It was my first trip abroad that introduced me to the architectural creations and the fantastic environments of Antonio Gaudi in Barcelona. The fearless scale of his work had a great impact on me; entire rooftops, building facades, and undulating benches encrusted with mosaics. I was inspired enough to take on the challenge of designing and creating a fifty foot broken plate mosaic bar for a restaurant in Northampton, M.A. The restaurant was scheduled to open in a couple of weeks, which it did successfully.

     Right from the beginning, I enjoyed working with mosaics in the pique assiette tradition, which literally translates to “stolen from dishes”. I found that I was able to express great detail in the medium and use it in a figurative way. Veins in leaves and butterfly wings could be illustrated in the interstices between shards. Flowers could have expressiveness. Birds and snakes could look right back at you with a certain crack of a plate.

     Always a collector by nature. Accumulating stacks of old dishes to use as a palette comes easily for me. Others seem to enjoy making gifts of their “ruined” china rather than throw them away. Rarely a week goes by without such an offering being left on my doorstep. Knife scrapings, worn gilt edges and accidental chips, all potential reasons for a dish's abandonment, are left as evidence in the final works of art.

     Each mosaic is envisioned in its entirety before I begin. Being a self-taught artist, I learn as I go along, enjoying coming up with original solutions to technical problems. Every mosaic represents a feat of patience. Hours can be spent on one small section. Other sections move along quickly. The diversity of my approach to the medium attracts unusual and varied commissions; from large circular pools installed in a botanical garden to a miniature portrait of a woman.

Jenifer Strachan