Mosaic Mirror class at Bower Center coming up August 1

6-10x10 mirrors
Materials used include:
Crystal Colorfusion glass, Van Gogh glass,
Bisazza Opus Romano, iridescent glass tiles,
millefiori

Dotti Stone will be teaching a Mosaic Mirror class beginning Thursday, August 1 - meets four consecutive Thursdays, 6-8:30 pm in the classroom just down the hall from Cornerstone Gallery.

Students will use a variety of beautiful tiles to create a 10" square accessory mirror. This is an opportunity to make something for your home or create a one of a kind gift for someone special.

Register now! 
Find full details on Bower's website
Go to: www.bowercenter.org
or stop in the Bower Center office.

A Closer Look at Some of the Work

Miniatures by Sally Carter

Sally Carter has made some stunning miniature vases ... these make fabulous little gifts ... or start a collection for yourself!!! Her husband Gene concentrates on functional pieces everyone can use and, while Sally does to an extent, her items are often more unusual and innovative utilitarian pieces; i.e. French butter keepers and yarn bowls. 

Mosaic eggs by Sergei Troubetzkoy

Sergei Troubetzkoy, who is fondly referred to as the "Egg Man," seems to have endless ideas for more mosaic eggs. And it would appear that "Bizarre Bertha," the quirky gorgeous bird he created, may get a companion ... no word as to when, but the idea is percolating!

Bizarre Bertha by Sergei Troubetzkoy

Second Friday opening of The Cornerstone Gallery

Weeks of working on this little space have finally yielded a bright cozy gallery filled with exciting and colorful mosaics and  unique pottery created by potters Gene and Sally Carter, and mosaic artists, Bonnie Kinnaird, Sergei Troubetzkoy and Dotti Stone. It was officially opened Friday, July 10 and visitors drifted in to see the new space as well as have another opportunity to see the James Underwood Retrospective Exhibit in the Concert Hall Gallery and main lobby of Bower Center.

The Cornerstone Gallery 5
L-R: Bonnie Kinnaird, Sergei Troubetzkoy,
Dotti Stone, Gene and Sally Carter

Gene Carter, the accidental potter!

Double walled planter

Where's the Salad

There is absolutely nothing in my academic or employment background that in any way offered a hint I might become a potter. My undergraduate and graduate majors included chemistry, biology, psychology, and public administration. My work history was a series of mundane jobs as a statistician or program administrator. And, my fledgling attempts at drawing in grammar school were long ago totally and forever squelched by a classmate who dismissed them as "copying" because I drew pictures that I saw in books. Having never recovered from that harsh denouement I relegated my artistic "career" to the back burner and moved on with my life.

The Proverbial Chicken Roaster

When my wife Sally transplanted a potter's wheel to the middle of the kitchen in our crowded home in southern Maryland curiosity eventually got the upper hand and I gave throwing pottery a try. I actually became fairly proficient at it and, quite remarkably, some of my work is actually in The Cornerstone Gallery.  As a person who appreciates and admires art, I would classify my work as functional, repetitive, and dreary. So, if it's fine art you are after when you visit the gallery, check out the mosaics by Dotti Stone and Bonnie Kinnaird, my wife's beautiful pottery, or have Sergei craft you one of his unique mosaic eggs. Any of the foregoing will comprise an excellent addition to your collection of good local art and make your trip to The Cornerstone Gallery a memorable experience. But, if you have an insatiable need to cook chicken in a handcrafted chicken roaster, I'm your man!

Sergei Troubetzkoy, 3-D mosaic artist

Bizarre Bertha

Sergei Troubetzkoy grew up in Richmond, Virginia where he began his career which has included working for tourism programs in Richmond, Petersburg, Staunton and now Bedford, Virginia. Over the years he has worked in many mediums including gold and silver, glass, photography, painting and now mosaics thanks to his neighbor Dotti Stone who teaches classes in mosaics at The Bower Center for the Arts in Bedford.

Spring Garden
Gazing ball

Bird Nest

After completing his first mosaic project, a gazing ball, he quickly moved on to creating mosaic eggs (many of which use actual egg shells) and most recently a fanciful mosaic-covered bird. Working with three-dimensional surfaces such as eggs is challenging due to the irregular shape and curved surface and as a result it requires very small pieces of tile, most of which are hand-cut. Working with tiny pieces of glass and irregular surfaces can test the patience of anyone! Because of the small size and shape, it takes a long time to complete just one egg because only a small fraction of the surface can be worked-on at a time.

Sergei enjoys experimenting with various colors and textures to create unusual and unique objects.

Cornerstone Gallery opens in Bedford this coming Friday, July 12!

