| Pieces of Helen Helen Beliz - Mosaicist and Artist |
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Pieces of Helen
I had just moved into my new house in May of 2008, when I received a phone
call from a man, Mr. Berle Beliz. He had found my name in an Internet search
for Sacramento Mosaic Artists. He wanted me to restore a mosaic his passed
mother had done some years ago - his guess was about 12 years ago. He
had found it while visiting his sister’s home in an area that was subject the
elements.
Many mosaics take the weather just fine, it a good medium for outdoors – just
not when the substrate is made of wood. Berle’s mother’s mosaic was on a
wood base.
As a result of the mosaic’s exposure to the elements, pieces were falling off –
thus the call to me by Berle.
We chatted a bit on the phone about the age and materials of the mosaic and
agreed he would come by for me to examine it.
He pulled up just as my friend and fellow artist, Maggie Jimenz was leaving.
She stayed while we talked about the mosaic and what I could do to repair it. I
took a photograph of it pre-repair, so in case of severe uh-ohs, I would have
something to rebuild from.
Restoration Tip #1 – Photograph the piece before you begin. Although my
belief is that there is very little you can not fix on a mosaic, if you are working on
someone elses treasure, be sure you return it in as like a condition (plus
repairs) as you received it. Photographs are instrumental.
I looked over the mosaic and it is lovely. I comment as much and Berle said it
was good to hear that. He said his mother had married an artist and at times
may have felt overshadowed by his talent.
It made me think, “Isn't that just the way women (and even men) can be about
their abilities to create art.” I used to think what I did wasn't worth much - I
mean after all if I could do it - anyone can. While that may be true that anyone
can do it, my creation has worth.
Thus began my conversations with Helen and my appreciation of her work of
which I call The Nesting Bird.
The more I looked at the piece, the more I wanted to know about the woman
who had made this. I even searched the internet to see what was out there
about Helen Beliz. I didn’t find anything. Given the quality of the artwork of the
mosaic, this really surprised me. So I contacted Berle and asked if I could
write this article about the restoration of this piece and requested permission
to use the images in the article.
The mosaic was mostly intact, but loose on the board in spots. My initial
approach thought was to drill holes in the back and inject an epoxy resin into
the spots that seemed loosest. This would affix the mosaic to the back,
without the need to remove it all. Berle even had some excellent suggestions
on the type of drill bits (milling tools) to use to get a decent size hole without the
possibility of breaking through and damaging the tiles.
Guess what – Helen had other ideas.
When I started the restoration, I carefully examined the front, pressing the tiles
to see where they were loose on the substrate. I then turned it over and
marked in pencil the places where I felt the adhesive should be injected.
Some the tiles in the corner that needed repair and a few edge pieces were
popping off, so I decided to tape down the front. By taping it down, if more
pieces came off then they would be in their original pieces.
Restoration Tip#2 – Use some medium, such as tape, contact paper or brown
paper with water soluble glue (like the indirect method) to keep the mosaic
pieces in their original position.
One of the things I noticed when marking off the back for drilling holes was that
Helen had signed the piece, “Helen Beliz 1973”.
I told Helen what a good job she had done. This mosaic had held up for 35
years. That long ago, the techniques and adhesives were different and
limited. It made me hope my work will hold up that long – or hopefully
hundreds of years. In 1973, there weren’t super surface sealers, fabulous
glues for tiles and ceramics or heavy-duty grout sealers.
After taping it down, I though to myself (or maybe Helen was telling me)– “Self,
why don’t you tap the back with the rubber hammer. That way if more edge
pieces are going to pop off, you will be able to glue then when you restore the
corner.” I tapped in a few places around the edge.
The result: The entire! mosaic came off in one sheet.
Some folks may have panicked, but I was thrilled. This meant I could properly
treat the wood and seal it from future water intrusion. Helen knew it needed
doing and that she didn’t want any holes drilled in the back of it.
I coated the wood with a sealer. Let dry. Then smeared the wood liberally with
Weldbond glue and placed the mosaic back in the frame. Since this was a
sheet of grout and tile, and air would not get to the center – I let it cure for over
10 days before repairing the corner and then grouting.
