We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gila Rayberg a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Gila, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

For the most part I’m a self taught artist. Besides taking a hand full of workshops over the years, I learned by trial and error. My techniques continue to develop based on what has worked, or not, in previous artworks. I love playing, experimenting and trying out new ideas and materials.

Once I discovered the power of broken dishes I continued to search for new ways to use them. I find them to be both exciting and challenging. They’ve become a never ending source of inspiration in my materials toolbox.

I’ve developed online courses and teach workshops based on the use of broken dishes and pottery (called picassiette) which have become very popular in terms of the environment and up-cycling.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers. About you, your art/creative works, inspirations/focus/mission, etc.

When I was a music major in undergraduate school at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, I decided to take some summer courses in San Francisco to fulfill elective requirements. I took my one and only drawing and painting course, ceramics, and geology, which had me hiking thru many of Northern California’s wonderful state parks. In San Francisco I stayed with an older sister who lived in an artist cooperative. That summer she was teaching a mosaic workshop in her studio, and while I wasn’t part of the workshop itself, I did get my hands dirty creating a Mosaic of my own. It was a pleasurable experience, but I didn’t think much about it as I continued on with my music studies. I completed my BA in music at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and went on to achieve a graduate degree in music from Arizona State University.

I continued on as freelance musician and educator for many years, teaching in public schools, privately and in various locations overseas. During those years, I had repeated visions of settling somewhere and mosaic-ing everything around me. I realized that the short time spent in my sister‘s mosaic studio really did influence me in a subconscious way.

After four years overseas, I returned to the US. landing in New Orleans, where I had never been before, it seemed a great place to perform more music. My first year in NOLA I met my partner Mark, who I’m still with to this day, almost 24 years later. For his first birthday we were together, I decided to create a mosaic table for him. So many years had passed since I had been in that workshop. I scrambled to get all the materials and supplies together to create him a table, all in secret. It was a success! He was impressed and shocked, as he knew me only as a trombonist. I, of course, learned and discovered a lot in the process, including that I really wanted to keep doing this. I was hooked on mosaics!

I kept making mosaics in my spare time, in between music gigs. After a few years, I started teaching mosaic workshops, finding it was similar in many ways to teaching music; in the discipline, continual learning, and practice required.

Mosaic making is very physical. You have to touch, cut and arrange each piece individually. It’s time-consuming and intense. Over the years I incorporated more and more materials into my work. Starting with ceramic, then adding glass, stone, smalti (Byzantine glass), dishes, and other found objects. Now, anything goes as I love to mix all the materials together for visual and textural interest.

In 2010 I became fascinated with portraiture after becoming involved with an international online group called Julia Kay’s Portrait Party. I’ve been steadily creating an ongoing series of mosaic portraits of contemporary artist from around the world, with 70+ mosaics in this series to date. I almost always do drawings, sketches and paintings of my subjects prior to beginning on the mosaic process. I love keeping my portraits true to life, but with fantastical colors and patterns that are found in glass and dinnerware. Found & up-cycled materials add a level of interest and complexity to the works.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Change is the only constant

I’ve been fortunate to excel in my career paths even while making drastic changes. Changing from making my living as a freelance musician to creating art full-time wasn’t something I took lightly. Those big decisions were heart wrenching and difficult, but once the path was taken, I always found that opportunities and unexpected new pathways opened.

I learned to trust my instincts and go with my heart when I was very young girl. That sense was really reinforced when I traveled around the world by myself in 1992. I had only myself to rely on.

Life is an ever-changing and evolving journey. with endless twists and turns and pathways from which to choose. Just like a mosaic, each decision brings new opportunity. I’ve been so fortunate in my life to have two artistic careers which took me to unexpected places.

As a musician and music educator, I taught in Malaysia, living in several locations and teaching at various institutions, for several years. This allowed me to travel extensively throughout Southeast Asia. On those trips I became fascinated with many of the indigenous arts and cultures of the region, whose influences often show up in my artworks.

As a mosaic artist I’ve traveled around the USA, Canada & Brazil to teach, and have been invited to symposiums in Italy and Sardinia.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Landing in New Orleans when I returned to the United States from abroad was another culture shock! My first year in NOLA I played trombone on the streets every day, learning tunes for tips. I continued to freelance and play with a great three horn, New Orleans band for the next several years, until Hurricane Katrina hit… And everything changed, again.

It was while I was evacuated that I made the decision to focus my attention on the visual arts, and creating mosaics full time. We left New Orleans, moving to Perdido Key Florida in 2007 & I haven’t looked back.

I feel very fortunate to have continued to create my own work, always from my own designs and drawings. To have my style recognized and chosen for exhibits, as well as being selected to participate in international symposiums and invitational exhibitions has been a great honor.

I always try to stay true to the title of the piece I created for my first Symposium in Sardinia, a lesson engrained in me by my mother, “Find Your Own Path and Leave a Trail.”

Contact Info:

• Website: gila@gilamosaics.com
• Instagram: gilarayberg_mosaics
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GilaRayberg/
• Other: My online courses https://mosaicartsonline.com/courses/author/234176

Image Credits
All photos by artist, Gila Rayberg