My Mosaics in Midtown Manhattan

My most prestigious project isn’t my largest or even my best, but prestige has it’s value
for an artist!

In 2006, my two mosaic clocks were installed in midtown Manhattan. The photo below was taken later in the day after the installation itself was complete and the crowd that gathered to watch had dispersed from this busy corner of E. 58th St. and 3rd Ave.

The Design & Decoration Building houses 20+ floors of showrooms dedicated to vendors of the design and decor world and is an absolute dream location for any of my work and being on the SE corner was enough to make my knees weak.

The clock mosaics came about because my father Allan Greenberg - an incredibly talented and by some measures a very important architect - was commissioned to redesign the first floor facade of the building. His design included some clocks and lucky for me, he liked my proposal and enlisted my help.

My design was very simple in color and concept. The concentric circles symbolize the rippling impact of design and decoration within the life of the individual and within our culture as a whole, like a pebble dropped in water.

Although I proposed both blue and green palettes, ultimately everyone involved in the project unanimously chose the green. Spring green sends the right message symbolizing the fresh and ever renewing creativity bubbling forth from this building and the larger design community.

in my current studio

The clock parts - housing, hands and numerals - were made by Verdin, a clock and bell company in Cincinnati, Ohio. They were shipped to me in 4’ square pieces before I began work. As it turned out, I couldn’t fit them through my studio door! At the time, my studio was in the unusually nice basement of my 1926 Craftsman Bungalow so they sat in my living room taking up the majority of floor space.

This was one of the many reasons I finally decided to sell this house and move into a more professional studio space. It was the last straw….my studio was just too small with too much low hanging duct work to allow for multiple projects and the crew I needed to do the work. In retrospect when I look back at the 11 years of work I’ve done since, it was a good thing that I moved into my current space which is perfectly suited in almost every way.

putting the mosaic together after we cut from wet clay, fired, glazed and fired

ready to ship

In context:

It’s gratifying to see my clocks and entry when I come to NY and I frequently pass by them since they fall between my father’s apartment and my sister’s. I also love knowing that my niece sees them each day on her walk to school. I’ve heard her tell her friends with pride that her Auntie Ruth made them.

Later the owners of the D&D Building also commissioned a floor entry piece to match.

Each clock is 4' x 4', handmade porcelain mosaic, Floor is 8' in diameter

Thanks for taking a look at my work, if you like this you might like this post:
https://steemit.com/art/@natureofbeing/mosaic-a-love-story
and my website [email protected]