All posts filed under: Mosaics around the world

Next summer – Ayvalik!

Published by gertrud

How about a vacation in Turkey in a beautiful old stone house with a mosaic floor in the bathroom? We rent out our summer house in the quaint town of Ayvalik on the North Aegean coast of Turkey. https://www.manzara-apartments.com/en/mozaikli-ev-en/# I lived in Turkey with my family 12 years ago and bought this summer house there. For me, this was a great opportunity to create a mosaic floor in the classic style. So many people were interested in it during production that I started this blog. The house is situated on a hill in the middle of the small town of Ayvalik, which has remained very unspoilt and has not yet seen much international tourism. There is a market twice a week where the whole town is filled with families from the surrounding villages and you can buy everything from fresh local vegetables, socks and underpants to hand-carved spoons made from olive wood. And not just the spoons, but of course the oil and the olives themselves, as Ayvalik is located in Turkey’s largest olive-growing region. …

A reunion with Jack Whitten

Published by gertrud

Reunion with Jack Whitten – A retrospective at MoMA, New York A few years ago, I had the opportunity to see Jack Whitten’s works for the first time at the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin. At the time, it was a real surprise for me to discover his mosaic paintings. I was particularly fascinated by how he integrated the mosaic technique from Greece into his paintings after a stay there. Even back then, I was impressed by his unique method of making the mosaic tiles himself from dried acrylic paint – a creative and elaborate technique that gives his works a special depth and structure. In April 2025, I had the opportunity to experience Whitten’s works again in a comprehensive retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. The exhibition gave me new insights into his working methods. It was particularly exciting to learn that his fascination with acrylic paint is partly due to the fact that this medium only emerged in the 1970s – a time in which Whitten worked with it …

…. And a Magic Garden in Philadelphia

Published by gertrud

Visiting friends and relatives in the USA is always a good opportunity to discover with them the mosaic treasures of their place. This time I went to visit my nephew Cornelius in Philadelphia where he is doing a gap year for Action Reconciliation Service for Peace in a social project that cares for immigrants in Camden near Philadelphia. He was happy to tag along a tour of mosaics in Philli. First we visited the “Dream Garden” (see previous blog) and then went on to the “Magic Garden” of this otherwise very urban city centre full of beautiful art deco and newer buildings. https://www.phillymagicgardens.org/about-philadelphias-magic-gardens/themes/ Magic Garden is a life long project of Isaiah Zagar who used the work initially as therapy from a mental break down. The Magic Garden is a project classified under the term “ Art environment”. It’s now a foundation and we could even join a tour of this crazily busy mosaic project. What drew my attention? I am interested in grout lines (the interstices between the mosaic pieces) and how to use …