Our Artisans
Showcasing some of the amazing work our yoga practitioners do off the mat.
Julie Howd, Author
Julie Howd is the author of Threshold (Host Publications, 2020), winner of the Host Publications Chapbook Prize, and Talking from the Knees Up (dancing girl press, 2018). She holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin and has received fellowships from the Juniper Summer Writing Institute and the James Michener Center. Her work can be found in Deluge, The Spectacle, Sixth Finch, and elsewhere.
Lesley LaMarche, Mosaic Artist
My story: In the summer of 2015 I met a woman through a mutual friend who dabbled in mosaic art, more or less as a hobby. Expressing my desire to learn this unique artform, I asked her for a short lesson for which she welcomingly obliged. A few months later, I found myself sitting in her small studio/home office on the second floor of her home. In front of me sat a mirror with a 4” wooden frame around it, a pair of glass nippers and a pair of running pliers. She instructed me to “pick out some colored glass pieces” to use in my project. Before I knew it, I was snipping corners left and right, sending shards of glass in every direction. I was hooked!
Since then I have been attending workshops taught by both professional local mosaic artists as well as with Martin Cheek, an international mosaic artist (UK) and published author of 6 books. In 2019 & 2020, I participated in ongoing community mosaic projects in San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala, hosted by professional artists Cynthia Fisher of Big Bang Mosaics and Deb Aldo of Pietre Dure Design. The purpose of this project is to help improve the economic situation and boost tourism in an impoverished village by turning it into an art/mosaic sightseeing destination. It was here that I learned the technique of creating and installing large outdoor mosaic murals. In reality, I learned so much more than that. The Atitlan area is comprised of 95% indigenous families, who are warm, loving and humble people. This was the moment that I actually put the shoe on the other foot and walked a mile (or 50) in their shoes. Using my love of creative expression for someone else’s benefit was truly humbling and incredibly rewarding. I am looking forward to returning in 2022.
I love creating affordable art pieces that everyone can enjoy, whether it’s garden art forms or home décor. You can often find a subtle yoga pose imbedded into the piece, bringing my love of yoga and mosaic art into one complete expression of myself.
The sale of all pieces will ultimately take me back to Guatemala where I can help improve the lives of those less fortunate as this is what truly feeds my soul. (Some of Lesley’s mosaics are currently for sale at Cadence Yoga)
Enjoy the addition of a hand-crafted mosaic art piece in your home or garden. Want to learn the craft? One-on-one/two workshops are also available upon request.
Lesley’s Mosaics
