Julie Christmann
Julie Christmann is an award winning artist, creating contemporary mosaic art since 2012. Her fascination with the history of mosaics led to her love for stone and smalti, a Venetian Glass used in ancient mosaics throughout the Byzantine Empire. These materials are hand cut with the traditional hammer and hardie, a tool used as far back as 400 BC.
For Julie, cutting into a piece of marble, slate, or other stone is a mystifying experience. There is a timelessness and subdued beauty to this material that speaks to us without words.
In our modern world, this primal simplicity invites connection back to our earth and our humanity. Through Julie’s work, she hopes to bring this sense of connection into the heart of the viewer.
My work often begins with a spontaneous, free-form approach. This approach provides a sense of balance in my life. It is the perfect compliment to the other parts of me that need structure, planning, and a quest for certainty when navigating life’s challenges.
Each mosaic begins with a simple element, or seed of an idea. An interesting piece of stone, glass, or other material that inspires me, takes me down a path that usually ends somewhere completely unexpected.
Piece by piece, the journey is full of risk-taking, uncertainty, and love. It is the “yin to my yang”, and means more to me than the end result.
~Julie Christmann