8. Gary Drostle on Smashing Tiles - Part 1

Today on the podcast we have the incredible artist, Gary Drostle. Back in February, I had the pleasure of interviewing Gary. Based in Southeast London, UK, Gary Drostle has over 30 years of experience in public art, working primarily with painting and mosaic techniques. His mosaic work in particular has won several prestigious awards and gained international recognition – he has completed major commissions in Iowa, Chicago, California, and Washington DC. Gary has also worked on community projects in Chile and Colombia. In addition, Gary continues to create major public artworks at his home in London, including commissions for TFL – Transport for London, Chester City Council, London Borough of Bexley, The Royal College of General Practitioners and many more. I met Gary at the first International Urban Mosaic Intervention in Chile in 2014, and later that year we both participated in the Second Biennial of Muralism and Public Art in Cali, Colombia. He is a much awaited and requested guest for this podcast, and it’s an honor to have him on! I’ve divided our conversation into two parts, and in this first half, we go into Gary’s beginnings as a muralist and mosaic artist. Gary also talks about where he gets his artistic inspiration, and we dive into the stories behind two of his major works – a floor mosaic and a public mosaic sculpture. Links: Gary’s website: https://www.drostle.com/ Follow Gary on Instagram: @garydrostle Works Mentioned in the Episode: • Sunburst – The Light at the End of the Tunnel https://www.drostle.com/about-me-a-potted-history/sunburst-the-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel/ • Redwood Forest Floor Mosaic • https://www.drostle.com/redwood-forest-mosaics/ • Entwined Histories Mosaic Sculpture • https://www.drostle.com/entwined-histories-mosaic/ Gary giving a tutorial of a hammer and hardie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tduKpIPP2so Gary’s Domestika Course, Introduction to Mosaic Artwork! https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/2097-introduction-to-mosaic-artwork Follow the podcast on Instagram! @beyondthewall.muralpodcast Support the podcast on Patreon: www.patreon.com/shannonmcevoy Music from the album, INTERVALO by @kevtomas Thank you!