Barbara Henderson’s artistic process is as fluid as her meticulously crafted glass mosaic water scenes.
In her hands, tiny, gemlike chips of glass can become anything: a rainbow-spiraled gazing ball, a teardrop garden ornament, a picture frame adorned with flowers and variegated blades of grass.
Red and yellow flames encircle mirrors, and hearts or pawprints transform beach rocks into precious ornaments. But as she lays the pieces, her designs often unfold in surprising ways. For example, a monographed tabletop might morph into a scene with turtles and rushing water.
“It happens a lot with my work,” says Barbara. “It starts as one thing, and then I like another idea better or realize my original idea isn’t working, so I try another approach.”
“I think we’re all crows at heart, and mosaics involve shiny things,” Barbara says.
Mosaic art can be traced back thousands of years. It’s a time-consuming process that requires intense focus as the artisan selects small glass pieces (called tesserae) based on color, size, and texture. The tesserae are then applied to a prepared surface, filled with grout, and cleaned and polished to reveal a kaleidoscopic masterpiece.
For Barbara, it’s also meditative and rewarding. Time falls away while she’s focused on manipulating light, color, and texture through carefully placed pieces of glass.
“I think we’re all crows at heart, and mosaics involve shiny things,” she says about her passion for mosaics. “I also love taking things that are pieces and turning them into wholes.”
Barbara, the sixth of seven children, never considered herself creative as a child – an older sister already claimed that title. As an adult, she bounced back and forth between entrepreneurship and corporate jobs before plunging headfirst into creative pursuits.
“One of the things that happened was it freed up time for me,” Barbara explains. “When I had time, I found creativity. I think my brain had been so bogged down with nuts and bolts that when I didn’t have to worry about those things, I discovered my creative side.”
Living in Virginia then, Barbara began taking classes offered by the city of Norfolk in a repurposed elementary school. She started quilting, thinking, “I’d like to make my own quilt.” But soon, she found herself exploring other disciplines.
“Once I was taking the quilting class, I noticed they had pottery classes there. They also had drawing classes. Then I saw they had mosaic classes,” she recalls. “I remembered gluing macaroni to cans and thought, ‘OK, let’s try it.’ And since then, it’s been the thing that I keep going back to.”
While Barbara occasionally veers into crafts like jewelry making, she always returns to mosaics. “It captures all of my creative imagination in one place,” she explains.
Now, as the owner of Henderson Arts, Barbara takes commissions, holds in-home art parties, and teaches classes in various locations, including BARN. She sees mosaic-making as ‘active meditation,’ requiring presence and focus. Grouting, in particular, can be nerve-wracking. It involves filling the spaces between the tesserae with grout, a process that can make or break the final piece. ‘It’s as if I’m going around the dark side of the moon with my piece, and I don’t know if it’s going to come out alive on the other side,’ she says.
Barbara’s approach to art is radically inclusive. She believes in opening up our minds to the definition of creativity. “Creativity isn’t necessarily being able to paint something realistically,” she says. “Creativity can be woodwork, creativity can be humor, creativity can be food.”
A student works on a mosaic “bee bath” in one of Barbara’s recent classes.
This philosophy shines through in her classes, especially when working with young students. “I’m fascinated by how open their brains are to absorbing the information and how quickly they take things on,” she marvels. “They try things.”
For those hesitant to explore their creative side, Barbara offers encouragement: “Just try it. Try everything. What human being on this planet has never made a mistake, chosen the wrong color, or messed up their grout? Just give yourself the grace that you would give your best friend and try the next thing.”
As she continues to create and teach, Barbara Henderson embodies the joy of lifelong learning and creativity. Her journey from corporate life to mosaic artistry reminds us that it’s never too late to piece together a fulfilling, creative life.
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