By Amy Fleck
How often have you seen a craft or a piece of artwork and thought “I could totally make that/do that?” You might even throw in that you could do it for less money or that it doesn’t even look that hard. Of course, we don’t always focus on the fact that the hardest part of creating something is often coming up with an idea.
Using other people’s ideas to create something of your own isn’t unique to mosaics, but when I spoke to Robyn Miller, a local mosaic artist, we focused on her mosaic work and how she found her inspiration. While Robyn has sometimes been upset to see what feels like exact copies of her work, she still sees the value of telling people about her work and techniques. That was the jumping off point for our conversation. We talked about how she works and how you can be inspired by the work of others and use that in your own work without just copying.
Robyn went to Girl’s High, in Philadelphia and then on to Pratt Institute in New York. She taught art in the Philadelphia school district for 37 years and considered herself to be an Artist in Residence at her school; her classroom doing double duty as her studio. Robyn has always created art, but it wasn’t until she retired a few years ago that she was able to commit the time to creating a consistent body of work.
Once she had the time, Robyn found her “hook.” After seeing her work, you can’t help but agree that her take on mosaics is for sure her hook. You can see for yourself at http://www.robynsuemiller.com/. Robyn’s work is different from many other mosaic works of art. It’s more than just 3-D. It has a bas relief quality to it, despite not being carved. Robyn’s work is visually stimulating (I am personally a big fan) due to both its textural quality as well her color palette. Her mosaics contain not only regular tile pieces, but also found objects such as buttons and beads. But really, the hallmark of Robyn’s artwork, and what makes it so special, is that it also contains “tiles” she makes herself and which are unique pieces of art all on their own.
Robyn has always been a collector and her collections are part of what inspired her. She found a way to incorporate her love of things like figurines and cameos into her work. She came up with a way to use her favorite objects over and over instead of just once, as would be the case if she affixed the original to her pieces. Robyn came up with a way to make molds of her favorite items. Once the mold is made, she can make many of the same item. Once made, the items are glazed in the vibrant colors Robyn favors. After that, well, you can see for yourself how she uses these items in myriad ways. Essentially, Robyn has made mosaic artwork a creative process that has two parts. Creating items she’d like to use in her work and then coming up with ideas to use those items.
We now know that Robyn Miller’s creativity and abilities have many facets. She takes objects she loves and creates molds of them so she can make many copies (she figured out how best to make the molds, a whole other skill). She then uses painstaking care to glaze her items with amazing, colorful detail and then she incorporates them into her mosaic pieces.
While knowing all that and looking at her work is inspirational in and of itself, it’s hard to know where to go from here. Do you try to make molds yourself? Should you start collecting items? Should you add textural elements to your work? How do you do any of those things without looking like you’re copying?
Those are all great questions and a great jumping off point to discuss what it means to be inspired by someone’s work versus copying it. If you decide to incorporate found items that are special to you into your pieces, that’s being inspired by the idea. If you attempt to make your work look like Robyn’s, by essentially creating exact replicas, you are just copying. Now, sometimes copying something is great practice to learn techniques you are interested in mastering, but certainly, no one would think it okay to duplicate someone else’s work and sell it (think designer handbag knockoffs).
We all want to create original art that is satisfying to both ourselves as well as to those to whom we show it. Robyn calls it finding your voice. As is often the case for many of us, deciding what we even want to create is a challenge. And, once you figure out what you want to do, how do you get started? I think the way to navigate the fine line between inspiration and copying is to look at the way Robyn is inspired and how she turns thoughts and ideas into artwork.
One thing Robyn shared was the difference between planned work and work that just evolves as you go. If you get mired in the planning and the steps you need to take as well worrying the whole time if your work is coming out “right” some of the fun and spontaneity can be lost. Robyn doesn’t know what her pieces will look like when she starts. Her work evolves as she goes. She starts with a piece she’d like to use and goes from there. She describes the process as intuitive. Basically, when she finds something that appeals to her that she knows she wants to use, she builds on that. Each idea helps her decide what is needed next. Robyn shared a quote from Carol Stirton-Broad (mosaic artist and one of the founders of MSoP), “I love exploring process and materials without an end goal. Some of my favorite pieces have grown out of small tests or exercises.” This is not to say there is no value in planning your projects, it’s just another way let your ideas unfold.
I have often looked at other people’s work and books and Pinterest to get ideas. When something appeals to me, either color or technique or subject, I save it either on Pinterest or I take a picture of it to remind me. Robyn suggests keeping an inspiration notebook/sketchbook. Use those ideas and images to decide what kind of work you want to create that is unique to you and your vision.
Robyn believes another way to be inspired is to ask for opinions from people whose work you admire; a mosaicking mentor if you will. You can run your ideas by this person (or people) at any point in your process. When you let someone else know what you’re going for they can sometimes help direct you where you want to go. This is great advice for both creativity and technique. A mentor can help you discern if you are taking the right steps to realize your vision or help you pick the best grout color for your project.
Giving some thought to how Robyn works should help you be able to jump start your creative process and find your own voice. Think about if you work best by planning or letting things evolve, start your inspiration notebook/sketchbook or online idea folder and seek out a mentor or become part of a group who mentors each other.
