Photo by Jackie Alpers Holding a lemon, mosaic artist Robin Riley says nature—and especially desert vegetation—inspires her work.

“My mom is blind and my dad is color blind, so we had some wacky color combinations in our house,” Tucson mosaic artist Robin Riley confides. When taking a look at her beautiful work, however, it becomes evident that she thrives in a visual medium. Growing up in a house where tactile stimuli mattered more than an eye-pleasing combination of hues, Riley developed an affinity for creating “visual art that can be felt and read like Braille,” and she also became fearless when experimenting with color, she says.

Riley, the owner of Robin Riley Mosaics, found making mosaics to be a perfect fit for her artistic sensibilities. She now embellishes homes with both nature-themed and abstract designs and has decorated fountains, exterior walls, flowerpots, mirrors, courtyard nichos and more. Currently, the 38-year-old is working on her largest undertaking yet, a public art project that involves adhering some 1,500 pounds of marble to a pedestrian bridge in a park along the Rillito River in Tucson.

Creating mosaics was not her initial creative outlet, though. Riley—who earned degrees in psychology and art history from the University of Arizona—started out as a painter, but says her playfulness steered her artwork down a different path. “I would take [my own] paintings that I didn’t like, and I would cut them up and sew them back together in different shapes,” the artist recalls. “It was pretty experimental,” she adds with a laugh.

In 1995, a new experience got Riley even more excited than rearranging her paintings: Equipped with adhesive, tiles and grout, she spruced up the front of a collaborative art gallery, where she was a member. Falling in love with the tactile aspect of mosaics, she put painting on hold and directed her passion toward her newly adopted art form.

A stool in Riley’s studio is covered with colorful marbles.

Today, Riley often can be found in a craft and tile shop—mosaic sketch in hand—picking up tile, glass, rocks and marbles that will bring her designs to life. Using a template, saw, sanding stone and tile nipper, she puts the pieces together in her studio. Next, she applies duct tape to the front of the mosaic before separating it into smaller panels for easy transportation. At her client’s home, adhesive is spread on the  “canvas”—a fountain, wall or other surface—before she reassembles the “puzzle” by transferring all the panels. When the adhesive is dry, Riley peels off the tape, cleans the joints between the mosaic pieces, and finishes the project with grout. Removing excess grout is her favorite part of the process, as this is when the mosaic’s “life and beauty” slowly reveal themselves, she points out.

When it comes to motifs, Riley tends to create nature-inspired designs. “I’ve been playing with wildflowers and natural desert life,” she comments. Every so often, she opts for an abstract look; for example, she recently made a mosaic mural for a pool wall that echoes the colors and shapes found in a tide pool. “It’s very lively and has that water feel to it,” the artist reports.

For Tucson resident Dominique Lunt, Riley decorated an exterior wall fountain with a glass-and-tile mosaic featuring an abstract agave motif. “Not only is she talented with composition and color choices, but she is also very technically proficient,” raves the homeowner.

After finishing a challenging project such as the 3-D fountain mosaic, Riley gets right back to sketching new designs. But, she confesses that her studio lends itself to play, too. “Sometimes I have extra adhesive, so I just start gluing rocks onto the wall,” says the artist about one of her downtime activities. Although she admits it is silly, she embraces the fact that she is free to let creativity rule on a daily basis.

For more information, go to rileymosaics.com on the Web.

Put Into Place
Mosaic pieces make great visual statements in the home, says artist Robin Riley. Following are her suggestions for areas to embellish:
 
• Nichos: Make these spaces a focal point with the addition of colorful mosaic designs.
• Fountains: The reflection of a mosaic in water lends another dimension to the work.
• Flowerpots: Match the colors of a
plant’s blooms with the hues of tile chips for added interest.
• Courtyard wall: A mosaic panel can spruce up an otherwise blah surface.
• Pool area: Decorate the perimeter of a pool, or create a splash of color on a column.
• Mailbox surround: A mosaic around a mailbox provides an unexpected and welcoming element.