Virginia-based mosaic manufacturer and designer New Ravenna announced the release of 12 new mosaics by textile designer Kevin O’Brien.
Named Natural Selections, the collection features whimsical movement, geometric designs, and reinvented historical patterns. Glass and stone are the primary materials used in this collection, with the occasional appearance of a metal. Each design comes in multiple colorways and materials.
O’Brien has been crafting handmade textiles out of Philadelphia for more than 20 years. Each of his designs for New Ravenna are mosaic interpretations of his original velvet textile designs. The choice to use metals in addition with the glass and stone came about when trying to emulate the tonal and textural variants in O’Brien’s velvet textiles, the company says.
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Weeping Willow
“To capture the painterly feel of Kevin’s fabrics, subtle and fluid blending were imperative,” says Cean Irminger, creative director. “Our jewel glass lends itself to this technique because it is also a hand mixed process, meaning each sheet has many tonal and textural shifts and we used them all."
Natural Selections features Fretwork, Kyoto Skies, Zig Zag, Brocade, Sands of Time Tatami, Feline, Sharper Stripes, Wood Grain, Weeping Willow, Water Lilies, Hydrangea, and Vines.
All of the mosaics can be used on walls and floors, both indoors and outdoors.
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Fretwork
Fretwork comes from the inspiration of Moroccan design. It features varied trellises, which appear to be cut out from the background—a nod to the mosaic’s name. Fretwork comes in polished Allure and Cirrus or Bianco Antico and Weathered White Serenity glass. It has thin, clean grout lines due to being a waterjet mosaic.
Kyoto Skies shows more variance in both shape and colors due to its handcut nature. Featuring the traditional swirling Japanese-style clouds, it comes in both Alabaster, Agate, and Quartz sea glass or glossy champagne and sea glass in absolute white.
“Even though textiles and mosaics are obviously opposite in their physical manifestation, hard and timeless versus soft and ephemeral, they both exist to do the same thing,” says O’Brien. “They endure to create beautiful environments that help people moderate their reactions to the uncertainty and disorder of the world around them. Order, cohesion, and a sense of completeness calms the mind and helps to decompress after all the other inputs that we need to process each day.”
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Kyoto Skies
Also a waterjet mosaic, Zig Zag features uniform geometric shapes in allure, soccoro grey, palomar, and argent blue or a more marble version featuring polished carrara, snow white, calacatta radiance, dolomite, and oleander glazed basalto.
The brushed brass outline of Sands of Time Tatami makes its fading blue hues stand out. This mosaic is a mix of both hand-cut and waterjet tiles in cornflower and hydrangea glazed basalto. This mosaic features two additional styles, Sands of Time, which features palomar and argent blue, or palomar, soccoro grey, carrara, bardiglio, allure, and carrara with an aluminum outline.
Weeping Willow has the clean lines of waterjet tiles but also the textural differences of hand cut tiles. The design features moonstone sea glass, emerald, peridot, and amber jewel glass. This design comes in a black and white colorway and pale blue and white colorway.
Brocade features the same intricate curves and details as the fabric it gets its name and inspiration from. With an obsidian background, the tortoise shell, amber, and agate can be on full display. There are three other colorways available in Brocade, from white and grays, to white and blues, and cream and green.