August 9, 2010

Uptown getting a mosaic park, piece by piece

Uptown is getting a mosaic park.

The vacant at lot at 1341 Washington Ave., owned by Linea Anthony and Cliff Goodenough, is undergoing a transformation. It started two years ago when famed mosaic artist Isiah Zagar designed and led a group of community volunteers in creating two mosaic walls on either side of the lot.

Now, Goodenough is working to cover a new brick fence along Washington Avenue with colorful mosaics of birds, turtles, berries and other designs. Goodenough was out working Friday. It'd taken him about two weeks to get halfway through the walls, he figures he has another week left, if the weather cooperates. He can't work in the rain because the glue he uses to attach tiles, plates, mirrors, and other collected objects doesn't hold up when wet.

Goodenough and Anthony plan to turn the lot into a park with native plants and a small pond.

Here's some snapshots of Goodenough's mosaic work ...

Goodenough cuts a mirror to glue to his mosaic wall. He admitted it was enjoyable, but tough,
work. He jokingly described the project as Racine's "wailing wall" because of the painstaking
effort its taken him to cover the fence along Washington Avenue.  

Birds are a main theme of the wall.
Goodenough drilled these bowls into the wall as berries. He'll add grout
around the berries to blend them into the mosaic. 
A beautiful rabbit. 
Pieces are cut by scoring the surface and breaking them along the line.
A frog.
A bird with berries. 
Another completed pillar.
A small sampling of Goodenough's palate of materials.





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