I love Friuli
At the moment I am trying out a new assistant. It is certainly not because I want to replace Sandra, who I would be happy to work with forever. But Sandra is getting married, and she is going to be moving on. She reassures me she is not leaving immediately, but nine months or even a year seems remarkably soon to me. So I am trying out Monica, who is a lovely bright girl, from Friuli. Friuli is an area of Italy (north of Venice) that could be said to be the birthplace of modern European mosaic. It has a school (in Spilimbergo) founded in 1922 to teach the locals the techniques of laying and fabricating mosaic. I have been round the school many times, and have thought about teaching there. I almost bought a tumbledown stone hut nearby, looking out over the beautiful Tagliamento river, as I wanted a permanent connection with the place. It was in fact because of Friuli that I started working in mosaic. When I began, twenty two years ago, my mosaic mentors — Otello, Vic Menozzi, John Bugazzi and Peter Mazzioli were either from Friuli, or closely associated with it, and I have a romantic attachment to the area because of them. So Monica Piovesana could easily be the right assistant for me.
Spilimbergo wasn’t the location of the first mosaic school. That was in Sequals, a tiny community nestled under the mountains. On my first visit, I caught a train from Venice, and Peter drove down to Udine and collected me. His wife (who since has sadly passed away) was sitting at his side. She was an essential companion, as he was completely blind, and only knew where he was going by the advice, counsel and sharp instructions she gave him. The journey was rather hair raising. He took me to the cemetery in Sequals — full of mosaic gravestones, made by the former emigre community, now permanently home to rest. Friuli is an arcane enthusiasm, but its former residents (who speak Friulan — a genuine dialect) can be found across the globe.
Here is a view of the Tagliamento, whose river washed pebbles, flattened and smoothed by Alpine meltwater, are so important in the history of mosaic.
You captured some of the lovely romanticism of mosaic beautifully in this post, Emma. Thank you.