John T Unger Artist's Portfolio

Announcing Emoodicons— the new mood ring that tells the world how you feel!

Mosaic Sign Commissioned By Alden State Bank

Welcome to the John T Unger Portfolio Blog

Mosaic Bear for the American Red Cross

Crazy Whale Glass Mosaic Panel

Lineolatus Tropical Fish Mosaic

Lunula Tropical Fish Mosaic

Brook Trout Glass Mosaic No. 2, 2006

Rainbow Trout Mosaic, 2006

Bluegill Glass Mosaic No. 2, 2006

2008-03-05T23:52:16-05:00

Emoodicons are one of the most exciting ideas I've had in years and I just launched a new blog where you can get your own. Check out the animated short: Marcie's Grand Adventure which shows how Emoodicons work, enter the Make a Face Contest or the Emoodicon Design Contest for a chance to win one of the rings, or read the story of how Emoodicon.com got started. I've been working with some great people to make this a reality and I'm really excited about how it turned out.

What's an Emoodicon, you ask? Well, you know when you’re online and you can just type a couple keys and tell the whole world how you feel? Happy? Angry? Shy? ROFL? In lurve? Don’t you wish real life was that easy? No big discussion. No beating around the bush. No batting your eyes or getting passive aggressive. Just, “This is ME, are you LISTENING?!

Emoodicon Rings make that happen.

They're like a secret decoder ring for your mood. They’re smilies for the real world. They tell everyone just what’s on your mind. “If you don’t know, I’m not going to tell you,” is a phrase you’ll never utter again. If your boyfriend or girlfriend or best friend or evil arch nemesis has eyes, they’ll know. (If they don’t have eyes, no ring will help you. Sorry.) Emoodicon jewelry comes with your choice of 25 mood icons: pick Kitteh or Bleep the Robot. We'll be adding more designs soon so you can mix and match, swap and share, spice it up. Emoodicons are totally customizable. They’re cool, they’re fun, and they won’t break or turn your finger green. Isn’t that a nice change?

2006-11-03T22:21:42-05:00

Tags: art, fish, glass mosaic, mosaic, trout, sculpture

2006-11-03T16:23:49-05:00

Hi There! This is the little intro where I mention that there's a lot more art here than you see on the front page. You can access different areas of the site by selecting from the drop down menu above or the Art by Category menu on your left.

I'm currently best know as an artist and designer, but I also get a fair amount of press these days for my ideas on business, marketing, technology and more. Relaxing makes me tense, so I tend to put in a lot of hours on diverse projects.

On the way to a successful art career I've been a poet and writer, a tech geek, a print and web designer, illustrator, industrial designer, musician, teacher, actor, set designer and even a paid guru once. Now and then I still get to play some of those roles.

It's all the same thing in the end— I wake up most days thinking about how I want to change, fix or improve some aspect of the world. And after a couple cups of coffee I get started on it. My speciality is impossibility remediation: if it can't be done, I'm on it.

Much of my work is done on a commission basis— If you see something in the portfolio that is almost, or kinda sorta what you're looking for, drop me a line. Chances are I can make exactly what you're looking for. I view custom work as an exciting collaborative process. For you, it's an opportunity to participate directly in the creation of a work of art. For me it's a chance to explore new ideas or techniques that may not otherwise have presented themselves.

2006-10-27T04:32:14-04:00


Free Spirit, Mosaic Bear 2005 Ceramic tile over fiberglass. Exact dimensions unknown: Your basic life-size bear Private Collection
Free Spirit was created for the 2005 fundraiser Great Northern Hunt for Bearable Art organized by The American Red Cross of Northern Lower Michigan. An anonymous donor sponsored one of the bears and specifically requested that I mosaic it. I couldn't get anyone to spill the beans as to this mystery benefactor's identity, but I'd like to thank them here for picking up the tab on my entry to the outdoor art project. The life-size fiberglass bears are based on a sculpture by Glen McCune commissioned by the Red Cross as a follow-up to their 2003 Fish-In, which featured over 50 outdoor fish sculptures and raised more than $300,000 for local Red Cross services. If you're curious how long it takes to cover such a large sculpture in tile, you can follow along with the more or less daily blog posts I posted while working on the project: Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four, Day Five, Day Six, Day Seven, Day Nine + Ten, Day Eleven + Twelve, The Auction! As shown below, my bear was chosen to greet everyone as they first came in to the auction tent.

Tags: art, mosaic, fish, whale, glass mosaic, tropical fish, fishing

2006-10-27T04:12:48-04:00


Crazy Whale Glass Mosaic, 2006 Vitreous glass tile, steel frame. 25" H x 20" W x .75" D Collaboration: John T. Unger + Mya Smith
Purchase Crazy Whale Glass Mosaic for $880 ($800 plus $80 S+H).
Mya and I collaborated on a few mosaic panels this summer that can either be hung on the wall or converted to table tops. She was really into fish by this point in time, so that's what we did. This one reminds Maggie of "rollicking 60's beach towels." Could be just the thing to turn your back yard into a beach party. Yay! Mosaic is set with mortar on a Hardibacker substrate in a steel frame. Indoors or out, this mosaic will last lifetimes.

