Mosaic Complete!

Just realized I ought at least to post a photo of the finished project and the volunteers. I have tons of photos, and have posted about a hundred of them so far, but on my facebook page. I will perhaps post a few more here as well. I believe everyone in the project is a part of this photo, including Giselle, our French professional mosaicist who was an absolute pleasure to work with. She taught us so much, but also gave us a lot of latitude in deciding how to plan the design and how to choose the colors, shapes of the pieces, etc. I think we all had a wonderful time with the project. I hope the fact that I described some of the volunteers as determined to spend time sightseeing, etc, did not give you the idea that they were not committed to the project. I feel that everyone was indeed quite committed, and that we worked very well together as a team, even as we tried to work out some of the differences of opinion about design and technique along the way. I know I learned a lot, not only about working with mosaics, but also about working with people, and I am sure everyone else in the group would agree.

Also wanted to mention that there are two volunteers whose bios have not yet made it into this account; Hasmik from Armenia, and Lucille, one of the two group leaders, who is French. Because I was working on three different computers along the way, I have their info in another place. I will transcribe it soon, I promise. Hasmik and Lucille, please don't think I am ignoring or forgetting you!

And, in theory, all of our work will also be immortalized on the webpage of one of our sponsoring organizations, Freres des Hommes, on whose behalf I conducted the interviews.


Actually, looking back at my title for this entry, I realize that the mosaic is not complete. It remains for it to be mounted on the wall, where it will hopefully be both noticed and admired.

It was so gratifying, at the very end of this trip, to go back and see the garden from my previous project realized in the neighboring 18th arrondissmont. That gives me addditional hope that this mural will eventually, and hopefully in the near future, be put in its place and appreciated. I also realize, and forgive me if I have already mentioned this, - that the motivation for me to take part in this mosaic project is partly due to my brief experience with mosaics from the
previous project, where I took discarded mosaics from the Paris Mosquee and reworked them into steppingstones for the garden.

Also, I am pleased to have planted the seed of an idea for Seyhmous and Naima, from Compagnie Resonances and the garden project, and Giselle, of the mosaic project, to possibly collaborate on a future volunteer project. Anything is possible.

Would I, Naima asked me last week, participate if they did another project? WOULD I?!