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More than 125,000 readers throughout Greater Baltimore
Piecing together a new career
Telling stories in stone Rosen, a Baltimore native, has moved along many paths in her life, from majoring in theater in college, to teaching special education, being a storyteller, and earning a certificate in bereavement counseling. She began doing crafts as a sideline years ago, selling items such as personalized Christmas ornaments at craft shows. It was when she took a class in mosaics at the American Visionary Art Museum that she found her niche. During the 20 years Rosen worked as a
APRIL 2018
I N S I D E …
PHOTO COURTESY OF GAIL ROSEN
By Carol Sorgen Starting a retail business at the age of 66 might be considered by some as “questionable,” Gail Rosen agreed. But that’s just what she did last spring when she opened Andamento, her Hampden studio and gallery featuring fine art mosaics and handcrafted jewelry. “I built myself a playhouse!” said Rosen, noting that the gallery features her own mosaic art as well as jewelry designs by Gina Tackett, with frequent showings by guest artists of new mosaics and jewelry. A mosaic, made from the placement of small pieces of colored glass, stone or other materials, is often used in decorative art or as interior decoration. Mosaics have a long history, dating back to 3rd millennium BCE Mesopotamia. Jewish artists decorated synagogues in ancient Israel with floor mosaics (such as at the fortress at Masada, circa 37 BCE), while mosaics were also widely used on religious buildings and palaces in early Islamic art, as in the 7th century CE Dome of the Rock. Modern mosaics are made by professional artists, street artists and as a popular craft. Today’s mosaicists may use materials other than traditional stone and ceramic, including shells, glass and beads. “There’s a resurgence of interest in mosaics,” said Rosen, “but with more of a contemporary than classical aesthetic.” Rosen explained that “andamento” — which means “movement” or “course” in Italian — also describes the flow of lines in a mosaic. “To me, it also suggests the flow of life, and how our journeys are sometimes planned and other times surprising,” she said.
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L E I S U R E & T R AV E L After a varied career in teaching, storytelling and crafts, last year Gail Rosen opened her own business, the Andamento Studio and Gallery in Hampden, to showcase her mosaics and the work of other artists. Her artwork ranges from small pieces of jewelry to large wall hangings.
storyteller, she specialized in working with the bereaved and telling the story of a Holocaust survivor she met. But after years of performing, teaching and traveling to sell her crafts, she said it was refreshing to spend time alone in her studio exploring and crafting mosaics. For Rosen, her work with mosaics is not all that different from her work as a storyteller. The only difference is that now, “I’m making stories with my hands.” She elaborates: “In a well-told story, there is often a sense of heading out into the unknown together, and then coming home with wisdom gained. I look for a similar feel-
ing of satisfaction, completion and homecoming in making and viewing mosaics. “There is a shared emotional arc in a satisfying performance, and also in the rewards of teaching, that I sometimes sense in a mosaic,” she added. “In my time doing craft shows and selling in malls, what I most enjoyed was connecting with individuals as they found delight and meaning in what I had created.”
An art for everyone Rosen finds mosaics a more “accessible” See MOSAICS, page 21
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