Art out of chaos

She says mosaic has a way of tempting those who see it.

"There are a lot of public mosaics now, and the more people see them, the more people will try them themselves," Mills Pipgras says.

Sacramento artist Maggie Jimenez was inspired by what she saw while serving on a local committee on art in public places.

"I saw a lot of cool projects, and I started thinking, 'I could do that,' " she says. After retiring as a teacher, the 62-year-old Jimenez found a new vocation: "I'm a mosaicking fool."

She laughs at her labor- intensive approach, which includes fabricating her own tiles: "You make the tile. Then you break the tile and then you put it back together again; it's such a silly art form."

Silly or not, there's enough interest in it to keep classes hopping at the Institute of Mosaic Art in Oakland, which opened in 2005. It includes a 5,000-square-foot mosaic garden.

"I think it's just kind of a result of people wanting to come back to creative expression," says Laurel True, one of the institute's founders.

The Internet has made it easier than ever to take up mosaic. You can order supplies as well as find inspiring images and tips, including a Yahoo California mosaic artists group run by Sacramento artist Dorothy Edwards.

The appeal of a mosaicking lifestyle are as varied as the people who have adopted it.

Lacie Carlisle, 30, an instructor at the UC Davis Craft Center gallery, finds that mosaic helps her achieve balance as a student and artist. (She has a master's degree in nutrition and just started veterinary school.)

"I'm kind of balancing my right and left hemispheres," she says. "I can't paint and I can't draw, and this is a little niche that works out for me. And it's very cathartic to break glass."

Dorothy Edwards, 41, finds something soothing about making her luminous and intricate glass mosaics.

"I call it my zen; it's very relaxing for me," she says. It's just the thing to do after a day working as a sales tax specialist for the state.

"More often than not I just sit down and start gluing stuff," she says.

Jennifer Iams-McGuire, a Grass Valley-area mosaic artist, says her children keep her supplied.

"You know life with kids; they break stuff, and it's into the studio," she says.

Pam Cabral was looking for a way to save a little money.

"About two years ago I saw these (mosaic) patio tables -- and they wanted eight or nine hundred dollars, and I thought, 'I can make that,' " Cabral explains. Today, the 49-year-old works part time as a nurse and spends off-hours creating mosaic pieces at her home in West Sacramento.

"My kids think I'm crazy. My mom thinks I desperately need a full-time job," she wrote in an e-mail. "I think I'll just buy more tile."

About the writer:

• The Bee's Alison apRoberts can be reached at (916) 321-1113 or aaproberts@sacbee.com.