Old Pueblo inspires their art

By Gerald M. Gay

Mosaic artists Mark Bloom and Maggie Rickard work together on a mosaic project on their porch. Bloom snips chunks of ceramic mugs into small pieces while Rickard trims a piece of glass.
Ron Medvescek / Arizona Daily Star

Maggie Rickard and Mark Bloom put a lot of love into creating their homespun, handmade mosaics. Using their back porch in Midtown as a studio, the New York transplants work from sunup to sundown, meticulously assembling pieces of fine Italian glass into funky, pulpy, colorful works of art.

Rickard and Bloom, who drew inspiration from Tucson’s Kon Tiki and Tiki Motel for previous mosaics, are among a growing number of artists who use the city, its people and its landmarks as their muse.
“We always manage to get shards of glass in the tips of our fingers when we work,” says Rickard, 36, a former bartender. “We try to have Band-Aids nearby.”

Aside from a little commercial illustration work, Rickard and Bloom live primarily on the money they make from their mosaics, regularly selling pieces — Tucson-themed or otherwise — at trade shows and over the Internet for $140 to $1,600.

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