October Artist of the Month: Colette Mann

This month's Artist of the Month, Collette Mann is a mixed media artist who creates using glass, polymer clay, repurposed jewelry, broken dishes, abandoned windows, beach glass, and pretty much anything that she finds. Her interests in addition to creating mosaics includes polymer clay, herbs, the language of flowers, alternative medicine, yoga, hiking, religious history, the mysteriously strange, moss gardeners, other artists, music, books, and antiques. She also loves exploring the healing properties of art.

When Collette isn’t making art, she works as a public health nurse and enjoys collaborating with her husband on her projects and spending time with their two dogs. Her passions are humanitarian outreach programs, volunteering and teaching at various non-profit organizations. 

In describing her work, Colette says, "I prefer to use many different mediums, such as stained glass, smalti, polymer clay, acrylics, paint, pebbles, etc. I sometimes find working in a single medium restrictive to my artistic process. Each idea manifests in its own individual style.  Incorporating recycled glass, repurposed windows or using sentimental items from clients is a passion of mine.

I am inspired by the old and mysterious Eastern European icons that depict religious motifs. I like creating pieces that resemble ancient icons in a modern way, inclusive and open to interpretation. Most of my pieces use symbolic images to express a mystical idea that can become unique to each individual viewing the piece.  

Unity of Community is the recurring theme of my compositions 

Mosaic is my preferred medium. I’m intrigued by the ancient technique of hand cutting each and every piece of glass and grouting the pieces to create a more cohesive structure. In addition to glass, I often repurpose jewelry, recycle glass windows, terracotta pots, mirror, sea glass, broken dishes, polymer clay, etc. Anything and everything can be used as tesserae to construct a mosaic.

Whether you worship in a church, pray in a temple, kneel in a mosque, or pay homage to the sacred groves, all of us have more similarities than differences. We should embrace it."

Drop by the Art Speaks Gallery to view Colette's work on exhibit.  You also can see and shop her exhibition collection online. If you'd like to learn more about Colette and her work, you can visit her website.