It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. However, my latest artwork isn’t so much imitation as it is edification in the purest sense of the word. I took another artist’s work and built my own work on top of it, quite literally.

Over the last year I’ve stumbled upon a mosaic style that has resonated with me. Most of my mosaic creations have been done on what I call “Wal-Mart art” canvases; that is, I purchase an art print that I find at a second-hand store, something originally sold via a store like Wal-Mart or Ikea or Homesense, gesso over it and resuse it as the base for a new mosaic. The “original” print disappears and my new creation appears.

I had purchased an art print on a board at my local Value Village a few months ago. It was an interesting work of sunflowers in a vase:

I really liked the image on this print and had intended to somehow incorporate another artwork into it. However, it ended up setting around in my basement until some inspiration struck: Why not use the image as a template and build a mosaic over top? So that’s what I did.

In the process, I discovered that the artist of the original is Silvia Vassileva, a Bulgarian-born painter who has been incredibly prolific in her lifetime. I scrolled through literally thousands of art prints of hers on sale online, searching for these sunflowers. Finally, I just searched “Vassileva sunflowers” and got the image immediately. It is titled “Sunflowers in a Bronze Vase”. My title? I thought “Silvia’s Sunflowers” was appropriate, considering what I owe her in my edification of her work.  If you want to see more of what Silvia Vassileva has done, check out her work on Art.com.

Below are images of the process the artwork went through to go from Siliva’s print to my mosaic: