The joy Kerry Whitsitt gets out of the mosaic process is evident in every mosaic she makes.
She loves, for example, when she cuts "a perfect piece, and it fits just perfectly the way you wanted it to," Whitsitt says. "There's just something really satisfying about that."
Mosaic, or the artform of making a larger image out of small pieces of something — traditionally shells, pebbles and glass tiles, but also broken pottery — dates back about 5,000 years. Once the small pieces are adhered to a surface, they're filled in with grout. Made of liquidy, sandy cement that hardens as it dries, grout helps make the overall artwork more durable — most of Whitsitt's mosaics can go outdoors — and makes the image created from the mosaic pieces more cohesive.
Nature and human figures, typically female, are recurring motifs in Whitsitt's work, with titles like Elements of Life, Peace Offerings, and Transformation - Creating Connections.
"I'm all about trying to just create images of empowerment," Whitsitt says.
There are few surfaces Whitsitt hasn't mosaiced: She's made wall hangings, trivets, birdhouses, light switch covers, mirrors and figurative pieces she exhibits, as well as furniture, signage and other items for her Moran Prairie home.
"I like to do small items that are affordable for people, gift-type items, and just, you know, items that I like," Whitsitt says. "It's kind of fun to have a little coaster set that's a little bling-bling."
Like many people, Whitsitt was interested in art as a youngster, and although she took a few art classes at the community college, she didn't pursue art with any seriousness until 10 years ago. At age 59, Whitsitt retired from Community Minded Enterprises, where she worked in community outreach. She'd taken a trip to Barcelona with her twin sister a few years prior, marveling at the masterful mosaics of Antoni Gaudí.
"And so I just kind of told myself, 'It's time,'" she recalls. "I need to get back to exploring my creative juices."
Mosaics also appealed to her in part because of her background in quilting, says Whitsitt, who got her start in the artform following a class at the former Reflections Stained Glass shop in Spokane Valley.
Her "dolls" are a fairly new addition to her lineup, resulting from a trip to the Southwest and a request by New Moon Art Gallery's Michele Mokrey to create a doll for an upcoming exhibit. Whitsitt's husband had just bought a lathe and was making salt and pepper grinders, so he milled her an amorphous figure sturdy enough to stand on its own and durable enough to have glass and other bits glued to it.
Whitsitt works in a small, tidy space the size of a laundry room in her basement. She does most of her work on a central standing-height table covered with plastic. A sturdy bookshelf behind her is loaded with stained glass — full and half sheets arranged vertically by color, but also in stacked tubs full of scraps. An apron hangs at the ready with the words New Moon Gallery on it, the only gallery at which Whitsitt's work can be found.
She's thought about doing more exhibits, yet doesn't want making art to become "work," she says, adding "It's important that it fills me up and it feels joyous."
Visit Whitsitt's Facebook: In Flow Mosaic Design or New Moon Art Gallery at manicmoonandmore.com.
