Blossoming Seoul: A Mosaic Puzzle

I just found this post that I had written sometime after returning to Korea after spending time in Venice again during the summer...I'm hoping to get to go back for a few days this summer too! We'll see how the plans fall!

More than half of my six day stay in Venice was spent, once again, in the mosaic workshop at Orsoni and I loved every minute of it. I enjoyed the challenge of trying to take a flat image and give it dimension and texture. Although I'm not an artist by any stretch of the imagination, I feel alive in creative settings like this. This time I chose to make a smaller piece that I thought I would have no problem completing in the time allotted. Wrong! I'm still slow when it comes to cutting and placing pieces...and I'm still a wicked perfectionist. According to Antonella, it seems that my speed and skills with a hammer had improved since my first visit. Unfortunately I couldn't say the same about my Italian.

So happy to be back in the mosaic workshop!

My class was made up of four other lovely ladies--two adult women like myself, one twelve year old, and a high school student. It was a nice mix and everyone had such varying experiences to bring to the table. One of the greatest rewards of a class like this is the opportunity to meet people you would otherwise never cross paths with, and these ladies had such wonderful mosaic expertise to share. Of course there was also Mirta, the lovely student coordinator and translator, and maestra Antonella to give us feedback and suggestions throughout the process as well.

Mirta's project--a lovely photo frame

One of Antonella's ongoing projects--look how perfectly her pieces fit and flow

Maria's extra large angel, a commission for a friend

For three days, and hours into the night, I hammered, placed, fitted, shattered, and cursed the smalti. Working with glass teaches you a lot of lessons in patience. It brought to light some of the things I struggle with in real life too. Glass is unyielding and uncompromising (not unlike life). The glass does not always do what you want it to (hmmm). You cannot "will" the glass into fitting into a specific place or becoming a certain shape unless the craftsman can skillfully attack it with the hammer. If at first you don't succeed (in cutting the glass the way you want it), try, try again...and again...and again. Persistence generally pays off--or you give up on trying to make it perfect and accept good enough (a tough lesson for me). My biggest struggles and triumphs usually occurred at about the same point in the day--by this I mean in the middle of the night when I was sitting alone in the workshop with only my iPod and my thoughts. Though some of those hours were a bit lonely, they provided the time I needed to reflect on the trip, and on life. All this from cutting glass, who knew?!

Professional artist Patricia

Maria Cristina

Maestra Antonella

High school student Maggie

Our class!

Me, Giulia, and Maggie having a little juvenile fun in the Orsoni courtyard

I suppose a lot of this need to ponder life was not just inspired by my travel experiences, but also by the fact that I celebrated my 30th birthday in the middle of this mosaic workshop. I wanted to enter this new decade with purpose and anticipation. I also desired to pinpoint my passions because that's where I want to invest my energy as I move forward into my 30's. I felt like this was the jumping off point and I wanted to start off strong.

By the way, I entered my 30th year with a toast and treats from the mosaic ladies.

It took me a bit longer than three days to finish my mosaic piece. In fact, I was still in the workshop on Sunday afternoon putting in the final pieces, but I did it, and I was in good company with two of my other classmates. Despite a number of challenges and frustrations, I created something I am really proud of...something beautiful that will remind me of this trip and will help me to hold on to the memories and the lessons. And who knows, I might be mosaic making again soon!