In 1964 I taught art to West African teens in NKongsamba, East Cameroun where I was stationed as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I saved two of my student drawings depicting tribal ceremonies and almost 50 years later these drawings have become mosaics.

The original drawings are in the crayon-resist method, although the ink has faded completely on one of them. I have enlisted current Peace Corps volunteers in tracking down the teen artists, who must be in their 60's now.

These African tribal inspired mosaics are created with hand-made Italian glass smalti from the Orsoni foundry in Venice, Italy. I cut the mosaic glass using the traditional ammer and hardie. They are cast into thinset mortar using the double-reverse technique I learned in Ravenna, Italy at Luciana Notturni's Ravenna Mosaic Art School. Yet the mosaics are light-weight enough to hang on a wall, and come prepared with secure wires.

I teach the use of smalti at the Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art where many other workshops are available.