It is one of the nicest mosaics I have seen and I got really lucky matching tiles.
The woman had used old pottery and the back was signed 1973. That makes it
more like 35 years ago.
I have been talking to her as I work. I guess I am empathising with Helen
I contacted her son and asked if he would mind if I wrote an article for my
mosaic art group. I needed his permission to use photos of the work.
He gave me enough information to do some background for the article.
When he had brought the mosaic to me and I said how lovely it was, he told
me his mother was overshadowed by her husband's art.
His mother was born Helen Brook in Philips Wisconsin May 18, 1911. She
died in April 2007 at the age of 95. She was the youngest of four sisters and a
brother. Philips was a very small town in the Northern part of the state and her
parents saw very little opportunity for marrying off there daughters so the family
moved to Brooklyn NY when Helen was still in elementary school. She was
trained as a teacher and was only able to get substitute teaching positions in
the rough parts of Brooklyn. This was during the depression and just earning a
living was a challenge so Helen had little opportunity for artistic expression.
She met her husband when he was on a business trip to NYC. They had a
romance by correspondence since he was working in California. She married
and moved to California, and they had three children. Helen was a housewife
for most of her life. It was not until she and her husband Murray moved in 1963
to the Leisure World development in Leguna hills CA that she had the time and
opportunity to explore her artistic nature. Leisure World in Leguna Hills had
instructors and workshops where she was able to learn the art of mosaic tile
setting. This piece was her last large mosaic project because she did not have
the strength in her hands due to age to continue. I believe that the bird mosaic
took her almost a year to complete. Helen also was accomplished in the art of
enamel fired over copper plate.
I matched the grout by guessing. I mixed 1 part charcoal, 1 part snow white, 1
part antique white and 12 teaspoons of Liquidtex’s Burnt Umber acrylic paint. I
kept adding the paint until I was sure it would be a close match. I smeared the
grout even over areas that did not have missing grout, so that it would blend.
For the bottom part, which was gray, I used the same mixture – only with out
the paint. That way the color base was similar.
I had just moved into my new house in May of 2008, when I received a phone
call from a man, Mr. Berle Beliz. He had found my name in an Internet search
for Sacramento Mosaic Artists. He wanted me to restore a mosaic his passed
mother had done some years ago - his guess was about 12 years ago. He
had found it while visiting his sister’s home in an area that was subject the
elements.
Many mosaics take the weather just fine, it a good medium for outdoors – just
not when the substrate is made of wood. Berle’s mother’s mosaic was on a
wood base.
As a result of the mosaic’s exposure to the elements, pieces were falling off –
thus the call to me by Berle.
We chatted a bit on the phone about the age and materials of the mosaic and
agreed he would come by for me to examine it.
He pulled up just as my friend and fellow artist, Maggie Jimenz was leaving.
She stayed while we talked about the mosaic and what I could do to repair it. I
took a photograph of it pre-repair, so in case of severe uh-ohs, I would have
something to rebuild from.
Restoration Tip #1 – Photograph the piece before you begin. Although my
belief is that there is very little you can not fix on a mosaic, if you are working on
someone elses treasure, be sure you return it in as like a condition (plus
repairs) as you received it. Photographs are instrumental.
I looked over the mosaic and it is lovely. I comment as much and Berle said it
was good to hear that. He said his mother had married an artist and at times
may have felt overshadowed by his talent.
It made me think, “Isn't that just the way women (and even men) can be about
their abilities to create art.” I used to think what I did wasn't worth much - I
mean after all if I could do it - anyone can. While that may be true that anyone
can do it, my creation has worth.
Thus began my conversations with Helen and my appreciation of her work of
which I call The Nesting Bird.
The more I looked at the piece, the more I wanted to know about the woman
who had made this. I even searched the internet to see what was out there
about Helen Beliz. I didn’t find anything. Given the quality of the artwork of the
mosaic, this really surprised me. So I contacted Berle and asked if I could
write this article about the restoration of this piece and requested permission
to use the images in the article.
