When mosaic meets wellness (Soft Therapy by Friul Mosaic - exhibiting at CERSAIE Bologna 25-29/09/2012)

This is the background image from Friul Mosaic's website.

I was stunned when I came across this video by FRIUL MOSAIC, one of the exhibitors at the CERSAIE this year. The video guides us through a collection launched by the company that takes the concept of nature and lifts it up to a level of luxuriance by blending "wellness" with pebbles and mosaic. Extravagant? No way. The message is clear. The luxury is there. Still, nature reigns. And it's right there to seduce your every part (every finger of your feet basically, but ..you know what I mean right? You want this. I know I want this after a hectic day).

FRIUL MOSAIC takes us to the beach so that we are immersed into NATURE, and experience the healing properties of the pebbles and the stones.

We are reminded we should TAKE CARE of ourselves and in particular the lower limbs that after all take all the weight.

The calm and the beautiful balance you will see in the products of the Soft Therapy Collection will strike you and will fill you with emotions, desires and new dreams.

WATCH the video on their site: FRIUL MOSAIC. Amazing! Meraviglioso!

image credit Friul Mosaic

The magnificent pebble mosaics on Chalki island in Greece and the island's connection to Tarpon Springs in Florida, USA !!!?

How is it possible that you "stumble upon" an island?

This is what happened to me while researching about Kastelorizo, the "limestone" island. Chalki is close to Kastelorizo, belonging to the Dodecanese group of Greek islands.

On Chalki island you can admire some of the world's finest pebble mosaics. Unfortunately the few images I found on internet have copyright but if you go to this gallery HERE on Flickr you will see what I mean.

Now, what's more about this little island ? Many of its inhabitants have immigrated to Florida and established a sponge fishing business there!

Chalki (Halki) Island lies 16 km from Rhodes and 302 nautical miles from Piraeus. One of Greece's smallest islands it has 28 sq. km of land mass and 34 km of coastline. It has a population of under 300. No cars are allowed on the island. The capital and port of Nimborio is built ampitheatrically on the SE side of the island and on the Bay of Nimborio. Many of the inhabitants have immigrated to Tarpon Springs, Florida and established a sponge fishing enterprise there. Thats why the road from the main town and port is called Tarpon Springs Blvd., in honor of the immigrants who financed its construction. Beaches on both the north and south coasts are reached from the capital on foot or by caique of which Kania, Areta, Giali and Trachia are the nicest. 15 minutes walk along the 'blvd.' brings you to sandy Pondamos Beach with its taverna and umbrellas. Nimborio's Church of St. Nicolas with its important wall paintings and magnificent pebble mosais courtyard is the island's main attraction. The former capital Hora was inland to escape marauding pirates and is now deserted. In its heyday there were some 4000 residents. The ruined medeival castle was built on the site of the ancient acropolis. There are 3 monasteries on the island: Taxiarch Michael of St. John, Holy Trinity and Holy Cross.

More spectacular pebble mosaics from Chalki HERE
Quoted text from holiday-in-athens
Read more about Tarpon Springs HERE
Images link to their source

Kastellorizo, Greece: The "limestone" island

We all know about Mykonos or Santorini, Rhodes or Crete but how much do we know about Kastellorizo?

Greece is full of places of unexplored incredible beauty and worth and Kastellorizo is one of them. The island, which is also known as Megisti, is the Aegean's easternmost island. A tiny but very beautiful island of the Dodecanese. It consists of a circular port of about 50 inhabited houses. Even though the island has very few inhabitants, they are all very hospitable and wait on the port to welcome the tourists.

Here's the port entrance.
  

A couple of panoramic views...

This beautiful blue and white house on the island was featured in the film Mediterraneo as Vasillisa's house. I wish they could make more films like that one!

What a colourful island! An inspiration for an artist.

This is how far Kastellorizo is from Greece....The location of the island is very remote and sadly causes various problems to the island and its inhabitants.....

The traditional character of Kastellorizo along with its unspoilt beauty result into a landscape that can only make your heart beat. This house is a perfect example for this.

What else is there on the island? Well, two things.

1. A spectacular pebble floor!

The mosaic floor of the "Avlogyro" square in the Horafia district of Kastellorizo is in excellent condition and features a roundel with a typical choklakia swirling radial design. Known as choklakia mosaics, they are made of black, white and sometimes reddish sea pebbles, and are to be found throughout the Dodecanese islands (for example Symi and Lindos on Rhodes). The mosaic tradition dates back to Byzantine times and motifs include abstract geometric forms as well as folkloric pictorial depictions.

