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MAKING MURALS
by catherine bailey and simone earnhardt
Josef Norris — muralist, public artist, painter and youth advocate. If you live in the Bay Area, you're probably familiar with his work, whether you know it or not. His art adds to San Francisco's diverse identity and enriches our community both aesthetically and socially. Josef's large-scale mosaic murals are often installed through his own organization Kid Serve, which gives public school kids the opportunity to make a long lasting contribution to their community while building on their academic lesson-plans. Why mosaics? He is driven by the contrast, texture and lighting effects they produce. When seen from a distance the portraits and murals look almost painterly and when seen up close they become works of abstract expressionism. With a photograph or a painting you get closer to see every detail. With mosaic murals, you step away to see them more clearly. How does Heath fit in? We met Josef a few years ago when we noticed he was frequenting our seconds & overstock tile room. Once we got word of what he was up to, we began supplying him with a significant amount of scrap tile (although we can't take all the credit) — thus no landfill, happy kids and a more beautiful and culturally diverse city.
Josef created these incredible portraits in an effort to refine his detailed facial mosaics, which he ultimately used here, on Hoff Street in San Francisco.
This mural was done by 1st and 3rd graders as part of their botany studies through Kid Serve (much of this tile was donated by Heath).
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And for those in the Bay Area — Josef is the man behind the Performing Arts Garage mural on the corner of Gouge and Grove streets in San Francisco — you've probably driven by it a hundred times.
HOLMEGAARD GLASSWORKS
We've added some new glassware to our online and Factory Store. Holmegaard of Denmark has been producing hand-blown glass since 1825. Known for their modern, simple and functional designs, we felt they were a natural complement to the Heath table. Take a look
FACTORY STORE NEWS
Large Teapots are 50% off the seconds price this month — in-store, while supplies last, seconds only. Also, we've made some changes to the store layout, added new products, etc. Take a look
MOSAIC WORKSHOPS
Lisa Bookstein, long-time mosaic artist & instructor (and Heath staff member) will offer another round of mosaics classes at Heath. Four workshop dates from August to November. Space is limited — so sign up soon. more details
FINISHED PIECES
We thought you'd like to see some tiles done by one of Diana Fayt's July workshop participants, here at Heath — beautiful.
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