My brother was telling me about a bike ride and visit he had with his friend, Anita who was staying in Canmore, for a few days. Anita was visiting her brother and sister-in-law, Leanne, who is an artist. Leanne showed my brother some art work that she did. She told him about a project she had been involved with; a mosaic, made from tiny, tiny tiles, all put together to form a full picture. Anita and Leanne were telling my brother about the artist in St. Albert, Lewis Lavoie, who is the inventor of the unique Mural Mosaic concept of uniting hundreds of artists together through their artwork into one unified image.
Leanne had been invited by Lewis Lavoie, to be one of the artists who created the mural for the Canada Games 2013. This mural is now on permanent display in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Leanne chose Anita as her inspiration for the tile that she painted for this mural. The big mural is a picture of a hurdler. The small piece that Leanne contributed is a picture of Anita crossing the finish line in the Ironman race. Leanne explained that unless you looked at that very small part of the piece, located on the hurdlers right leg, you would never notice that it was Anita crossing the finish line. The closer you look at the whole mural, the more you see that each tiny tile is a complete picture on it’s own, and that the artist had put the tiles together in a way that created the hurdler. My brother saw the mural online and said it was simply amazing to see how the individual little pieces all came together to create a large scene.
We talked about the skill and foresight it must take for an artist to have a big vision of a scene and then to be able to create it out of smaller pieces made by other people. Leanne explained many artists had been a part of this mural. Each had been given a range of colours to choose from for their piece. Lewis Lavoie did not micro-manage their artistry; rather he provided them with colour and with the theme of the piece and left the particulars to them. She also said that there were certain key, tiles that he did by himself, and that of course he had the vision of the piece in his mind and so he had an idea of where each artist’s contribution would best fit.
Since my brother told me about this I have been thinking about the idea of mosaics and how they can be a metaphor for our lives. Each piece of our life story can be thought of as part of the mosaic. The huge ‘side-of-a-building’ sized finished project can be thought of as the whole picture of our life. Each mini tile can be thought of as a day, or even as moment.
I was thinking about a mother or a father and about the influence that they have on their child. If I picture a child’s face as the large mural, I can imagine each small tile to be a picture of the parents on many different days, and I can picture how those parents’ actions help shape the final picture.
I can picture this same thing for a student in school. The final picture might be of a diploma or of the child on graduation day; the diploma or graduate might be made of tile after tile illustrating the many, many tiny actions that were involved in creating the final picture.
This concept can be used with any part of our lives. No part is created out of one single thing. Each of our lives has had many contributing artists involved in it’s creation.
This kind of mural mosaic art can be looked at from two perspectives. The first way to look at it is starting with the big picture. When looked at it this way, you see what the artist wanted to capture. You see the big picture; the wide view; the finished product. From this perspective, the finished product is clear and the small imperfections are not important. Looking at the whole scene, the details are a bit blurry and it appears that no single tiny square could make or break the beauty or depth of the big picture. This gives me some relief when I think about life this way; in the big picture way. It gives me permission to be less than perfect every single day.
The other way to look at it is to start with the tiny square tiles. Each of these, when zoomed in on, is a piece of art unto itself. Each of these adds to the beauty of the piece. From this perspective, I am inspired. If this is to be my moment that will be captured to be a part of something bigger, I want to have contributed my best. I am guessing that when Anita ran her Ironman, she had no idea that this image would be captured in her sister-in-law’s mind and used as part of a huge, inspirational piece of art. I’ll bet she’s incredibly proud that she gave her best effort. Reading the write up that Leanne wrote to describe the piece, it is obvious that Anita has had many inspirational moments in her life.
As you head into this next week, you have the chance to create a tile or two. You have the chance to be part of many people’s ‘big picture’. My inquiry for you this week is, ‘What tile am I inspiring?’
Learn about how to create timeless, inspirational murals in your life. Book a coaching session for you, for your workplace or for a group of friends.
Link to Lewis Lavoie http://www.muralmosaic.com/index.html
Big mural http://www.muralmosaic.com/sports.html
Anita’s tile http://www.muralmosaic.com/sports/panels/197.html
Leanne had been invited by Lewis Lavoie, to be one of the artists who created the mural for the Canada Games 2013. This mural is now on permanent display in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Leanne chose Anita as her inspiration for the tile that she painted for this mural. The big mural is a picture of a hurdler. The small piece that Leanne contributed is a picture of Anita crossing the finish line in the Ironman race. Leanne explained that unless you looked at that very small part of the piece, located on the hurdlers right leg, you would never notice that it was Anita crossing the finish line. The closer you look at the whole mural, the more you see that each tiny tile is a complete picture on it’s own, and that the artist had put the tiles together in a way that created the hurdler. My brother saw the mural online and said it was simply amazing to see how the individual little pieces all came together to create a large scene.
We talked about the skill and foresight it must take for an artist to have a big vision of a scene and then to be able to create it out of smaller pieces made by other people. Leanne explained many artists had been a part of this mural. Each had been given a range of colours to choose from for their piece. Lewis Lavoie did not micro-manage their artistry; rather he provided them with colour and with the theme of the piece and left the particulars to them. She also said that there were certain key, tiles that he did by himself, and that of course he had the vision of the piece in his mind and so he had an idea of where each artist’s contribution would best fit.
Since my brother told me about this I have been thinking about the idea of mosaics and how they can be a metaphor for our lives. Each piece of our life story can be thought of as part of the mosaic. The huge ‘side-of-a-building’ sized finished project can be thought of as the whole picture of our life. Each mini tile can be thought of as a day, or even as moment.
I was thinking about a mother or a father and about the influence that they have on their child. If I picture a child’s face as the large mural, I can imagine each small tile to be a picture of the parents on many different days, and I can picture how those parents’ actions help shape the final picture.
I can picture this same thing for a student in school. The final picture might be of a diploma or of the child on graduation day; the diploma or graduate might be made of tile after tile illustrating the many, many tiny actions that were involved in creating the final picture.
This concept can be used with any part of our lives. No part is created out of one single thing. Each of our lives has had many contributing artists involved in it’s creation.
This kind of mural mosaic art can be looked at from two perspectives. The first way to look at it is starting with the big picture. When looked at it this way, you see what the artist wanted to capture. You see the big picture; the wide view; the finished product. From this perspective, the finished product is clear and the small imperfections are not important. Looking at the whole scene, the details are a bit blurry and it appears that no single tiny square could make or break the beauty or depth of the big picture. This gives me some relief when I think about life this way; in the big picture way. It gives me permission to be less than perfect every single day.
The other way to look at it is to start with the tiny square tiles. Each of these, when zoomed in on, is a piece of art unto itself. Each of these adds to the beauty of the piece. From this perspective, I am inspired. If this is to be my moment that will be captured to be a part of something bigger, I want to have contributed my best. I am guessing that when Anita ran her Ironman, she had no idea that this image would be captured in her sister-in-law’s mind and used as part of a huge, inspirational piece of art. I’ll bet she’s incredibly proud that she gave her best effort. Reading the write up that Leanne wrote to describe the piece, it is obvious that Anita has had many inspirational moments in her life.
As you head into this next week, you have the chance to create a tile or two. You have the chance to be part of many people’s ‘big picture’. My inquiry for you this week is, ‘What tile am I inspiring?’
Learn about how to create timeless, inspirational murals in your life. Book a coaching session for you, for your workplace or for a group of friends.
Link to Lewis Lavoie http://www.muralmosaic.com/index.html
Big mural http://www.muralmosaic.com/sports.html
Anita’s tile http://www.muralmosaic.com/sports/panels/197.html
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