BY KAREN BOSSICK

There are hundreds of T-shirts and ball caps being printed up to commemorate the Great American Eclipse on Aug. 21.

Chances are, there’s only one Mosaic Project.

Forty-nine artists involved in the 2017 Wood River Valley Studio Tour have each created an 8-by-8-inch tile representative of the art they make. And each of the pieces celebrates the eclipse in some way.

“Each could be an amazing memento,” said artist Sarah Bird, noting that each is for sale with the money going to support the studio tour on Aug. 19-20.

The Mosaic Project will be on view from Friday, Aug. 11, to Sunday, Aug. 20, at the Ketchum Conference & Events Center where Zinc Restaurant was in the Walnut Avenue Mall on Sun Valley Road. The show, which runs from 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., will also feature a larger piece of each artist’s work.

A reception with the artists will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18, as part of the Community Library’s third annual Lit Walk.

The public will get the chance to watch the artists at work in their studios during a free self-guided tour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 19-20.

The Mosaic Project features different interpretations of the eclipse as only artists can come up with.

Pamela DeTuncq has created a three-dimensional piece of a Chinese dragon swallowing the sun, depicting what the early Chinese thought happened during the eclipse. Jan Lassetter has taken inspiration from recent animal safaris to paint a portrait of an elephant in the middle of an eclipse.

Judith Kindler did a fun 3-D look at the solar eclipse called "Standing in the Dark Waiting for the Sun." It features sculptural legs standing against a rock background with a magnifying glass revealing a bright sun-like face.

Mark Kashino, who has painted many works involving Native Americans, has painted a bison under a partial eclipse. Lisa Horton created a piece using lapis lazuli jewelry, which she says has celestial connections. Neon artist Diana Lloyd has, of course, lit up her piece.

Photographer Anne Jeffery created a photograph pairing the sun and moon. Ceramic artist EJ Harpham created a rooster, noting that feathered critters often go to roost during an eclipse. And Jennifer Bellinger has expanded on her portrait of Sun Valley dogs looking at a wintry moon to feature them looking at the eclipse.

Sarah Bird created a portrait of a bright red poppy, noting that many flowers close up when darkness begins to fall upon the land. She picked the poppy because so many were planted here by Chinese immigrants who came to the Wood River Valley during the gold and silver rush.

“Plus, they’re so delicate. You look at them and they seem to have a corona effect, like the sun,” she added.

Searching for inspiration, Annie May came across the moonflower, a statuesque garden flower with large trumpet-shaped flowers that unfurl in the evening or on overcast days. They close when the sun rises. She painted the moonflower in front of a sunflower and titled the piece “Floral Eclipse.”

“There are a lot of different varieties of moonflowers. Some look like morning glories,” she said.

Suzanne Hazlett, who co-founded the tour, created a piece that she’s called “Celestial Bodies.” Very different from her previous work with encaustic, it features what resembles celestial rocks or, perhaps, planets set against the black sky.

“This is a abstract view of what you might see in the sky instead of a more literal approach,” she said.

Bird, who serves on the tour board, along with Mary Williams, May, Judy Pittman and Hazlett, said she’s always amazed at the variety of art in the Wood River Valley—all of it of excellent quality.

“I’ve lived in artistic communities but never any like this,” she said.

”What’s wonderful about the mosaic is that there’s something there for everyone, whether you’re someone who loves realism or someone who loves abstract art,” added Hazlett. “The pieces are very affordable and collectors can come away with some extraordinary pieces of art.”

BID ONLINE!

The Mosaic Project is the main fundraiser for the Wood River Valley Studio Tour, helping to print up maps for the tour and promote it.

The works can also be seen—and bid on—at www.wrvstudiotour.org.

 “We’ll even ship the mosaics across the country to those who are out of state,” said Sarah Bird.