#drostle

The now President of The British Association for Modern Mosaics and regular guest lecturer at the Chicago Mosaic School didn’t make it nearly thirty years of creating mosaics without pushing himself to try harder than he did on previous works. The growing catalog of work by Gary Drostle has placed mosaic sculptures and other public artworks in Chicago, California Colombia, Chile and many other places in our big green world! Former hospital muralist and attic mosaic artist Drostle now works out of an old warehouse building that doubles as his home. Beautiful light floods its large north facing windows allowing for an almost perfect workspace. However his living space is unofficial and always under threat of closure making any stability hard to find and just so happens to be one of the things Gary finds most challenging as an artist.

“In our present society there are two aspects where artists face immense difficulties that should be given support, these are housing and workspace. Both of these are linked to income and there are a number of ways that artists can be supported. I think the provision of affordable housing and studio space is a crucial issue, especially somewhere like London where I live, where property prices are beyond the means of most people. Currently there is a discussion about introducing a ‘Citizen Wage’, I strongly believe that this could transform the lives of artists, as well as many other people, and start a new era in cultural richness for our world.” -Gary Drostle

GlassRoots) Complications with stability can cause distractions to just about anyone but we’re curious to know how you stay inspired in spite of that?

Gary Drostle)“I do think looking for inspiration can be a block in itself, it’s better to just get on with it. For me the location of new work is the starting point. Investigating the site, its history, its geography, its people looking at these will usually bring up an interesting story that I would like to pursue; in this way I see myself as telling or retelling a story. So I usually start work at 10am spending the first couple of hours answering emails and doing general business paperwork (if I am not careful sometimes this can fill the whole day). Usually after the emails are done I will either then do some design work (usually with a rough sketch) or carry on working on a mosaic construction.”

Gary Drostle studied fine arts at Camberwell then St. Martins and finally Hornsey College of Art in the graduating class of 1985.

GlassRoots)Do you remember why you started creating?

Gary Drostle)“I do believe that as children we all begin creative. As we get older most will either stop because they are not interested or they just give up because the struggle becomes too hard. So the question really should be when did you stop being creative?” 

GlassRoots)What advice would you give someone considering becoming a mosaic artist?

Gary Drostle)“I think the advice I would give would be to remember you are doing this because you love it, (if you don’t you are in the wrong job). Keep the love by making sure you give yourself time, time to rest and enjoy the fact that you are your own boss, take a day off and visit a gallery or just do something else, don’t let the work overtake you.”

GlassRoots)Who are your favorite artist and how have they inspired you?

Gary Drostle)“Karen Ami is one of my favourite contemporary mosaic artists. I also take a lot of inspiration from ancient and aboriginal art, my favourite place is the British Museum in London which houses wonderful collections of Celtic, Saxon, Native American, Inuit, Roman, Egyptian and Persian artifacts.”

Mosaic are defined as a picture or pattern produced by arranging together small colored pieces of hard material, such as stone, tile, or glass. Mosaics can be created using a variety of materials including stone, glass and most recently; digitally. The earliest known mosaics were created using pebbles as tesserae in 8th century BC. This pebble technique, used for both pavements and walls, was later greatly refined by Greek craftsmen during the 5th century. They were able to create intricate designs, using pebbles between one and two centimeters in diameter. Outlines were created with tiny black pebbles, and by the 4th century, colored stones painted red and green were added for greater variety, helping Greek artists to produce complex geometric patterns as well as detailed scenes of people and animals.

GlassRoots) Where can people experience your work?

Gary Drostle)“Most of my commissioned works are in public places; parks, schools, hospitals and town centres. Creating your own voice and having control over your own life through creating art is the most rewarding thing about creating for me. Placing my works in areas like this was a deliberate decision I took right at the beginning of my career, to place my work in the public realm and away from the closed gallery system.”

Special thanks to Gary Drostle for  encouraging our curiosity with his beautiful works and for allowing us to highlight him as Artist of the Week! If you would like to see more of Drostles talents visit his website (click here) and check out your local park, school hospital or town center - You never know what creation could might be in your backyard!