The mosaic was mostly intact, but loose on the board in spots. My initial
approach thought was to drill holes in the back and inject an epoxy resin into
the spots that seemed loosest. This would affix the mosaic to the back,
without the need to remove it all. Berle even had some excellent suggestions
on the type of drill bits (milling tools) to use to get a decent size hole without the
possibility of breaking through and damaging the tiles.
Guess what – Helen had other ideas.
When I started the restoration, I carefully examined the front, pressing the tiles
to see where they were loose on the substrate. I then turned it over and
marked in pencil the places where I felt the adhesive should be injected.
Some the tiles in the corner that needed repair and a few edge pieces were
popping off, so I decided to tape down the front. By taping it down, if more
pieces came off then they would be in their original pieces.
Restoration Tip#2 – Use some medium, such as tape, contact paper or brown
paper with water soluble glue (like the indirect method) to keep the mosaic
pieces in their original position.
One of the things I noticed when marking off the back for drilling holes was that
Helen had signed the piece, “Helen Beliz 1973”.
I told Helen what a good job she had done. This mosaic had held up for 35
years. That long ago, the techniques and adhesives were different and
limited. It made me hope my work will hold up that long – or hopefully
hundreds of years. In 1973, there weren’t super surface sealers, fabulous
glues for tiles and ceramics or heavy-duty grout sealers.
After taping it down, I though to myself (or maybe Helen was telling me)– “Self,
why don’t you tap the back with the rubber hammer. That way if more edge
pieces are going to pop off, you will be able to glue then when you restore the
corner.” I tapped in a few places around the edge.
The result: The entire! mosaic came off in one sheet.
Some folks may have panicked, but I was thrilled. This meant I could properly
treat the wood and seal it from future water intrusion. Helen knew it needed
doing and that she didn’t want any holes drilled in the back of it.
I coated the wood with a sealer. Let dry. Then smeared the wood liberally with
Weldbond glue and placed the mosaic back in the frame. Since this was a
sheet of grout and tile, and air would not get to the center – I let it cure for over
10 days before repairing the corner and then grouting.
It is one of the nicest mosaics I have seen and I got really lucky matching tiles.
The woman had used old pottery and the back was signed 1973. That makes it
more like 35 years ago.
I have been talking to her as I work. I guess I am empathising with Helen
I contacted her son and asked if he would mind if I wrote an article for my
mosaic art group. I needed his permission to use photos of the work.
He gave me enough information to do some background for the article.
When he had brought the mosaic to me and I said how lovely it was, he told
me his mother was overshadowed by her husband's art.
His mother was born Helen Brook in Philips Wisconsin May 18, 1911. She
died in April 2007 at the age of 95. She was the youngest of four sisters and a
brother. Philips was a very small town in the Northern part of the state and her
parents saw very little opportunity for marrying off there daughters so the family
moved to Brooklyn NY when Helen was still in elementary school. She was
trained as a teacher and was only able to get substitute teaching positions in
the rough parts of Brooklyn. This was during the depression and just earning a
living was a challenge so Helen had little opportunity for artistic expression.
She met her husband when he was on a business trip to NYC. They had a
romance by correspondence since he was working in California. She married
and moved to California, and they had three children. Helen was a housewife
for most of her life. It was not until she and her husband Murray moved in 1963
to the Leisure World development in Leguna hills CA that she had the time and
opportunity to explore her artistic nature. Leisure World in Leguna Hills had
instructors and workshops where she was able to learn the art of mosaic tile
setting. This piece was her last large mosaic project because she did not have
the strength in her hands due to age to continue. I believe that the bird mosaic
took her almost a year to complete. Helen also was accomplished in the art of
enamel fired over copper plate.
I matched the grout by guessing. I mixed 1 part charcoal, 1 part snow white, 1
part antique white and 12 teaspoons of Liquidtex’s Burnt Umber acrylic paint. I
kept adding the paint until I was sure it would be a close match. I smeared the
grout even over areas that did not have missing grout, so that it would blend.
For the bottom part, which was gray, I used the same mixture – only with out
the paint. That way the color base was similar.