Tags: art, mosaic, fish, whale, glass mosaic, tropical fish, fishing

2006-10-27T04:12:30-04:00


Lineolatus Tropical Fish Mosaic, 2006 Vitreous glass tile, steel frame. 17.25" H x 17.25" W x .75" D Collaboration: John T. Unger + Mya Smith
Purchase Lineolatus Tropical Fish Mosaic for $560 ($500 plus $60 S+H).
Mya and I collaborated on a few mosaic panels this summer that can either be hung on the wall or converted to table tops. This one is particularly striking. A great accent for kitchen or bath, patio or yard. Mosaic is set with mortar on a Hardibacker substrate in a steel frame. Indoors or out, this mosaic will last lifetimes.

Tags: art, mosaic, fish, Lineolatus, glass mosaic, tropical fish, fishing

2006-10-27T04:12:21-04:00


Lunula Tropical Fish Mosaic, 2006 Vitreous glass tile, steel frame. 17.25" H x 17.25" W x .75" D Collaboration: John T. Unger + Mya Smith
Purchase Lunula Tropical Fish Mosaic for $560 ($500 plus $60 S+H).
Mya and I collaborated on a few mosaic panels this summer that can either be hung on the wall or converted to table tops. She was really into fish by this point in time, so that's what we did. Mosaic is set with mortar on a Hardibacker substrate in a steel frame. Indoors or out, this mosaic will last lifetimes.

Tags: art, mosaic, fish, lunula, glass mosaic, tropical fish, fishing

2006-10-27T03:58:36-04:00


Brook Trout Mosaic No. 2, 2006 Sicis Iridium glass tile, glass taxidermy eye, copper, Hardibacker substrate. 11" H x 19" W x 1.5" D Collaboration: John T. Unger + Mya Smith
Purchase Brook Trout Mosaic No. 2 for $550 ($500 plus $50 S+H).
My daughter Mya did so well last summer helping me with mosaic that this year I had her create a whole line of fish. She got to do the fun parts—laying the tile and working out the gradients and shading— I did the mortar, grout, copper banding and provided some small amount of editorial assistance. The work sells at the normal studio rate because it's totally worth it. Her skills are far beyond what you'd expect from a teenager, or even most professional artists. Most of the tile used on this mosaic is from the Iridium line of glass from Sicis. As the light or viewing angle changes, the iridescent surface of the tile closely resembles the scales of a live fish. The photo above shows the iridescent sheen. The second pic shows the copper banding that finishes and protects the mosaic. The mosaic is set with mortar on a Hardibacker substrate over plywood and finished around the edges with copper banding. Indoors or out, this mosaic will last lifetimes.

Tags: art, mosaic, fish, trout, glass mosaic, gamefish, fishing

2006-10-27T03:54:47-04:00


Rainbow Trout Mosaic, 2006 Sicis Iridium glass tile, glass taxidermy eye, copper, Hardibacker substrate. 9" H x 21.25" W x 1.5" D Collaboration: John T. Unger + Mya Smith
Purchase Rainbow Trout Mosaic for $550 ($500 plus $50 S+H).
My daughter Mya did so well last summer helping me with mosaic that this year I had her create a whole line of fish. She got to do the fun parts—laying the tile and working out the gradients and shading— I did the mortar, grout, copper banding and provided some small amount of editorial assistance. The work sells at the normal studio rate because it's totally worth it. Her skills are far beyond what you'd expect from a teenager, or even most professional artists. Most of the tile used on this mosaic is from the Iridium line of glass from Sicis. As the light or viewing angle changes, the iridescent surface of the tile closely resembles the scales of a live fish. The photo above shows the iridescent sheen. The second pic shows the copper banding that finishes and protects the mosaic. The mosaic is set with mortar on a Hardibacker substrate over plywood and finished around the edges with copper banding. Indoors or out, this mosaic will last lifetimes.

Tags: art, mosaic, fish, trout, glass mosaic, gamefish, fishing

Alden State Bank Sign, 2005
Vitreous glass mosaic over Durock in powder coated steel frame
48" H x 96" W x 6" D
Commission

This project was commissioned by Alden State Bank for their corporate headquarters in Alden, MI. The sign took several months to complete, even with the help of my daughter Mya. All the tile was cut by hand.

From across the street, the trout looks almost photoreal, which was really the look I was going for. The tile is iridescent glass from the Sicis line, so when the light hits it, it makes the trout look even more realistic. The last thumbnail image below shows a detail of how the iridized tiles look when catching the light.

Click here to view more glass mosaic in the portfolio.

click thumbnails to view larger image.

2006-10-27T03:45:46-04:00


Bluegill Mosaic No. 2, 2006 Sicis Iridium glass tile, glass taxidermy eye, copper. 11" H x 17.5" W x 1.5" D
Purchase Bluegill Mosaic No. 2 for $550 ($500 plus $50 S+H).
My daughter Mya did so well last summer helping me with mosaic that this year I had her create a whole line of fish. She got to do the fun parts—laying the tile and working out the gradients and shading— I did the mortar, grout, copper banding and provided some small amount of editorial assistance. The work sells at the normal studio rate because it's totally worth it. Her skills are far beyond what you'd expect from a teenager, or even most professional artists. Most of the tile used on this mosaic is from the Iridium line of glass from Sicis. As the light or viewing angle changes, the iridescent surface of the tile closely resembles the scales of a live fish. The photo above shows the iridescent sheen. The second pic shows the copper banding that finishes and protects the mosaic. Mosaic is set with mortar on a Hardibacker substrate over plywood and finished around the edges with copper banding. Indoors or out, this mosaic will last lifetimes.

Tags: art, mosaic, fish, bluegill, glass mosaic, gamefish, fishing