Courtney Allen

This stunning piece was commissioned by a close family friend and I absolutely loved creating it. I think it turned out as elegant, sophisticated, sparkly and beautiful as the client herself. What I love most about this piece is that I was able to incorporate some of my clients belongings to make it personalized and truly one of a kind- several of her jewelry pieces, vintage charms, fabric used in the room and pieces of lace and sequins from her favorite dresses.

This mosaic is actually made of two pieces - a wall hanging piece and a board that sits on the mantle. The centerpiece is the large selenite cross with carved wood wings encrusted with pyrite, crystals and sequins topped with a gold antique wood fragment. Surrounding the cross is a mix of Italian gold smalti, velvet fabrics, lace, antique metal ribbon, zardozi embroidery pieces, family heirloom jewelry, mother of pearl, rhinestone tiles, countless variety of tiles, and wood frame pieces. The mantle piece features large hunks of zeolite, celestite crystals, quartz geodes, pyrite and a golden wood piece.

“La Pazienza” means patience in Italian.

SOLD

22.5" x 22.5"

This was a custom piece created for a lovely couple celebrating their 30th anniversary. This piece features a photo of their home printed on tile and metal pieces, rocks and cedar that they found on their property. Their house has a beautiful colorful stained-glass window that I recreated on the piece. It was a wonderful challenge to pull together the vibrant colors and mix them in with the rustic metal. There is a railroad nail dated from 1930- I thought it was a perfect way to mark their 30th Anniversary. This piece is exactly why I love collaborating with clients to create something meaningful and unique for their home.

SOLD

Commissioned for a room with smoky coral walls and beautiful Italian fabrics, this piece blends in perfectly with its golden hues and jewel tone colors. This piece features a collection of seashells, smoky quartz, green ghost quartz, coral, Zardozi applique, metallic ribbon, gold Italian wood fragments, yellow phantom quartz, stained glass, Orsoni smalti mosaic tiles, 22k gold mosaic, sea fan coral, a druzy geode, antique metal ceiling tile, feathers, purple barnacles, wood Victorian picture frame pieces, and an antique ceramic tile. “Conchiglie” means seashells in Italian.

34” x 40”

SOLD

“Mythos” means a story or belief. Inspired by my recent travels to Greece- this piece incorporates the iconic cobalt blue and white of the buildings, the sparkling clear blue water of the Aegean Sea, the beautiful architecture and of course, Greek mythology. For thousands of years, the evil eye symbol has been used to ward off evil intentions. It is estimated that around 40% of the world’s population believes in the protection of the evil eye. The Greek key pattern symbolizes eternity and infinite love. The olive branch is a symbol of peace and friendship. The quartz crystal brings harmony and stability to one’s environment.

This piece was sold in the Silent Auction of the 33rd Huntsville Museum of Art Gala

$2,600

SOLD

“La Dimora” means dwelling in Italian.

This piece was a custom design for a friend's new home. The selenite cross is mounted on an antique ceiling tin frame and surrounded with geodes, barnacles, glass pieces, 24k Orsoni gold mosaic tile, seashells, green amethyst, rose quartz, Victorian wood frame pieces, quartz crystal, and porcupine quills. I absolutely love this piece and was honored to create this piece as a main focal point in their kitchen.

“Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23:6

SOLD

Piastrella means “tile” in Italian. This piece features a wide variety of tiles - from Italian Orsoni smalti, marble, quartz, glass, ceramic, granite, mirrors and 24k gold leaf - all in the hues of black, white, gold and creams. The piece is centered around an antique encaustic tile from the late 1800’s - a type of tile that was prepared from a pigmented clay base then heated or fired in a kiln. The center tile is surrounded by white reclaimed wood. There are pieces of antique Victorian Eastlake frames with etched wood and gold trim and a reclaimed metal architectural fragment.

I fell in love with how handsome this piece was and couldn't let it go- it now hangs in my bedroom!

NOT FOR SALE

This piece was featured in the Live Auction for the 2020 Huntsville Museum of Art Gala. “Deo Vindice” means “God will vindicate.” In the center, there is a vintage Virginia Metalcrafters C.S.A trivet from 1952. This is mounted on an antique tin ceiling tile surrounded by mosaic tile and Victorian wood frame pieces. The edges were trimmed in velvet with brass nail heads. African porcupine quills line the outer edge of the wood corners. The mosaic includes antique metallic ribbon, leather, an antique horse bit, reclaimed barn wood and steel railroad nails from 1942.

$4,300

SOLD

Milagros means "miracles" in Spanish. This piece features the heart milagros (also known as the Sacred Heart) which represents love, healing and gratitude. This piece was created for the 31st Huntsville Museum of Art Gala and was featured in the Silent Auction. Inspired by recent travels to Santa Fe, this mosaic has a wood sacred heart covered in metal milagros figurines surrounded by 24k gold Orsoni mosaic tile and glass shards. There are quartz crystals, a geode, tiles and numerous metal milagros charms. Each charm represents different types of prayer requests. The mosaic is covered with an acrylic display case.

