Welcome to Issue 3 of Mosaic & Glass. Once again, we have a packed magazine of inspirational and educational stories for you to enjoy! This time, our theme is business and money. Because being an artist is considered to be such an inherently solitary pursuit, something that struck me while putting this issue together was the many stories of collaboration.
Catrin Jones, who speaks to Angela Neustatter about running a stained-glass business on page 20, started her career by setting up a cooperative with four other glass artists. She says it was a great way to start out because you can advise and critique each other, work on designs together, and build up business skills.
CaCO3 is a collective of three Ravenna-based artists who knew from the outset that they wanted to produce largescale mosaics. Because of the high costs of materials involved, they developed a system where one or two of them would take on smaller pieces or restoration work to bring in a steady income. The other would continue working on larger artworks, which also allowed them to build up their body of collective work. Turn to page 30 to read Rebecca Ann Hughes’s interview with the artists.
Christina Elia explores the symbiotic relationship between artists and galleries on page 44. She finds that collaboration can result in a positive outcome for both parties and she gets some tips for any of you who might be considering approaching a gallery with your mosaic and glass art.
There are also stories of collaboration by London School of Mosaic students in Angela Youngman’s feature about National Lottery Heritage-funded mosaic projects (page 14) and in Matt Hanson’s exploration of Istanbul apartment mosaics, many of which were created by Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu and his wife Eren (page 62).
Thanks to those of you who entered and voted in the readers’ competition in Issue 2. Check out the winning artwork on page 50 and find out how you can enter the next competition there too.
I’m delighted with the quality and breadth of the articles in this issue – thank you to all of the writers, journalists and artists who’ve written or been interviewed. I hope I’ve suitably whetted your appetite and that you’re now ready to delve right in! As always, thank you very much to our readers and advertisers. There are some great discounts for you to enjoy on mosaic and glass supplies. Enjoy the read!
Rhona Duffy
Editor