MosaicBlues

About the Artist

Frédéric Lecut was born in France in 1957. Already very young he was interested in Archaeology and enjoyed visiting sites occupied by prehistoric  and antique men in his native Picardie and other parts of Europe, some of them decorated by wonderful mosaics.

He studied Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering and pursued an international career from 1980 to 2000, working for several companies, and later on his own.

In 2000, he decided to step out of the Corporate World to dedicate himself to what he enjoyed above all: Martial Arts, and Manual creation. In 2003, during a trip to France, he met Jean Pierre Soalhat, a remarkable Mosaic Artist, and became himself interested in this media reminding him of the beautiful frescoes he had admired when as a Child his parents had taken him to Rome

Frédéric Lecut presently lives and creates his mosaics in Headland, Alabama, USA.

Why I create mosaics

I have always been fascinated by ancient art and architecture. Why and how did our ancestors build the Pyramids, Stonehenge, the Nazca lines, the Cathedrals? Even today, building such monuments would represent a technical challenge.

Not only are these structures still there and standing after several millenniums, they also are beautiful, and we can’t but feel awe at their sight.

I have the highest respect for the engineers, architects and artists of the past, for their ability to conceive, to draw, to plan and execute. For the masters who built the cathedrals in Chartres and Amiens, for the architects of the Parthenon, the painters of Lascaux…

I am a firm believer in rituals. I believe that rituals bring us in communion with our ancestors, and what are rituals but the repetition of words and movements which were executed in the past, again and again and again ?

It is true of religious celebrations. It is also true of professional activities. When I use today the same martelina – a half moon shaped hammer – which mosaicists were using in Rome and Tunisia 2000 years ago in the exact same way they were then using it, I feel in communion with them, and I love to think that I feel just like they were feeling when they were at work, creating pieces which still to this day feel me with admiration for their mastership.

When I lay the stones of a prayer labyrinth for a Church, I somehow walk in the shoes of Mestres Robert de Luzarches who built the Cathedral of Amiens in the 13^th century, When I lay the tesserae of a fireplace mantel decorated with grapevines, I am in communion with the anonymous artists, some of them probably were slaves – who laid the stones of the gorgeous mosaics of the Seviac Villa in the 4^th century.

Now why are these structures still standing after all these years ? They were made out of Stone !

Stone lasts. Everything else decays generally faster: wood rots or burns, adobe and terra cotta breaks and crumbles, paint fades, Iron rusts, bronze oxidizes, Stone lasts !

Mosaics Last !

Ceramic and glass are two materials which result of the transformation of Stone through fire, they last almost as long as stone, and I also use them to create my mosaic.

When I design and create mosaics, I am in communion with ancient artists and workers. I continue their work, Somehow, their strength and creativity flow through me. And hopefully, because I use noble and long lasting materials just like theirs, my work will also survive me for a very long time.

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