12" x 12"

$2,600

SOLD

This piece was made to celebrate a friend’s birthday. In the middle is a photograph printed on tile that I took of one of the angel statues in the Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville, AL. It is surrounded by a gorgeous variety of blues with gold and silver accents. This mosaic features Italian smalti tile, cut wood frames, an antique key, mirrors, decorative glass tile, mother of pearl tile and marble tile.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

16” x 16”

SOLD

Mounted on a 30.5” x 54” antique ceiling tile frame, this mosaic features two wood golden angel wings. Nestled between the wings and mosaic is an antique French metal crown. At the bottom, two large pearlized white nautilus shells frame a metal heart surrounded by chunks of amethyst, barnacles, quartz crystal, geodes, seashells and coral. Along the top of the piece, crackled mirror brings sparkle. Metallic leaf garland is strung between two antique brackets. Truly breathtaking in person, all of the crystals, amethyst and mirrors capture the light and literally make this piece shine. The mosaic background features mirrors, mother of pearl tiles, Orsoni smalti in shades of plum and purple, and 24k gold tiles.

This piece includes lots of amethyst. This gemstone represents royalty and spirituality and was highly prized by the Christian Church. Amethyst crystals are said to bring you creativity, perception, self-knowledge, and insight.

Along the bottom of the piece, the Bible verse “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.” Matthew 25:31.

24" x 48"

SOLD

Mounted on an antique ceiling tile, this piece features a photo printed on tile of a statue from Maple Hill Cemetery. Surrounding the statue is amethyst, geodes, seashells, 24k gold Orsoni tile, mother of pearl tiles, quartz crystals, barnacles, seashells, coral, a baroque pearl, a candle quartz, wood frames, clock pieces, and a beautiful gold frame corners.  

 This piece features lots of mother of pearl and an actual baroque pearl. The lore surrounding pearls is full of luster and magic. Romans believed pearls were associated with the goddess of love, Venus, and were regularly dissolved for use on love potions.

33.5” x 33.5”

SOLD

This piece was made for the Therapy Partners fundraiser “The Dog Days of Summer” event. This event features artists who do portraits of “Da Vinci Dogs” to help raise money. This portrait is of Winston, the Jack Russell that belonged to my parents. The mosaic includes Winston’s dog collar, Orsoni smalti tile, mirrors, 24k gold tile pieces and an acrylic painting of Winston. It was an honor to create this piece for a sweet, loyal dog and for a great cause.

SOLD

This is a custom piece featuring an encaustic painting mounted on an antique ceiling tile frame. Encaustic painting, also known as hot wax painting, involves using heated beeswax to which color pigments are added. I absolutely loved working on this piece because it is encrusted with seashells, quartz crystals, fabulous antique wood tassels, velvet fabric, amethyst, frame pieces, 24k gold mosaic tile, Orsoni smalti, religious findings, antique French metallic lace and hand blown glass.

SOLD

This piece is a striking combination of gold mosaic tiles and bright colors. The poppies are a photograph printed on tile. These particular poppies are from when the center grassy areas of the interstate on the way to Nashville were filled with colorful wild poppies. They always made me smile when I would drive by them.

This is an antique tin ceiling tile piece featuring a vintage chalkware statue of Jesus. This piece incorporates amethyst, geodes, seashells, 24k gold mosaic tile, antique lace, quartz crystals, an antique belt buckle, barnacles, and reclaimed wood molding.

17” x 29”

$2,800

SOLD

This piece features an encaustic print of a barn on Dug Hill Road that burned down a few years ago. When I took this photo, the field surrounding it was filled with yellow flowers - it was such a beautiful day and brought back memories of driving by this barn growing up. The encaustic print is made by layering melted beeswax, adding pigment into the different areas of the wax and smoothing using a heat gun and then transferring a printed paper copy of a photograph and slowly dissolving the paper away so that only the ink remains. It's a tricky process but I love how this one turned out - the wax gives the photo a dreamy soft quality. The mosaic is mounted on an antique 24” x 24” ceiling tile and includes pieces of reclaimed mushroom board that came from an old factory.

24" x 24"

$3,200

SOLD

Every artist has “that piece” that is their all-time favorite. This is a stunning custom piece that I did for my parents’ house. It is over 4’ x 4’ and took several people to carry due to the weight. (Thanks in part to the three gigantic rock crystals hanging from the crown!) This is my favorite piece because not only does it look right at home in the space, it includes absolutely beautiful antique collectibles that my mom gave me to work with. From mother of pearl engraved poker chip pieces, the golden angel wings, crystals, geodes, vintage French metallic ribbon, a silver pill box cover engraved with my mom’s initials, seashells collected from Perdido Key (where my parents have a beach condo), antique ceiling tile, 24k gold smalti, Turkish druzy quartz, a vintage brooch, gorgeous carved frame pieces and the iconic turquoise and coppery gold that will always remind me of my mom, this piece will always have a special place in my heart.

