Susan Seymour’s mosaic tiles are often mistaken for ceramic, leather or linoleum. But the tiny pieces she employs, arranged in the manner of a Frank Lloyd Wright stained-glass window, are too intricate, too small and too unique for those materials.
Instead, Seymour discovered paper suited her vision best and she invented her own craft she calls “paper mosaic.”
The thin, lightweight sheets give Seymour control over color and texture. Seymour orders sheets of cork paper from Portugal and cherry bark from Japan, some with raised leafs or flowers, others smooth. She mixes paint herself and coats each sheet individually to create her own palette. Then she seals her work in acrylic, to make it durable and waterproof.
The Utah Arts Festival’s Board of Directors Jury in Salt Lake awarded her “Best of Show” this year, and on that high note she will be returning, for a third year, to the Kimball Arts Festival and later to the Sausalito Arts Festival in September.
Seymour is an artist and a crafts person, but she thinks of herself as a technician. She never attended art school, and says that has given her a certain degree of fearlessness about competing in the art world.
Seymour’s resume begins with a master’s degree in construction management, followed by a master’s degree in technical education, an attempt at a doctorate in adult continuing and higher education in British Columbia and a job with the United States government, evaluating federal training programs for substance-abuse prevention.
She only began making art 10 years ago after she became a mother, and, she says she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Seymour, who has been living in Heber City for four years, developed her paper mosaic technique after crafting tile mosaic, and needlepoint at home in her spare time.
But it was paper that she gravitated toward, since it offered the elements she liked best about collage, quilting and mosaic: original color harmonies with interesting texture.
“I like the level of intimacy I get with paper and color. I approach each project like a painter,” she says.
Seymour composes her pieces on a micro level and macro level, creating a balance of color relationships between squares and rectangles within an inch, and then, more broadly, as a larger piece, within four or five feet. At times, her patchwork of geometric shapes resembles Midwestern farms as seen from an airplane hundreds of feet above ground. She says her major influences are 19th century pointillists like Georges Seurat and art nouveau artists like Gustav Klimt.
Architecture is also a major influence. “Often, I’ll go into buildings and be inspired,” Seymour says.
On her Web site, Seymour explains her deeper connection and the philosophy behind her work.
“I see life as a compilation of bright and dark days, interesting and dull moments that form an overarching statement of who we are,” she says. ” Each life event is an element of our life’s mosaic. Only when we can see our life in perspective, can we see pattern and meaning.”
Seymour’s latest work, “Urban Park Series,” is a departure from her previous style, more sculptural relief, and less quilt-like. “I’m exploring the notion of urban parks and how children play in a structured area of nature,” she says.
Though Seymour has won several awards, including a 2004 award in mixed media at the Tempe Art Festival in Arizona and the “Best-of-Show” paper award at the Capitol Hill Arts Festival in Colorado, Seymour insists her ultimate goal is to create a visually interesting piece and a conversation piece. She wants to make art that’s friendly and approachable.
“A lot of artwork is challenging to live with,” Seymour observes. “I think my work fits in a lot of spaces. I want it to be something people connect with, but also something people can put in their homes.”
For more information about Susan Seymour and paper mosaics, visit www.papermosaic.net .