Mosaic and Art at Mayan Beach Garden

Life and children got in the way of painting and I was fortunate enough to make a living creating art for the likes of Marvel and later for Sierra On-Line's computer games where I was the designer for a short series of computer games entitled Shivers.  When I finally made the decision to move to a Mexican beach I thought I would pick up painting again, but running a beachfront hotel in an out-of-the way place in Mexico didn't allow much time or inclination to paint palm trees and turquoise seas.  However, while the scenery was stunning, I was more inspired by the artistry of Mexico and the many colored fish swimming under the sea.  At the same time I was disturbed by the amount of plastic and fishing garbage that washed up on the beaches and vowed to make a statement.

 I had never created "real" mosaics before I arrived in Mexico, but was determined to use as much of the beautiful talavera tile as I could throughout the hotel. Since I couldn't speak Spanish back then and didn't know how to ask for help, I decided to start on some stairs that led  up to one of the rooms here at Mayan Beach Garden.  But I'm not a strait line person, so one of the first things I did was to make a fish climbing up the stairs, followed by a flying carpet at the landing. 

As much as I loved making mosaics out of tile, it is not a task that is kind to getting interrupted because the grout will dry in your bucket.  By the time I started on the 2nd flight of stairs, I realized I would never finish it as we were getting busier all the time.  It was at this time I started having Rafael grout my work and he did such a good job, before long I challenged him with a bathroom sink and mirror.  He followed instructions perfectly.  So I gave him a couple of patios to lay mosaic tile and taught him to fit the pieces together.  It wasn't long before I did the detail work and he was filling in the backgrounds.  I learned how valuable a good craftsman could be when I did the headboard mosaic over #6 - Tonina. He did many of the palm fronds and most of the background tile

Making art out of discarded flip-flops came later.  I knew I wanted to create art from the plastic on the beach and for over a year I scoured the internet for ideas but none of them seemed right for me.  So much of the plastic breaks in your hand as you pick them up, so I was at a loss. Then about 9 years ago, one of my guests left me a message on the beach.   It was a rainbow of abandoned flip-flops that had carefully arranged on the beach.  I knew immediately that it was for me.  What I didn't know was how limited the colors were.  There were about 6 blues, 3 blacks 3 greys, 2 oranges 3 yellows. . . you get my point. 

Below are images with information about the location in the hotel and the medium.  You can tell I like fish and am inspired by the fish in the sea.