SOLD

This was a piece created for the Huntsville Museum of Art Gala and was featured in the Live Auction. In the center there is an antique equestrian themed tile dating from the 1920’s-30’s era. It is surrounded by Victorian wood frames, Italian smalti mosaic, marble, brass tacks, leather, onyx, velvet and braided horsehair. Two horse brass pieces hang from old railroad nails from the 1930’s.

23” x 23”

$5,000

SOLD

This is a custom piece created for a family member. The piece features one of my photos from the Maple Hill Cemetery printed on tile. It is mounted on an antique ceiling tin tile and surrounded by 24k gold Italian smalti tile, glass, mirrors, frame pieces, fabric used in the room and a decorative cross.

24” x 24”

SOLD

Mounted on a 24” x 24” antique ceiling tile, this mosaic features a photo of a Maple Hill Cemetery statue printed on tile. The mosaic includes mirrors, Orsoni smalti tile, frame pieces, mother of pearl tile, an antique door knob plate, and 24k silver mosaic accents.

The piece was inspired by Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith.”

This is one of the few pieces where I used something I did not create as the focal point. When my mom and I did a Caribbean cruise together, we stopped at this fabulous gallery in the BVI featuring local artists. This is an encaustic photograph (a photograph that has been brushed in several layers of beeswax to create texture) and highlighted with gold pigment powder. I wanted to capture the magic of that trip and the time spent with my mom by creating a mosaic that featured the iconic and vivid colors of the Caribbean. I love the ocean wave pattern along the bottom made from varying shades of transparent glass. If you look closely, some of the glass pieces have flecks of copper and gold within them.

24” x 24”

SOLD

This 20” x 20” mosaic features a photo of an angel statue from Maple Hill Cemetery (Huntsville, AL) printed on tile. The angel is surrounded with Orsoni smalti tile, wood frame pieces, 24k gold Orsoni mosaic tile, mirrors and an antique ceiling tile from the 1890’s.

This was the painted violin that I created for the 2017 Crescen-Dough Auction - a fundraiser for the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra. I absolutely loved this project - it was a perfect way to combine my love of mosaic with the beauty of a musical instrument.

The painted violin combined amethyst, geodes, coral, crystals, mirrors, mother of pearl, barnacles, Orsoni smalti tesserae in hues of purples, creams, copper and 24k white gold.

SOLD

This mosaic is 18” x 18” and features a photograph of an angel statute from Maple Hill Cemetery printed on tile. This piece includes and antique ceiling tile frame, Orsoni mosaic tile, wood frame pieces, mirrors, and 24k gold mosaic accents.

Inspired by Psalm 91:11 “For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”

This mosaic features an antique ceiling tile frame filled with mirrors, mother of pearl tiles, white and blue Orsoni smalti, and 24k white gold tile, In the center of the selenite cross is a celestite geode surrounded by quartz crystal points. The gold and silver wings feature selenite shard accents and broken tile pieces to add sparkle. Along the bottom is an antique gold wood fragment with selenite shards, quartz crystal points and 24k gold Orsoni mosaic tiles.

Celestite features sky blue crystals and is known for its calming and uplifting properties. Celestite means “celestial” or “heavenly” and is said to allow communication with guardian angels. This gemstone is typically kept in the bedroom to invite angels into the space and promote restful sleep.

SOLD

This piece features antique 19th century Victorian Eastlake wood frames, antique ceiling tile surround, reclaimed metal fleur de lis, Orsoni smalti tile, 24k gold mosaic tile, a geode and selenite slabs.  

Mounted on a reclaimed wood base, this selenite cross features clusters of quartz crystals, oyster shells, coral, geodes, barnacles, a calcite cluster, a baroque pearl, seashells, and candle quartz crystal points.

 Selenite promotes a peaceful environment by cleansing negativity in all forms and purifying the environment. Selenite is considered a mineral that radiates divine light and is used to charge and cleanse other gemstones.

This piece was named after Revelation 22:1 “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

This piece is 20’x20” and features a photo of a statue from Maple Hill Cemetery printed on tile. This photo is mounted on an 1890’s antique ceiling tile and surrounded by Orsoni smalti tile, mirrors, frame pieces, antique door knob plate, and 24k gold tile.

The title “Peace” was inspired by Colossians 3:15 “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.”

