Featured Artist – Darcy Thompson
Q & A
Q: Tell us a little about your art.
Q: Why did you start doing what you do?
Q: What makes you different from others in your field.
Many mosaic artists only use grey grout in their pieces so their grout work becomes almost hidden. I don’t use grey grout, instead I select a color that will unify all the small mosaic pieces and allow the grout color to be an integral part of the piece.
Q: What are your biggest influences?
A: I think nature really influences my work, not surprising as I do my best problem solving when out on a long walk. Much of what I create is either designed to be used outside or it includes imagery of plants, flowers or animals so I feel that I am immersed in nature even when working in my studio. I am also a passionate recycler and love reusing cracked and broken plate. The desire to use recycled materials comes from my belief that our everyday items have a second life; the challenge, and fun, is in finding out what that is.
Q: What has changed since you’ve first started?
A: My style certainly has tightened up, I have learned so many new techniques, and I am much more confident in working with clients on commissions than I was in my early days.
Q: Tell us something most people don’t know about your process.
A: I am self-taught and spend a lot of modifying tools and processes to develop a new body of work. Sometimes I go down an experimental “rabbit hole” and spend weeks, or months, trying out new materials or techniques. My free shaped pieces including my fish and birds were a product of one of these extended research sessions and I am so happy I stuck with the process to allow my vision become reality.
Q: What is your favorite part of what you do?
A: I love that I get to make so many different types of pieces. One day, or week, might focus on large pieces and the next it’s finding the perfect small pattern for a piece of jewelry. I particularly love making bespoke jewelry out of cracked or broken family heirloom china, passing it on to another generation in an entirely new form.