Jillian Cori Lippert's colorful mosaic glass springs to life with the addition of 3-D elements that catch the viewer's eye with a splash of fun and whimsy. Pictured here: A LITTLE CREAM WITH YOUR COFFEE II, $250, 12" x 12". Scroll down to see more...
A broken stained-glass steppingstone from a class Jillian took at a local gardening store changed the trajectory of her artistic life.
When the instructor unmolded hers, it fell apart. Feeling bad this happened, the instructor invited her to his art glass studio to make a new one. Once she discovered what his other students were creating there, she signed up for classes immediately, and never looked back.
“Before long, I became a part-time mosaic instructor and soon ran out of family and friends to give away everything I was making,” Jillian recalls. “That’s when I started selling.”
Although Jillian does not have an art-related full-time job or art education, she obviously has an “eye” since previously she had been immersed in photography.
After years of being a mosaic artist, teaching, and selling, while also having a full-time career, it made sense that her creativity would continue to grow. Her next “aha” moment came when she decided to retire an incomplete set of dishes that didn’t have enough pieces to donate. Instead, the thought occurred to somehow incorporate those pieces into her traditionally flat mosaics. Doing so would give them more motion and depth.
“The 3-D idea happened so gradually and adding that element is the hardest part,” Jillian explains. “You have to envision first how you want the finished piece to look, then cut the glass into just the right-sized pieces and grout around them getting into all the nooks and crannies. It’s kind of a like building a jigsaw puzzle, but where you have to make all your own pieces first!”
Now that she’s developed her system, she’s on the hunt, mostly through thrift stores, finding interesting items that she can give new life. She even takes commissions where family members might want to memorialize Grandma’s favorite teapot or grandpa’s pocket watch into a 3-D glass mosaic work of art.
You can find out more about Jillian’s artistry on her Facebook page, plus see videos where she was a featured artist on local cable television.
Her first warm weather art fair appearance will be: 6/25/22-6/26/22 at the Spring Green Art Fair in Spring Green, Wisconsin.
MAD HATTER'S TEA PARTY, commissioned
LAUNDRY DAY, $275, 14-3/8" x 11-1/2"
TINY BUBBLES, $250, 11-1/4" x 14-3/8"
FOG WARNING, SOLD; similar piece to come called STORM WARNING
3-D MOSAIC ARTIST, JILLIAN CORI LIPPERT