I subscribe to the newsletter of an abstract artist in Australia by the name of Tracy Verdugo (do check out her work - it's pretty amazing and she offers a couple of free classes). She recently sent out this story about a mosaic that they had made on the exterior of their new home. I thought it was wonderful and wanted to share it with you. She gave me permission to use her full story and photos, so here you go... Enjoy!
Building an eclectic South Western style adobe home in an area known for periodic heavy rain squalls gave us some challenges. In the first stages of our major renovation back in 2006, our area was hit by the worst rains in 50 years and our family was awoken by what felt and sounded like an earthquake as a newly built 18‘ high wall buckled and collapsed at the entry to our home.
Most people who build mudbrick homes in Australia include covered verandahs and eaves in the design to protect the exposed outer walls from heavy rain. Our design had none of that so that when the rains came the water would wick through the seams of mortar between the mudbricks, filtering outwards making strange, wet blobby shapes on the interior walls.
Always the problem solver Marco came up with a solution by adding a decorative capping of tiny blue cobalt tiles to the top of the curved arch on the most affected front and back walls and suddenly our home had a little Moroccan fusion to add to the Southwest and Mexican feel!
Over time the idea came to him to extend the mosaic and create something beautiful out of what had at first been purely practical; he began to dream of a tree of life two stories high made out of tile and sea glass!
We quickly realized after weekends of beachcombing that we needed some help with the sea glass side of things, so along with the progress pics, I put out a call on Facebook for friends and family to send us glass collected from all parts of the world.
What happened next was just magical! Little envelopes filled with treasures from all over the globe began to arrive in our mailbox, each one with a story. Some gave us their lifetime collections of sea glass, along with beautiful stories and memories of where and when they had found their treasures, excited to know that they were adding to what was now becoming a global project.
Contributions to the Tree of Life arrived from all over the world, even from Iceland, and we also received an envelope filled with antique tile fragments found over the years on one woman’s daily walking commute along the banks of the Thames! As Marco added the gifted glass he was careful to engrave the initials of the giver on one of the pieces in their collection and after four months the project was complete.
We feel so blessed to have such a wonderful fusion of global enchantment at our front entryway. If you’re ever in the neighborhood please come by and say hello. Marco has even embedded a secret code into the wall but you’ll have to ask him if you want a clue!
Enjoy your week and may you find enchantment in every day!
Love Tracy <3
