Making Mosaics

Artist Erica Sauve poses with a mermaid mosaic she made at Rainbow Spring Art on West Pennsylvania Avenue in Dunnellon, Fla. on Friday, April 30, 2021. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2021.

Nature lover pieces together artworks of colored glass

In the gentle face of a manatee, the bright eyes of a turtle or the graceful curve of a white egret’s head, the wildlife she sees along Central Florida’s waterways come alive in Erica Sauve’s mosaics. With bits of glass, accented by gemstones and shells and mounted on old windows, she captures her love of the natural world.

Artist Erica Sauve poses at Rainbow Spring Art with a mermaid mosaic she made. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]

“I mostly do animals and nature. That’s my big thing,” explained the part-time artist and full-time realtor who named her website The Mosaic Mermaid. 

And, in fact, the largest mosaic she’s created so far is a 4-foot-tall mermaid with long, flowing hair, her arms outstretched and her blue tail highlighted by the sparkling shades of the sea.

“I like anything to do with water,” said Sauve, who was born in Wales and lived in Canada, New York and Georgia before moving to the Dunnellon area five years ago. Her favorite recreational activities include kayaking and swimming with her husband, Jacob, and their 13-year-old son, Brody. Her husband, a scuba instructor, often brings her inspiration for new artworks.

“He brings home these amazing photos of manatees and stingrays and otters,” she relayed. 

A flamingo piece by Sauve. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]

She recently moved her art studio from inside her home to a “she shed” on her property.

“Now I don’t make such a mess in the house,” she said with a laugh, explaining that she cuts glass with a diamond-tip water grinder. She recently began using glass exclusively in her mosaics, trading in tile mounted on wood for glass designs on salvaged windows.

“I don’t do stained glass,” she clarified, explaining that she uses grout to hold her pieces together. “But I really like the transparency of the glass. You can hang it up in the window and see the beautiful light coming through. Some of the glass has multiple colors in it, and it’s just gorgeous.” 

[Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]

She always enjoyed art, Sauve said, and a couple years ago she discovered how much she liked making mosaics.

“I wasn’t very good at painting, but I knew I wanted to keep doing something,” said the self-taught artist. “I started gluing tiles or broken things on to embellish. I just knew that I really, really liked the texture of tiles and glass.”

Sauve recently joined the Rainbow Springs Art co-op in Dunnellon, which she says is “a great gallery.”

[Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]

“I’m really happy to be here. I just really enjoy what I do. And that’s the most important thing. When you love something, it makes it easy.”