Brian Carelton (left) and his assistant, Bojidar Dimidrov, place smalti in a new work in the "News from the Noosphere" series.
Story by Anne Gelhaus
Photographs by George Sakkestad
For Brian Carelton, describing his paintings as geometric abstractions wasn't enough. A few years ago, the Los Gatos artist decided to research the shapes and symbols he was using in his work to find out why they were recurring.
"When I was working on my master's degree [at the University of Cincinnati], I wasn't progressing," Carelton recalls. "I needed to find a connection with the past; I found it in mosaics."
Through his research, Carelton discovered that the curving ribbons that run through his large, colorful paintings were also prevalent in the mosaics created during the Byzantine era (A.D. 500). Many of these mosaics are preserved in the churches of Ravenna, Italy, and depict the religious symbols of a newly Christian Rome. When Carelton traveled to Ravenna, he found the connection he'd sought.
"It completed the circle," Carelton says. "I realized my art was picking up where this ancient art left off. For me, everything revolves in the realm of Christianity. I didn't consciously decide that my work would reflect this; it just became part of my identity."
Carelton's religion and his work became even more intertwined last August, when he moved into a studio space at Calvary Church, where he and his family attend services. In this studio, Carelton created a reproduction of a fifth-century mosaic that's preserved at Ravenna's Galla Placidia Mausoleum. The mosaic depicts two doves, symbolic of the candor and sweetness of Christ's spirit, perched on a basin to drink from the waters of salvation.
While the original mosaic is made with smalti--small, colored stones with the properties of glass--Carelton reproduced the work using small pieces of canvas, painted to match the brilliant blue and gold of the original. Carelton then pasted the pieces onto a canvas outlined with a computer-generated sketch. The artist says he chose his materials as much out of necessity as by design.
"Very little mosaic work is done in the United States," Carelton explains. "You can't even buy smalti here; you have to order it from Mexico."
Carelton's dove mosaic was commissioned by Bruce and Monica White for their Fremont home. The work is now mounted in the wall of the Whites' entry way, and because the house is circular, the mosaic can be seen from almost any room.
"The more you look at it, the more it becomes part of the house," says Monica White. "I kind of feel myself getting attached to it."
White, who attended Los Gatos High School with Carelton's wife, Lisa, first saw the artist's work at his Art in the Council Chambers show last summer. White says she was attracted to the detail in Carelton's mosaics.
Once she and her husband had hired Carelton, White was further impressed that the artist completed and installed the mosaic in just six weeks. "He's really talented and great to work with," White says. "He listens to you."
Carelton says some of his exuberance about his art form rubbed off on the Whites. "They didn't have a set idea of what they wanted," he adds. "Because of my interest in mosaic, I got them excited about it."
As with most Byzantine mosaics, it is unknown who created the work Carelton chose to copy. Nevertheless, Carelton says, he came to understand the reverence with which the original artists approached their work.
"You're copying a 1,500-year-old design," he adds. "You can feel what they were feeling."
Carelton emulated another aspect of Byzantine mosaic artists by hiring an assistant, Bojidar Dimidrov, to complete the detail work. In ancient Rome, Carelton says, masters designed the mosaics and pieced together the larger images, while their apprentices worked on borders and backgrounds.
Before hooking up with Carelton last June, Dimidrov did inlay work in his native Bulgaria. For the White's mosaic, Dimidrov laid out the border and filled in the water crest design in the basin.
"I'd never done this before Brian showed me," Dimidrov says. "I really enjoy it: He's not only a great artist; he's a great teacher."
Dimidrov is currently helping Carelton with his latest work in the "News from the Noosphere" series, which was the focal point of Carelton's exhibit in the Town Council Chambers. The oil paintings in the series are all geometric abstractions featuring patterns Carelton says are found in the "noosphere," a term coined by French theologian Teillard de Chardin to describe "a part of the biosphere which affects and is affected by human activity, emotion and mentation."
"It has to do with our spiritual connection to God," Carelton explains. "As long as man does good on Earth, the noosphere will continue to grow."
Calvary Church pastor and music director Bill Allison says seeing Carelton's work in the Council Chambers inspired him to ask the artist if he wanted to use the church's studio space, which was utilized only to build scenery for the annual Christmas program. In return, Carelton helped design and build the sets for last year's program.
"I was so surprised by his paintings' spiritual connotations," Allison says. "He might become another Michelangelo: He's philosophically connected with what's happening in our society, and once you understand that, his paintings take on a whole new dimension."
The next piece in the "Noosphere" series is a mixed-media work: Carelton and Dimidrov are adding mosaic work on top of a finished painting.
Carelton's "Art in the Council Chambers" show came shortly after his appointment to the Los Gatos Arts Commission, which sponsors the series of exhibits. Carelton is now commission chairman, but he says he often looks to senior commissioners for guidance.
"If the town doesn't have the information we need," Carelton says, "[Commissioner] Anne Lamborn probably has it on file."
Lamborn, in turn, says Carelton is a productive leader. "He makes us all want to work together," she adds. "He inspires us to cooperation instead of competition. I see lots of shared leadership, whereas there used to be one or two commissioners in leadership positions, and everybody else was sitting back.
"Brian doesn't have so much ego involvement in these things," Lamborn continues. "He and I share a mission to see the arts flourish in Los Gatos, and it doesn't have to be under our names."
Wherever he's made his home, Carelton says, he's always tried to get involved in the arts community there. When he lived in Kentucky, he was on a committee that started the Grayson County Art Project with an $8,000 grant.
"Volunteer projects that promote the arts are healthy," Carelton says. "The way they have it set up here [in Los Gatos] is a very comfortable system. I think it benefits the community that an arm of the town can promote the arts."
Carelton moved to Los Gatos in July 1994 and says he's still trying to understand how the town fits into the greater South Bay.
"I think we're a little isolated here," Carelton adds, "although being [on the commission] has helped me understand the needs of the town. There are really strong [community arts] programs in Santa Cruz and San Jose, and I think we need to connect with them better. I don't think I've done a very good job of interacting with other groups."
As for Carelton's personal interactions, pastor Allison characterizes him as one of the meek who stand to inherit the earth.
"He's too kind to everyone," Allison says. "If someone has a different opinion, he'll take it in and consider it, but he'll still stand his ground."
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, February 28, 1996.
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