This piece is 16” x 16” and features a photograph of a statue from Maple Hill Cemetery printed on tile. The statue is surrounded by frame pieces, Orsoni smalti tile, 24k gold mosaic tile, mirrors, reclaimed doorknob plate, coral, seashells, a druzy geode, quartz crystals, citrine, and smoky quartz crystal. This piece evokes the feeling of heaven above and the earth below through use of color and texture.

This mosaic is on a 24” x 24” antique ceiling tile and features an encaustic painting of an angel statue from Maple Hill Cemetery (Huntsville, AL). Encaustic painting, also known as hot wax painting, involves using heated beeswax to which color pigments are added. The encaustic painting has been enhanced with oil pastel accents and pearlized powder. The mosaic tiles and frame pieces are all hues of pastels and there are mother of pearl tiles, mirrors and 24k gold tiles mixed in.

This piece is entitled “Hope” after Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Mounted on a reclaimed wood base, this selenite cross features clusters of quartz crystals, amethyst, coral, geodes, barnacles, a baroque pearl, seashells, and candle quartz crystal points.

 Selenite promotes a peaceful environment by cleansing negativity in all forms and purifying the environment. Selenite is considered a mineral that radiates divine light and is used to charge and cleanse other gemstones.

 Amethyst represents royalty and spirituality and was highly prized by the Christian Church. Amethyst crystals are said to bring you creativity, perception, self-knowledge and insight.

Mounted on a double layer antique ceiling tile frame, this piece features a photo of an angel praying printed on tile. This angel is from the Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville, Alabama. Along the bottom of the piece is a carved wood golden angel wing. The top corner features clusters of quartz crystal. The gemstone heart is celestite. The mosaic includes mirrors, cut frame pieces, 24k gold Orsoni tiles, selenite squares, glass tiles, marble tiles and Orsoni smalti.

Celestite features sky blue crystals and is known for its calming and uplifting properties. Celestite means “celestial” or “heavenly” and is said to allow communication with guardian angels. This gemstone is typically kept in the bedroom to invite angels into the space and promote restful sleep.

Capturing the spirit of Santa Fe, NM - this mosaic features a photo of colorful wood roosters printed on tile. The piece is surrounded by a reclaimed wood border and includes silver mosaic tiles, mirrors, marbles from Harrison Brothers Hardware, a turquoise cross, a reclaimed door hinge, stone crosses and traditional Milagros charms. Milagros means “miracle” in Spanish and are attached to altars, shrines or sacred objects as a petition for help or protection or carried for good luck. Each Milagros can have several meanings.

This piece was commissioned by a good friend who wanted to capture her journey during three surgeries and a life changing medical diagnosis. It was my honor and privilege to create this piece - I think it captures the colorful spirit of my friend, her wonderful sense of humor and her ability to make the best out of a bad situation. As they say, “when life gives you lemons…” This piece was both fun and challenging to work on -there is quite a bit of hidden symbols and numeric representations. The three lemons symbolize the three surgeries. Five marbles, one for each doctor. Nine candies for nine scars. And the 153 mirrors to represent the number of days between the first and the third surgery. I decided to use mirrors to represent “reflection” of those long days that made up her journey. Even the chocolate milkshake has its own story.

This piece features an oil painting, ceramic lemons, Venetian glass candies and cherries, mirrors, a salvaged wood frame, 24k gold tiles, Orsoni smalti tile, fabric from the room it was to be displayed in, and different types of decorative tile.

This piece was a custom piece that was made as a birthday gift to a friend. The center is a photograph printed on tile of one of the statues from the Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville, AL. This tile is mounted on an antique ceiling tile piece and surrounded by mosaic tiles in grey, silver and purple hues and wood frame pieces.

Psalm 121: 7-8

“The Lord will keep you from all harm – He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going now and forevermore.”

SOLD

This piece is mounted on a 22” x 22” antique ceiling tile frame and features a glue print on wood. The photo is of a statue from the Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville, Alabama. This piece includes Orsoni smalti tile, mirrors, antique key plate, wood frame pieces, 24k gold mosaic tile and dark emperador marble pieces.

The title “Patience” was inspired by Romans 12:2 “Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times.”

This cross was a custom piece made to honor someone who embodied the adventurous spirit of a traveler. Made of selenite wands, Brazilian quartz crystals, seashells from Perdido Key, coral, geodes from Colorado, natural crystal clusters from India, candle crystal points from Madagascar, a baroque pearl and a reclaimed wood base.

I was inspired by Joshua 1:9 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

This colorful mosaic features an antique tin frame with a photo collage printed on metal. The piece includes Mexican painted tiles, mirrors, Orsoni smalti tile, wood frame pieces and a collection of silver Milagros. Milagros are religious folk charms that are used during an act of devotion - for example, as a symbol of gratitude for a prayer answered. Milagros are also carried for protection and good luck. This piece captures the colors, the warmth and the fun adventure we had when visiting Santa Fe and going to see the Albuquerque balloon fiesta.