About the Artists
"A passion for smashin'!" says it all when describing Fred and Donnell Pasion's love for making mosaic art.
What started as a hobby in 1999 turned serious after the Pasions, native San Luis Obispo County California residents, were approached with their first "big commission", a fireplace surround for a local interior designer. "We all loved the results, and knew this was something we had to keep doing," says Donnell, who soon after left her job as a mail carrier to pursue mosaic art. Fred, a landscape gardener for 25 years began to scale back work to join her.
In 2000 they established Passiflora Mosaics after converting their 1940's detached garage into a working studio. They tossed out years of accumulated 'junk' then gutted and whitewashed the interior. Even cracks in the concrete floor were not spared the facelift. These were mosaicked into colorful 'snakes' that seem to slither across the blue floor.
Today the self-taught mosaicists are carving a niche for producing truly one-of-a-kind works. As for style, theirs is a personalized expression of traditional Pique Assiette, an early 20th century folk art form of mosaic made famous by Raymond Isidore of France. Besides colorful tile and vintage china the Pasions also incorporate an eclectic array of ceramic figurines, jewelry, glass, stones and other found and recycled treasures into their work. Most of their pieces are functional as well as decorative.
Fred and Donnell blend their own unique approaches to art into a partnership that just seems to work. They collaborate on virtually every phase of the process from design to fabrication and finishing. Passiflora Mosaics currently specialize in custom private commissions and are considering small-scale public art opportunities as well. They also offer mosaic workshops.
The Pasions have lived in Grover Beach since 1978, a small coastal community located along the central coast of California. It is north of Santa Barbara and south of San Luis Obispo along U.S. 101.
"Fred's Fish" and the "Tin Fin Floundry"
The studio is also home to the "Tin Fin Floundry" a place where Fred also creates his whimsically original hanging fish sculptures, "Fred's Fish", from old metal trash cans, scrap tin and other recycled finds. Some are left to weather naturally and others are painted "wacky-style" in keeping with their folk art character.
The concept of "Fred's Fish" started in 2002 after an afternoon of fishing at nearby Lopez Lake. On one of his last casts the avid bass fisherman landed his "fish of a lifetime", a ten pound largemouth or "bucketmouth" bass as they're often called. After admiring it for a few seconds he gave it a customary kiss, leaned over the edge of his boat and gently released the behemoth back into the water.
The next day he began pounding, shaping, snipping and riveting an old galvanized trash can and scrap tin into what became the original "Fred"s Fish". Passersby began to notice it "swimming in the wind" hanging under a shade trellis and soon orders for them began to trickle in.
"Fred's Fish" can be displayed anywhere a funky folk art feature is desired. Use them decoratively or functionally as hanging art, a creative alternative for storage or hung vertically they become unique hanging planters. They are available in various sizes and are best displayed individually, in pairs or clustered together in "schools".