Bonnie Kinnaird, Mosaic, assemblage and concrete artist

Trail of Tears

At the End of the Day

"My life of art is a treasured gift.  A gift of dreaming, learning, experimenting and manipulating materials ranging from paper to concrete.   Each day brings a new design, a new material, a new technique, a new challenge, at times coming together beautifully and at other times not.  But each day in the life of art is a day of excitement and passionate creativity.   I am appreciative of all those who share their enjoyment of all forms of art by a simple nod of the head, a smile or a second look … it is the ultimate compliment.  
A life of art 
is a life well lived"

Upon a Star

Sally Carter, Ceramic Artist

Wheel-thrown & hand built, raku-fired

I received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the George Washington University at the time when the art program was connected with the Corcoran School of Art and the oil painting classes were held on the top floor of the Corcoran Gallery.  Easels were in a loose circle, professor squeezing in and around, helping by adding brush strokes here and there.  Pigeons circled above, adding their "comments" to us and/or our work.

Wheel thrown, raku fired

The ceramics classes were held in the basement, populated by a rather less gentile group of people -to my mind, as they were always covered in dust and mud and unlike those of us on the top floor, soiled, as it were, by their own choice. That was my opinion of clay work at the time and I wanted nothing to do with that.

Carved unglazed porcelain wall hanging
overall size 12x12

Later a little older and somewhat wiser, I came to appreciate what they did:  art that you could hold, fondle actually-if you wanted, and which seemed much more intimate and accessible to me.  Relocating to Southern Maryland afforded me the opportunity to learn wheel-throwing and hand building and also something about the current aesthetics with regard to clay.  The place was St. Mary's College of Maryland, a beautiful public honors college on the water in St. Mary's City, Maryland.  Some years later, a program funded by the NEA, sent me and other teachers in our county to the University of Maryland for courses to prepare for a learning experience in Japan.  The purpose was to bring a knowledge of Japanese culture back to the public school curricula.  My focus was the history of the tea ceremony and the pottery associated with it.  As a result I was able to teach this subject as a credit course at St. Mary's College, along with the making and firing of tea bowls.  The course concluded with a tea ceremony, complete with whisked green tea in the raku-fired bowls, tatami mats and a sense of peace and beauty.   The art teachers in the public schools used this as a unit in their classes.


Together with my husband, Gene, we operated a wholesale and retail pottery business for quite a few years.  As for an "Artist Statement", I go back to the reason I concentrated on pottery.  I want to make one-of-a-kind pieces, mostly functional, which I hope will give a little more meaning to the things, often mundane, that we do everyday.  I believe it is pleasing to know that this useful object was made from start to finish with thought and care.   

Dotti Stone, Mosaic Artist

Each of the next few days there will be a post about a different artist who is a part of The Cornerstone Gallery.

The room for this new gallery space is adjacent to mosaic artist, Dotti Stone's studio. She and potter Sally Carter decided to share the space and invited Gene Carter, Bonnie Kinnaird and Sergei Troubetzkoy to join them.

In the Looking Glass

Dotti started out as a professional photographer in the Washington DC area and owned and operated two studios there. In the late 70s/early 80s she sold Stone Photography to a staffer, and became a free lance photographer and started a stained glass business. Several years in Baton Rouge followed then a return to the DC area where she managed Dupont Photographers, which she bought in 1992 and in 2005 sold to a staffer. By 2004 she had already been introduced to mosaics, but it wasn't until 2007 that she avidly pursued it and that was after relocating to Wirtz VA. Teaching mosaics led to Bedford and in 2010 another relocation brought her next door to Bower Center for the Arts where she had already begun to establish herself and maintain a studio. 

In addition to exhibiting locally and nationally, and now in Bower Center's new Cornerstone Gallery, she is a member of TECAC, The Electric Company Artists' Co-op, 207 E Depot in Bedford.

She teaches youth and adult mosaics classes at Bower Center and on occasion for Roanoke Parks and Recreation at Brambleton Center. Teaching others this ancient art is another passion, so people can create mosaics for personal use, to introduce them to different techniques, to help them develop an appreciation for mosaics and to inspire others with what they make.

Crimson Rhythms
Mosaiced travel guitar

The materials incorporated into mosaics is varied ... from traditional marble, stone, porcelain and glass, to glass nuggets, gems and minerals, pebbles, beads, millefiori, stained glass, ceramic tiles, many found objects ... and the list goes on. 

Remnant: Reversible Blue
(made with Orsoni smalti)

Mosaics are challenging, whether on a flat surface or 3-D shapes. More recently a Remnant series has been evolving, of which "Remnant: Reversible Blue" is a part. The shapes in this series are typical of scraps of fabric that might be from a garment that keeps a memory of the past alive.

The timeless beauty and versatility of ancient mosaics and the ease with which it integrates into modern society is what attracted Dotti to this medium. They may be fine art works, decorative functional items, or public art. Creating mosaics and inspiring others to enjoy, appreciate and learn about this versatile art through exhibiting and teaching is her passion.

Cornerstone Gallery Opening

Don't miss the opening of this exciting new gallery at Bower Center. In addition to The Cornerstone Gallery's official opening, resident artists Karen Carter, Janie Mantooth and Nancy Laurent will hosting an open house in their art spaces, too!

Bower Center for the Arts 

305 N Bridge St, Bedford VA 

Friday, July 12  5-8PM