A Journal of Mosaic Art
TESSERA
Where fractured glass becomes monumental surface.
Portraits of the makers who hold the nippers.
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Venetian Smalti◆Vitreous Glass◆Byzantine Tradition◆Gold Leaf Tesserae◆Opus Vermiculatum◆Natural Stone◆Millefiori◆Direct Method◆Indirect Method◆Ravenna Technique◆Venetian Smalti◆Vitreous Glass◆Byzantine Tradition◆Gold Leaf Tesserae◆Opus Vermiculatum◆Natural Stone◆Millefiori◆Direct Method◆Indirect Method◆Ravenna Technique◆
1Creator Spotlight
Mia Hartwell
Portland, Oregon
“I don't cut glass. I listen to where it wants to break.”
- Medium
- Venetian Smalti, Vitreous Glass
- Years Active
- 11 years
- Notable Work
- The Tide Rooms series, four private residences
Process Detail
Private Residence, Bathroom Wall — Portland, 2025
The grout is not the background. The grout is the drawing. Once you understand that, every surface becomes a conversation about line.
Mia Hartwell
Studio Mosaicist, Portland
2Creator Spotlight
Darius Okonkwo
Brooklyn, New York
“Scale is not about size. Scale is about how long you hold someone's attention before they realize they're not breathing.”
- Medium
- Gold Leaf Smalti, Lapis Lazuli Glass, Natural Stone
- Years Active
- 17 years
- Notable Work
- St. Anselm's Apse Commission, Williamsburg Garden Path
Process Detail
St. Anselm's Chapel, Apse — Brooklyn, 2024
I source my smalti from three furnaces in Murano and one family kiln outside Ravenna. The difference in light absorption between them is the difference between a surface that reads from twenty feet and one that reads from two.
Darius Okonkwo
Muralist & Architectural Mosaicist, Brooklyn
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