Though San Francisco’s Velvet da Vinci Gallery has closed after 26 years, the gallery maintains an online presence. Cynthia Toops was an early name on the gallery’s list of artists.
Her polymer micro mosaics still pop up on Velvet da Vinci and on Seattle’s Facere Gallery. This Turtle micro mosaic pendant recently appeared on Velvet da Vinci’s Instagram.
The Divine Archer whose theme is based an an ancient Chinese myth appears on Facere’s recent post.
It’s difficult to show you how exquisitely minuscule her threads of polymer really are. Cynthia bakes the hair-thin strands of polymer before cutting and embedding them in the base layer. Click on the images to see details and remember that the brooch is only 2 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ and the pendant is similarly sized.
“My work, especially the micromosaics, is technically simple but very labor-intensive,” she admits. She succeeds at telling very big stories in exceptionally small spaces.
Luann Udell ,
It is a joy to see Cynthia’s work again! It is ALWAYS exquisite, and beautiful, and I’ve missed seeing it. “Technically simple…”?? Maybe. But not easy! Each one is a tiny work of art. Thank you for featuring these new works by her!