After years of working as an attorney and then as an adjunct professor, Lisa Scarbath became a full-time mosaic artist in 2019. While Lisa has always found ways to be creative at work and at home, once she discovered mosaics, she knew she had found her passion. Since July of 2020, Lisa has been a Resident Artist at the Howard County Center for the Arts in Ellicott City, MD and a member of the Artists' Gallery since 2023. Lisa's mosaic work varies in imagery from the realistic to the abstract and also includes steam-punk inspired three-dimensional animals. In this feature, Lisa describes the process she used to complete her large scale mosaic, "Grand Teton"
What is a mosaic?
The definition of what constitutes as mosaic is a heavily debated issue within the mosaic community. The general understanding is that a mosaic is a visual work of art created by putting individual pieces (tesserae) together on a substrate to form a whole image. Mosaics can range widely from ancient floor decoration, to crafts, and to contemporary fine art. They can be created using traditional materials like stone and smalti or anything from broken dishes to found objects. Lisa Scarbath uses a variety of materials including smalti, stone, slate, tile, broken dishes, stained glass and found objects. Each material requires different tools and techniques for cutting, arranging and adhering the tesserae. Lisa chooses the materials based on the vision and outcome she wants for the finished artwork.
Inspiration for "Grand Teton"
The Grand Teton mosaic was inspired by a photo taken by Lisa in Grand Teton National Park during a vacation with her extended family.
She envisioned the final artwork to be a semi-transparent “painting” with glass using a vintage wooden window as the substrate so that it would feel like you could see the mountains while looking out of the window.
Lisa's Process
Step 1- Planning
Lisa enlarged the photograph to fit the window to use as a guide below the glass. Next, she selected stained glass based on the hue and value while keeping in mind whether the glass was transparent, semi-transparent, or opaque. This can be tricky because the color of the glass often changes when it is backlit.
Step 2- Cutting and Placing the "Tesserae"
Each piece of glass was hand-cut with wheeled nippers and adhered to the glass of the window with a clear PVA glue. It’s a painstaking process of getting the pieces in the right shape and as close together as possible.
Step 3: Grouting
Grouting the glass between the pieces can significantly change the overall look of the mosaic so the color of the grout is a big decision. For this artwork, Lisa tinted the grout with blue pigments for the sky so that the pieces would blend together, but in the water she used a darker grout to define the ripples in the water with darker lines.
The Finished Work
Overall, Grand Teton took approximately 75 hours to complete. It is 31” tall by 28” wide, is 23lbs and hangs with chain from eye hooks at the top.
See more of Lisa's work in the gallery's online store and follow her on Instagram and Facebook.