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Addicted
mr‘ Mass

Mosaic art partners bring
colorful joy to the world.

Midnight Enchantment

Suzanne Chessler I Contributing Writer

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Mosaic artists Morrine Maltzman and
Jacqui Ridley have created a collaborative,
partnership that has spawned a studio,
workshops, commissioned public works and
new materials and techniques, along with a
wonderful friendship.
In their Pontiac studio, the work partners
recently began developing moveable mosa-
ics. One example has nine squares on a larg-
er square so that onlookers can rearrange
the smaller parts to show many different
designs — an intentional nod to invite view-
ers to put their own finishing touches on the
pair's glass-based projects.
"We call it 'art your way,, ' Maltzman
says. "It can start out as a realistic piece and
become abstract, according to the changes.
Some of the images are abstract to begin
with, and we leave it to others to make many
different patterns by manipulating 'Glimmer
Glass Squares:"
The three-dimensional designers started
working together with the commercial name
Glimmer Glass Mosaics in 2012. Already
familiar with what each other was creating,

14 October 1 • 2015

Morning Has Spoken

they became acquainted personally as mem-
bers of Mosaic Artists of Michigan.
With their creative momentum, they
incorporate fabric, metals, gems and other
materials into multimedia visualizations.
Inspired by quilt and embroidery patterns,
they developed a resin technique that makes
fabric look like glass, presenting colors inno-
vatively.
Resin also is used to make and feature
gems.
"Our mosaics are very intricate Ridley
says. "We cut all our pieces by hand. It can
take us hours just to do a tiny square.
"Our realistic scenes have included boats
in the water, houses and sunsets. We have
done lots of different abstract designs. We're
really about color. We love bright jewel
tones:'

Partnered Projects

The artists' first project together — after
very different careers — was for Temple
Israel. Maltzman, active with the temple,
was asked to donate a mosaic to be offered

at an event, and she invited Ridley to work
with her. They came up with a scene that
showed an outdoor flower market.
Earlier, Ridley had done some commis-
sions for the California Chabad synagogue
where her sister, Terry Gladstone, is a
member. She also has done commemorative
pieces for local young people celebrating bat
and bar mitzvahs.
"One of our first large commission pieces
showed three-dimensional buildings of old
and new Detroit and was made for Henry
Ford Hospital," Ridley recalls. "We saw the
buildings and took pictures so it's very accu-
rate. We made the buildings out of wood
and covered them with glass and other
materials.
"Someone saw that and wanted us to
show their home in the same kind of three-
dimensional way. We did that by finding
bricks that matched their house and cutting
them into tiny pieces:'
Other projects have included mosaics
for the patient tower at St. Joseph Mercy
Hospital in Pontiac and a jeweled heart
mosaic for the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital
in Ann Arbor.
The artists, in their 60s, divide up the
work after idea exchanges on particular
works.
Ridley, who lives in Oakland Township
and majored in art at Wayne State
University, detoured into owning Ridley's
Bakery Cafe in Troy while her children were
young. When ready to return to art, she
studied mosaic styles through books and
began with small projects.
Maltzman, a pianist who lives in West
Bloomfield and still performs at Jewish com-
munal events, became interested in mosaics
while her son, Danny, was attending the
University of Michigan. She learned of a
mosaic class in Ann Arbor and enrolled.
As they worked together, Ridley and
Maltzman came up with ideas to promote
artistic expression in others. They started
conducting workshops for emerging glass
enthusiasts and included many varieties of
the material, such as stained, recycled and

gem-like.
Their next workshop series will be held
Oct. 19-20.
Participants will be using GlamGrout,
developed by the artists. They came up with
a nontoxic formula after Ridley realized she
was allergic to commercial grout. Their line
has 25 unique colors and soon will have
public availability through their website.
Examples of their own projects regu-
larly are displayed at the Half Day Cafe in
Rochester Hills, which is owned by Chris
Heeder, Ridley's husband. The artists wel-
come groups to observe their techniques
and have had several busloads from Meer
Apartments.
"Our building is an old industrial facility
and was first used to make carriages in the
early 1900s; Maltzman says. "It's now filled
with artists, carpenters and metal workers.
We use a lot of those people to help with
specialized aspects of the mosaics:'
Both women say they are addicted
to glass and find that working together
removes the lonely feeling some artists can
experience regardless of medium.

❑

Their next workshop will be held 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 19-20, at Glimmer Glass

Mosaics, 40 W. Howard, Pontiac. $295.
glimmerglassmosaics.com . (248) 709-1912.

Glimmer Glass Squares are moveable to

let viewers recreate the image.

