei Tarocchi in Italian, contains sculptures of the symbols found on Tarot cards. The garden took many years, and a considerable sum of money, to complete. It opened in 1998, after more than 20 years of work. She then went on at the royal palace and made a painting and gave it to the queen, evey year she did this and that is how she became famous.

Niki de Saint Phalle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thank God on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Expo Niki de Saint Phalle, early works & graphics, Amersfoort, 2005

Mosaic Art Source - Mosaic Master - Niki de Saint Phalle Mosaic Image Archive

Mosaic Art Source - The Tarot Garden Mosaic Image Archive 

IMGP0279, originally uploaded by kiwifirst303.

Queen Califia’s Magic Circle Mosaic Sculpture Garden - Niki de Saint Phalle - Escondido, California

This unusual sculpture garden was created by the late, internationally famous Niki de Saint Phalle. It is one of the four large-scale sculptural environments designed and built by the artist and her studio collaborators, and the only one located in the United States. The garden is a joint effort by Saint Phalle, who financed the sculpture project, and the city of Escondido, which acquired the land and is responsible for landscaping, maintenance and operation.

queencalifia16 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Saint Phalle chose as her subject the mythical Queen Califia, an Amazon warrior for whom the state of California is named. This amazing creature, first popularized in a 16th century romance novel, is believed to have ruled a terrestrial island paradise of gold and riches “on the right hand of the Indies.”

queencalifiacircle1 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 She conceived the garden as a gigantic circle (120 feet in diameter) with an 11-foot statue of Queen Califia in the center. Clad in gold armor astride a monumental, 13-foot eagle, she carries another regal bird on her uplifted hand. Surrounding her are her courtiers, eight totems representing animals and elements of the land over which she reigns.

IMGP0284 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The first sight is of the imposing statue of Queen Califia, executed in mosaic, mostly gold (installed by Lech Juretko’s Art Mosaic of El Cajon).

She is a voluptuous figure that suggests power and vision as she looks West. The eagle, on which she rides, stands on four powerful legs that form a mini temple decorated with symbols of Queen Califia’s reign. This space is accessible to children and small adults.

IMGP0273 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Entrance to the magical circle is through a maze of black, white and mirror tiles on the walls and floor. Inside, the scale and breadth of Saint Phalle’s vision is impressive. The floor of the circle is tiled in white ceramic circles of varying diameters.

Queen Califa’s Magical Circle, Kit Carson Park on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Saint Phalle intended for the garden to be user-friendly. “You can feel the sculptures,” she said in one of her last interviews. “They feel nice and you won’t harm them. You can be a part of them; it’s like a marriage between the sculptures and a child, or adult. Maybe it brings out the child in adults, too.”

Queen Califa’s Magical Circle, Kit Carson Park on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The central courtyard, with shade from trees in planters around the walls, reflects that feeling. Three benches of travertine marble and river rocks that front the planters will seat approximately 60 visitors at a time. The entire project is a visual delight. Everything about the sculpture garden is cursive.

queencalifiacircle10 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The walls undulate in an irregular circle, and rise and fall in height from 4 to 9 feet. The interior walls are faced with Mexican pebble stones and tens of thousands of hand-cut glass, ceramic and stone mosaic tile. The mosaic designs are primarily bands that vary from abstract figures of plants and animals to representations of plaids, diagonals and medallions. The walls also bear ceramic plaques incised with American Indian rock art symbols along with handprints of the workers and their families.

queencalifiacircle1 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The fiberglass totems, varying in height from 11 to 21 feet, stand at floor level and can be examined close-up. They are surreal but easily recognizable shapes mounted on columns bearing other animals and birds.

Picture 175 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The Yelling Man Totem differs from the others. Instead of being mounted atop a column, the column is the totem, with a giant open mouth at floor level. A large iguana crawls up the back of the Cathead Totem, while the Bullhead Totem sports bears and eagles. An eagle upside down and another iguana decorate the Birdhead Totem.

Queen Califa’s Magical Circle, Kit Carson Park on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The Step Totem, one of two with mirror mosaics, has a small seat for viewers directly in front of two seated figures.

Picture 046 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

A multibodied snake embraces the Kingfisher Totem. The Snake Totem has two if its namesakes entwined around a column decorated with mirror tiles.

Sculpture garden by late artist opens in Escondido North County Times - North San Diego and Southwest Riverside County News - NCTimes.com - Californian.com

Picture 082 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Queen Califia’s Magic Circle Mosaic Sculpture Garden - Niki de Saint Phalle - Escondido, California

Mosaic Art Source - Mosaic Master - Niki de Saint Phalle Mosaic Image Archive

Mosaic Art Source - Who was Niki de Sant Phalle?