"Born to Dance" Shown on Location

Born to Dance Next          Back to Gallery

 Artist Notes
- Born to Dance -

"Born to Dance" loosely portrays some of the teachings of Paracelsus, a sixteenth century alchemist, philosopher, mystic, astronomer and physician. The mosaic also reflects the commonality and potentiality of the components in our universe. In this case, what comes out of the ground, closely relates to our above ground earthly environs and to what we see in the sky. The sylph, the salamander, the nymph and the gnome were imaginary beings inhabiting the four elements once believed to make up the physical world.  

The Indian, Chinese, Brazilian and Pennsylvania slate mosaic "Born To Dance" is a triptych, each panel measuring 4 feet by 8 feet (the whole measuring 8’x12’). Born To Dance was created from slate, garnets, and micaceous slates. The mosaic loosely portrays the teachings of Paracelsus, a sixteenth century alchemist, philosopher, mystic, astronomer and physician. The mosaic also reflects the commonality and potentiality of the components of our universe. In this case, the slates coming out of the ground closely relate to our above ground earthly environs and to what we see in the sky. The sylph, the salamander, the nymph and the gnome were imaginary beings inhabiting the four elements once believed to make up the physical world.

The "Born To Dance" mosaic triptych was created by the following method. Most of my custom stone commissions follow this pattern. The client requests a theme or subject, if they have one in mind. They are offered a choice of tesserae, which are compatible with the architectural appointments. Depending on the size of the commission, 300 to 2000 stones are washed and sealed, then scattered at random about the room. It is a challenging process to explain that the picture is already there on the rocks: creative selection will allow the picture to develop and reveal itself, piece by piece. It involves watching and listening so that the stones can guide the picture along using the artists hand and eye to audition each stone and execute an image that is preconceived but not completely finished or assembled. No preliminary sketches are made or offered.

Close examination of the "Born To Dance" stone mosaic will reveal numerous examples of mirror image stones which offer symmetry to the piece. The slate is delaminated by striking it with a hammer and chisel. Notice the masks, butterflies, faces, horns, and mirror image pieces. No paints were applied to the natural stone coloration. This piece is currently for sale including the three dimensional fire dancer and fire wall. The price $120,000.