I focus on nourishing, celebrating, re-kindling and inspiring this innate sense of wonder everyone is born with. At times we remember but it’s easily pummeled and forgotten in this hectic world. Often it’s also because we’re way too hard on ourselves. Don’t forget to give yourself a break!
My impromptu mosaics bring a seeming chaos of unrelated materials and elements together into an ordered, colourful whole, like a miniature universe, reflecting the magic of spontaneous, contemporary mosaic making.
“Disparate pieces attract, influence each other, and miraculously become inseparable” ~ Ilana Shafir, mosaic artist (1924-2014)
Over the years, I’ve had the fortune to see and absorb ancient mosaics up-close and personal in exotic locations as far away as Italy, Spain, Iran, Jordan, Syria and France.
Currently, my mosaic studio is located in native bush near the Far North’s Mount Maungataniwha. My work is exhibited and collected throughout New Zealand, as well as sold overseas.
Writing is another big part of my life. I write daily in one form or another, sometimes as mosaics blogs on this site, as well as my journalism website, here. And then there’s music – listening, playing, singing and writing it – and “hanging out” with humans and dogs.
Let me also mention the mosaic artists who have influenced and inspired me greatly, the late Ilana Shafir and Friedensreich Hundertwasser, as well as Lee Krasner.
A brief history of work on show and work in the mosaic community:
= July 2021 : : Established a small gallery for taking workshops and sales, 837 Oruru Road, Peria
= October 2020 – present : : Mosaic pendants, hearts and birds in “The Flaxbush gift shop”, Mangonui
= March 2020 – present : : National coordinator for “Mosaic Murals for a World without Child Malnutrition” (Una Manita a CONIN) in New Zealand
= September 2017 – May 2022 : : Webmaster MAANZ.org
= January 2021 – July 2022 : : Committee Member New Zealand Mosaic Association (NZMA)
= December 2020 – January 2022 : : Mini mosaics on display in “Gloss”, Mangonui
= September 2019 – May 2022 : : MAANZ NZ-Branch representative
= 7 September 2018 : : Awarded “Highly Commended” in the NZMA 2018 Exhibition, Orewa
= 7 – 30 September 2018 : : Entry in the NZMA bi-annual Mosaic Art Exhibition in Orewa
= December 2018 – present : : Membership New Zealand Mosaic Association (NZMA)
= August 2018 – July 2021 : : Exhibiting work at the Bush Fairy Dairy, Oruru Road, Peria NZ
= March 2018 : : Three week, 6-hour workshop at Far North REAP for 10 participants
= Easter 2018 & 2019 : : Guest Artist at the Whangarei Heads Arts Trail
= July 2016 – present : : member of MAANZ (Mosaic Association of Australia & New Zealand), established a studio in the Far North of New Zealand
= October – December 2017 : : Solo exhibition at Ramada Resort, Taipa (now ‘Taipa Beach Resort’)
= September 2017 – present : : webmaster/webcurator of the website of MAANZ (the Mosaic Association of Australia & New Zealand)
= May – November 2017 : : Series of Workshops in the Community “Design, Grout, Finish”, in Kerikeri [at FlowerFlour] and Awanui [Awanui Primary School]
= August 2017 : : Entry in the MAANZ Symposium 30:30 Vision Exhibition, Salamanca Gallery Hobart, Tasmania
= 10 – 11 June 2017 : : Taranaki Arts Trail, guest artist at The Art Café New Plymouth
= 13 January – 14 February : : solo exhibition at “The Rosetta Café”, 121 Rosetta Road, Raumati South (Kapiti Coast)
= September 2016 : : group exhibition at “The Art Café” in New Plymouth with a series of small mosaic wall hangings
= 2004 – 2016 : : completion of a number of in situ commissions, some of which are pictured on the homepage of this website (Portfolio page)
= 2014 : : mosaic window hangings on show at the former “The Raised Eyebrow Art & Coffee House”, New Plymouth
= 2004 : : first mosaics shown in “The Bridgeman Gallery” in New Plymouth (Taranaki)
= 2003 : : 10-day summer course in Adobe earth building and mosaics, The Earth House, Peria, facilitated by Günther Andraschko and Dhaj Summer
= 2002 : : first mosaic completed by following step by step instructions from a library book
My other websites:
- www.creativityispower.com [writing and journalism, both as ‘Marja Kooreman’ and ‘Sitara Morgenster’]
- www.preciousattention.com [mindfulness training]
Sitara Morgenster
January 2023