Wow I can't believe it's been 2 years since my last news entry here! You can always stay up to date with me by joining my newsletter by the way, I send them out more often. Please send me an email to join at lilyrusso@gmail.com.

Anyways, 2018 was a very busy year for me. I had several big projects, the biggest being a public mosaic mural for Mancos Boyle Park, which took months and the help of dozens of volunteers to create. I had approached the Mancos Town Board the year before with my proposal to create a public mosaic project, and that lead to them offering a grant for public art. I applied and was accepted. I was given a great donation by Daltile for most of the ceramic tile used in the project. I also handsculpted many dragonfly and butterfly tiles at The Painted Turtle, as well as a handsculpted floral plaque as a signature.

It was a big and time consuming project, and I am very happy with the results! It is a very visible location and I am glad that many visitors and community members enjoy the bright colors and joyful flowers every day.

I also created a marble entryway for a new Cleveland restaurant, which was shipped in sections and installed by a tilesetter on site.

A really fun project I got to do was a 25 square foot mermaid and sun for someone's new master shower. I got to be really creative with her design, especially in the tail. I actually modeled her after myself, since she was lifesize, and at one point I actually laid over the drawing to outline my own arm and hand! This mosaic was also created on fiberglash mesh, cut into many sections, boxed and shipped to its new home in Florida.

Towards the end of 2018 I made an intention to focus on my other passion and career: teaching yoga, in 2019. I decided to minimize my mosaic workload and haven't yet taught any classes this year, though I am excited about one I have scheduled in June called Mosaic Your Inner Goddess! I also accepted a small backsplash project that was a coyote howling to the moon, which was shipped in sections to Grand Junction, and recently accepted another kitchen backsplash commission because it is SO up my alley- a big Tree of Life!

I wish everyone out there happy, colorful, warm and breezy spring days. TTFN!

2016 was a wonderful year for me, I was pregnant during the first half of it, past the difficult first trimester, and feeling like a creative goddess! Halfway through on July 17th my little angel Leo was born, and the rest of the year has been a blessing of getting to know him and myself as a new person, his mom. And in October we moved into our new home in downtown Mancos, which was a big change from our one room yurt for the past 2.5 years. One of the best parts of the house is the large sunroom, now home to my mosaic studio and new classroom space! I am so grateful to have a dedicated studio space again, and for all the many blessings in my life! Here's a shot of my new studio, overlooking the big backyard.

It's been a year since I wrote a blog post! I guess I was preoccupied~ Oliver and I had a beautiful baby boy we named Leo. I have continued, albeit at a slower pace, to teach classes, create custom work, and experiment with new techniques while pregnant and now that Leo has arrived. I have used the double reverse technique with great success for several projects, photos of this can be seen in the Architectural Applications page on the Dahlias and the Palm Tree mosaic.

I also have enjoyed experimenting with using beads and mastic to work with more minute detail and avoid having to grout. This can be seen in the Bella and the Toilette sign in the section Fun and Functional.

I'll be offering a stained glass mosaic mirror glass on December 10th and 11th at Artesano's in Durango. This fun class is open to all levels and makes a great Christmas gift. More info on the Classes page!

Now if only I had a clone, I could make a mosaic while nursing, rocking, and changing my little guy!

