Mosaic

Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It is a technique of decorative art or interior decoration. Most mosaics are made of small, flat, roughly square, pieces of stone or glass of different colors, known as tesserae; but some, especially floor mosaics, may also be made of small rounded pieces of stone, and called "pebble mosaics".

Mosaic has a long history, starting in Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BC. Pebble mosaics were made in Tiryns in Mycenean Greece; mosaics with patterns and pictures became widespread in classical times, both in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Early Christian basilicas from the 4th century onwards were decorated with wall and ceiling mosaics. Mosaic art flourished in the Byzantine Empire from the 6th to the 15th centuries; that tradition was adopted by the Norman kingdom in Sicily in the 12th century, by eastern-influenced Venice, and among the Rus in Ukraine. Mosaic fell out of fashion in the Renaissance, though artists like Raphael continued to practise the old technique. Roman and Byzantine influence led Jews to decorate 5th and 6th century synagogues in the Middle East with floor mosaics.

Mosaics (album)

Mosaics is an album by Mark Heard, released in 1985 on Home Sweet Home Records. According to the liner notes in Ashes and Light, this album was recorded first but delayed by the record company who wanted the less rock-oriented Ashes released first. Consequently, this was the first album recorded in Heard's own Fingerprint Recording Studio.

Album cover

The cover art included a mosaic of a photo of Heard. The photo was cut up into tiny squares. The sections were then sent to friends, musicians and onlookers to paint or scribble on. The pieces were brought back together and reassembled in a computer for the final album cover. The cover artists were Tim Alderson, Bill Batstone, Christian Benz, T-Bone Burnett, Tim Chandler, Nancy Clark, Dave de Coup-Crank, Terry Currin, Vernettie Currin, Alex Disch, David Edwards, Rowena Emmett-Stelmach, Maria Finch Chandler, Margrit Geissler, Peter Geissler, Hansruedi Graf, Heard's wife Janet, Heard's parents Jean and John Heard, Mark Heard, Susan Heard, actor Jerry Houser, Tom Howard, Tonio K., Barry Miller Kaye, Martin Kurz, L'Abri volunteers, Christa Laderach, Peter Laderach, Angy von Lerber, Jean Daniel von Lerber, Ed McTaggart, John Mehler, Lynda Mehler, Sye and Ina Mitchell, Leslie Phillips, Gian Sandri, Prisca Sandri, Edith Schaeffer, David Stelmach, Randy Stonehill, Terry Scott Taylor, Pam Terry, Pat Terry, Christie Tickner, David Tickner, Ray and Sue Ware.