The Green Man Mosaic
This was our first large scale mosaic and a wonderful opportunity to paint with stone. When the brewery opened in 2016, this 320 square foot projects became one of the first things visitors encounter.
The printed image of the GreenMan in this journal shows the second full scale face I printed and assembled. The first one showed some clear design concerns, particularly in terms of the size of facial features. It’s one thing to draw at screen size. Blown up to eleven feet across and hung up over my head, it was clear the lips were too big compared to the eyes. This printed version fixed those issues and was used to host a meeting with the designer, Krista Lablue and Wendy from GreenMan.
The stone samples on the ground helped us choose the palette for the final mosaic. The whole Hammerhead team took part in this meeting, which I think helped us move forward smoothly with the process; everyone had input in the stone choices and had a good understanding of the customer’s vision.
Creating the malachite eyes
I like how GreenMan’s eyes evoke a more traditional style of mosaic, with smaller tesserae and grout used to fill the interspaces. The grout adds some depth and detail, as in real eyes. The irises are made of malachite. I had to buy display pieces from local crystal shops (there are oodles in Asheville) and slice them down and break them to create the tesserae. I ended up doing them twice. The first time around I made one eye from a single piece of malachite. Doing that I figured out that it would work, so I got another piece. But it was a slightly different hue. I don’t know if anyone else would have noticed the two eyes being slightly different, but I couldn’t let it ride. The source malachite is now well blended between the two eyes.
The whole mosaic is natural stone. Most of the materials are regionally sourced. Lots of stone from North Carolina and Tennessee, though Georgia, Pennsylvania, and New England are also represented. The malachite in the eyes is one of the few materials sourced from an exotic locale. I’m not sure exactly, but I believe it originated in Africa.
I ended up making the eyes twice. The first time became a test of the concept, which worked! But because the malachite was so costly I only bought enough to make one. I bought more and made the second eye, but there were clear differences in the color and look. I took them apart and rebuilt them mixing the stone randomly and got the look I wanted. The eyes are the only place where we used a more traditional mosaic style, making tiny tesserae. I like the effect though, it is evocative of ancient mosaics, populated with characters like Dionysus and Bacchus.
We cut and laid out the mosaic at the workshop, detailing the fits as best we could prior to installation. Space was limited, so we had to build the GreenMan right over the top of the Labyrinth. The green insulation foam guided the fitting of the pieces, all of which had been cut from templates.
Installation began with the eyes, as they needed to be level and centered on the wall. The green foam was perfect for supporting the mosaic pieces on the wall while they cured. Even through all the clutter, it was amazing to watch the GreenMan’s towering visage appear on the wall.
The face is made of marble from Tennessee. The leaves that surround the GreenMan’s face is mostly native North Carolina stone, though we used a fair amount of slate reclaimed from an old house in Asheville. I’m not sure it’s source. The eyebrows are serpentine. Again, I’m not sure where it comes from, but there’s some of the same stone on older buildings in downtown Asheville, making me think it’s at least regional. The background surround is sandstone from Tennessee.
LOCATION: Green Man Brewery, Asheville, North Carolina
DATE: December 2015
DIMENSIONS: 16′ by 20′
COMMISSIONED BY: Dennis & Wendy Thies, Green Man Brewery
PROJECT DESIGNER: Krista Washam LaBlue
DESIGNED BY: Marc Archambault
FABRICATED BY: Marc Archambault, Fred Lashley, Gary Wilson, Jonathan Frederick
INSTALLED BY: Marc Archambault, Fred Lashley, Gary Wilson, Jonathan Frederick, Skyler Sabin