2. Limestone!

As you can see in the "limestone beach" picture above, Kastellorizo island is rich with limestone. The island's geology is almost exclusively limestone. Due to the lack of significant flora covering the island, the landscape shows many features of karstification. There are a number of notable sea caves including the so called Blue Grotto which is much larger than its namesake in Capri.

The "limestone beach" picture is worth a million words, right?

Limestone beach - Kastellorizo

Everything is so overwhelming about this island, about Greece in general. Actually "stumbling on" the mosaic floor and the "limestone beach" was the reason behind this post but the wealth of information on limestone made me decide I had to split the posts.

In the next post I will be "digging deeper" into limestone and talk about my own personal experience with mosaic making. 

All images used in this post link back to their original source.

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Isola Bella on Lake Maggiore

This is the Borromeo Palace and Gardens on Isola Bella in Lago Maggiore in the Piedmont region in Italy.

Who can resist to such beauty and elegance?

In 1632, Count Vitaliano Borromeo began the construction of the monumental Baroque palace and the majestic and scenic gardens, which have made the island famous and which to this day bear witness to the splendours of an era.

What is fascinating about this place is an unparalleled "dream setting". I have been to Stresa myself, an elegant and unbelievably picturesque town on the lakeside from which you get absolutely breathtaking views of Isola Bella. You would want to go back.

The Borromeo isles are, besides Isola Bella, Isola dei Pescattori, Isola Madre, Isolino di San Giovanni and Scoglio della Malghera.

Here's some information:

Of the many wondrous sights to see on Isola Bella, one of the most wondrous of all is the shell grotto in the Palazzo Borromeo. The stately palace dominates one side of the island, while its elaborate, ten-tiered baroque-style gardens fill the opposite side. Connecting the two areas is the shell grotto.
Descend a staircase from the main level of the palace into the grotto. The series of six rooms were first conceived in 1685, by Vitaliano the Sixth, with the aid of the architect Filippo Cagnulo. It took 100 years to complete them. In the cavern-like coolness, now as then, the rooms provide a refuge from the summer heat. Every inch of space, including ceilings, floors, and archways, is covered in a mosaic of black and white shells and pebbles. A marble lady is sleeping. Shh…don’t disturb her. She plans to stay dreaming for a long time to come. Down here in the grotto, it’s easy to think you are in a dream. (from Italian notebook)


And if you love the idea of decorating with shells, I recommend you read Theresa's of Art's the Answer blog post called The Shell Game.

images from taccuino di casa bella

image before last from assesempione

text in italics from italian notebook

last image arts the answer

A beautiful pebble mosaic

via

Chrysanthi is one of my most recent followers and she made these wonderful pebble mosaics that I have been meaning to share with you.

See more pebble mosaics on mosaicology here

Pebble mosaic floor on Symi island, Greece

Some time ago was browsing the internet for something else, came across these magnificent, meaningful pictures of people on pilgrimage on the island of Symi, published on a wordpress blog in 2008 and did not wish they remain neglected by my blog. here's the article, written in Greek. for more pebble floors see previous posts.

Walking on a work of mosaic art - Camminando su un'opera d'arte

Chios Island Daily Photo Blog

This picture is from one of my favourite blogs on the island of Chios. It's by photographer Kostas Sidiropoulos whom I thank for his stunning pictures and for the fact that he updates his blog so often thus keeping up with the inspiration flow.

Questa immagine deriva da uno dei miei blog preferiti che riguarda l'isola di Chios. La foto è stata scattata dal fotografo Kostas Sidiropoulos che devo ringraziare per le fantastiche foto e per il fatto che aggiorna spesso il suo blog regalando cosi tanta ispirazione.

Waiting for the summer

I came across these wonderful pebble mosaics on the internet. A perfect blend of tradition and originality. I also like the stone slabs that surround the two mosaic panels. Truly lovely.


via http://www.dodekanisa.net


........reminding us of an ancient mosaic from Delos (UNESCO World Heritage):



......and of an outstanding mosaic from Rhodes:


source of the above picture: http://www.holiday.gr/galleries/photo.php?photo_id=175