As the season begins to change I find myself indoors more at work than during the long days of summer when I spent more time outside in the garden, travelling around Colorado, and hiking and swimming with our dog. I am now working on a couple of new projects, a trio of Dahlias that I am excited about doing in a new method, the Double Reverse Method, and a group of horses, which I am also doing in a completely new way for me. With this one I am hand sculpting the horses as tiles out of clay, and will mosaic around the horses with tile once they are glazed and fired. The process of working with clay to create my own tiles for mosaic is something I've been interested in for some time, and I find it is going pretty smoothly and is something I'm really enjoying. Working with clay is very different from the process of cutting and shaping the already hard and rigid tile and glass materials. In addition to these creative pursuits I am busy organizing and hosting a Yoga Teacher Training that I will co teach with my teacher, Monica Mesa. This is another new step forward for me doing something I've long wanted to do, enter the world of training new yoga teachers. My four weekly yoga classes are going very well and I'm loving the way I'm developing as a teacher after completing a training with Monica this year in Crested Butte. Find out more about the training at www.facebook.com/yogaflowlilyrusso.
My husband and I are very content in our beautiful yurt in southwest Colorado overlooking Mesa Verde, and tending to our flourishing garden. Now we are in the full swing of harvest and have stocked up on jars of tomato sauce made entirely with ingredients we grew! We are both constantly amazed and enthralled with the way life is opening and unfolding for us here. Oliver and I also offer Fire Walk Ceremonies as a tool for personal transformation and empowerment. You can find out more on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/thehighpath.

Oh the beauty of Spring! My favorite time of year, the increasing sunlight, seed sprouting time, spring dress weather, and my birthday! This year I turned 30 on the Spring Equinox. I have been in deep inspiration and creative flow, exploring new mediums, coming back to ones I had put aside for a time, and continuing to create mosaics and teaching classes. I have begun learning the art of ceramics: throwing pottery as well as creating my own tiles for mosaic projects. I have also begun a clothing business, combining my love of art, yoga, and fashion. My other passion, yoga teaching, is in full blossom, as I teach 5 classes a week as well as occasional workshops. I am also continuing my yoga studies in a Prana Vinyasa Yoga teacher training in Crested Butte that will continue through the summer. To see my budding clothing line handmade with organic cotton and bamboo, visit the Etsy Link above, and to learn more about my yoga passion, please visit the link Yoga above. Thank you!!
~In Love and Service~
Lily

11/18/13
After a 9 month adventure in Mexico, London, and Chicago, I am back in Durango Colorado, and very happy to be here again in the beautiful San Juan Mountains! I recently began teaching classes at the inspiring Artesanos Design Collection in downtown Durango. Last month was an intro to Tile Mosaics class, and last weekend I led a tile mosaic mural workshop where 7 of us created and installed a beautiful sunset over the mountains scene on one of the walls at Artesanos. Next month I'll be teaching a Stained Glass Mosaic class there, perfect to create a one of a kind gift for the holidays!! I am also accepting custom work and tile installation projects, and am available to teach a class for your group or business! In other news, I also teach yoga, meditations, and am a co-organizer of powerful firewalk events. Please email me to speak about any of these possibilities! Love and Light!!
~Lily

I have some exciting new things happening this fall to share!
For one thing, I've offered my skills to the Durango Botanical Society to add a mosaic to their native demonstrative garden at the Durango library. I'll be creating a whimsical garden scene to complement a stone memorial on the wall behind the garden.

I'm also offering a mosaic workshop the third weekend of September at the new Get Fused glass studio in downtown Durango!

Also the dome is still up in my yard and all are welcome to come view it, sit under, do some yoga, talk, meditate, or whatever inspires you. I am looking for a more suitable, covered space for it over the winter, or even better, to get it sold!

06/12/2012
After many months of work the mosaic meditation dome is finished! Photos are up in my portfolio. We took it to the festival it was made for, Apogaea, from whom I received the original grant for materials. It was an amazing time and place of radical self expression and cooperation. The dome was a big hit! I will be bringing it to another festival called Interdependence Day in Durango, CO. It is also now available for sale. It is a relief to have it finished. I will be enjoying it in my yard as a sacred yoga and meditation space.

02/15/2012
Welcome to my new site! I hope you will find it more organized and streamlined.

Some news: Here in Durango I am working as a tile setter for a successful contractor and am learning the ins and outs of professional tile setting as well as becoming much more adept with tile. When I have time I am working on my own designs in my studio at the Underground Art Collective. I recently won a grant to create a mosaic dome for the Apogaea festival in Bailey, Colorado this June. My concept is a 6 foot tall geodesic-esque dome with stained glass mosaics inside each triangle, made to inspire a meditator seated within. More details soon!