Instagram story viewer> @blackcatmosaics> Posts

Black Cat Mosaics

@blackcatmosaics

1.3K

followers

1260

following

My name is Dee Ruff. I’m an abstract mosaic & mixed media artist in Tucson, Arizona creating modern-day alchemy with texture, color, and light.

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Download All

10

1

2 days ago

Happy Birthday to John Lennon! It’s a good day to enjoy some of his music as I apply more sparkling tesserae to my handmade sculpture. I love playing with pieces of crushed glass (large, small, and even glass powder) in some of my artworks. While it might not always look like it, I do place all of my medium to larger pieces one at a time, and sometimes in multiple layers. There are so many hidden processes and materials in many of my works. The black circle in this one is completely handmade using a form and a special epoxy paste that I combined with powered pigments. After it cured, I created the glass design on it, layer by layer. Lately I’ve been using some very atypical adhesives and sealers that are not usually used by mosaic or mixed media artists. Every artwork adds to the research and exploration of the journey I have been on since 2012. As Louise Nevelson said to her granddaughter, Maria: “There are no mistakes, only experiences.” Wise words from a famous artist. taken in Tucson, Arizona by @blackcatmosaics

9

0

6 days ago

I’m happy to share that “Vitality,” one of my Glass & Calcite Color Field artworks has been chosen for an upcoming exhibition in Tucson, titled “Pieces of Us: The Art of Resilience and Recovery.”

This Tucson community exhibition explores resilience, recovery, mental health, healing, and connection and has been coordinated by Coyote Task Force and Art State Arizona.

The exhibition will remain on view at Catalyst Creative Collective from October 17–November 6, with additional art workshops and community programming taking place throughout the exhibition.

To see this exhibition, visit Catalyst Creative Collective
4500 N. Oracle Road, Suite 110
Tucson, AZ 85705
Inside Tucson Mall, first floor.

To see more details about my artwork, which is available for purchase, and discover the inspiration behind it, please visit https://www.blackcatmosaics.com/vitality by @blackcatmosaics

9

0

7 days ago

“Love is the one thing we’re capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space.”
—quote from Interstellar

Sneak peeks of a new handmade sculpture that will be part of my Luminous Elements Collection. So many processes, materials, and hours involved, and I’m on a deadline. I hope I make it. 🤞There’s still a lot more to do. taken in Tucson, Arizona by @blackcatmosaics

8

0

10 days ago

I’m happy to share that my handmade mosaic sculpture, “Encounters,” will be part of the annual SCULPT juried exhibition and celebration of sculpture at the J Gallery. Serving as both the reception for the indoor sculpture exhibition and a welcome to newly installed works in the Jill Rosenzweig Memorial Sculpture Garden, Sculpt invites the community to slow down, spend time with art, and connect with the work, the artists, and each other. SCULPT showcases local work in a variety of mediums. This year’s theme, Making Space, is inspired in part by the idea that meaningful spaces don’t just pop into existence but are built with intentionality.

The exhibition will run from October 1st through November 15th. I will be at the artist reception, and available to talk about my artwork and process in the gallery on Sunday, October 18th, from 4-6pm at the Tucson J at 3800 East River Road
Tucson, AZ 85718. If you’re in Arizona, I hope you will come and support me and all of the artists in this show! by @blackcatmosaics

23

3

14 days ago

When you go to pick up your artwork from the Arizona Biennial 2026 at the Tucson Museum of Art, before a day date with your husband, and you find the most interesting little “beings” under a tree, close to your parking space! I couldn’t resist taking some home to figure out how to use them in a future artwork! 😄 It’s true love when your husband helps you gather a bundle of them. SCREWBEAN MESQUITE (PROSOPIS PUBESCENS). So fun to see this! by @blackcatmosaics

20

3

17 days ago

Spending some time today working very small again. Beautiful dark indigo transparent glass that I hand chopped and meticulously sifted, washed, and sorted. The silver painted glass fragments I purchased, but I think they will go nicely with the other tesserae in the large handmade sculpture that I have been working on over the past few weeks. While many of my works don’t have rigid mosaic andamento, I am placing these pieces individually, and then sometimes layer in areas for that poetic texture that I love. Bottle cap for size reference. It’s a slow build with so many different processes and materials involved. Slow art. 🥰 by @blackcatmosaics

13

2

a month ago

Surprise! I just learned that the special exhibition where two of my artworks have been on display at the Flinn Foundation in Phoenix has been extended again for a few more weeks! If you are interested in seeing these pieces, in addition to other artist’s work, please make an appointment to visit. Here is the website for the Flinn Foundation with contact information https://www.flinn.org/. This exhibition has been organized by Art State Arizona. by @blackcatmosaics

23

2

a month ago

We finally got some photos of my new sculpture from my Earth Elements Collection. In “Symphony of Bees,” the geometry of honeycomb and the warmth of Honeycomb Calcite come together in a meditation on nature’s intricate rhythms. Gold-colored bees inhabit handmade mosaic niches, their presence echoed across the four sides of the sculpture. Through mineral, metal, and architectural form, the work celebrates the quiet vitality and interconnectedness of the natural world. This tabletop mixed media sculpture features a custom-colored handmade substrate with gold-painted metal niches, hand-cut and tumbled Honeycomb Calcite, Apoxie Paste honeycomb designs, and metal bees. Approximately 13 inches (h) x 7 inches (w) x 5 inches (d). To see full photos and more information about this artwork, please visit my website. https://www.blackcatmosaics.com/earthelement/symphony-of-bees taken in Tucson, Arizona by @blackcatmosaics

21

5

a month ago

If you haven’t visited the Arizona Biennial 2026 yet, or if you’re interested in seeing it again, don’t delay! The exhibition ends on Sunday, September 27. It’s truly been one of the highlights of my experiences as an artist to have one of my contemporary abstract glass mosaics in this exhibition. The Tucson Museum of Art staff shared with me that this is the first time in the long history of the Arizona Biennial that a contemporary mosaic like this has been selected. I am so grateful and honored! I’m deeply appreciative of all who have visited to offer support to all of the chosen artists, the Tucson Museum of Art, and our art community. Now, more than ever, we need your presence and support in our communities! https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dc9FPIyi1f2/?stkn=MWRuZWZoZnFkd3RsZg== taken in Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block by @blackcatmosaics

21

1

a month ago

The non-venomous & docile Sonoran Gopher snake that had been peacefully taking refuge behind a large planter on our front porch has decided to end its vacation. We added up the days and realized it had been visiting for about 2 weeks! After shedding its skin (see my earlier post), it finally decided to venture out into our front courtyard garden. My husband had been watering some of the plants and he alerted me that it had quietly emerged. I have always been terrified of any snakes (lol, sometimes even fake ones until I realized they were not real), but I have developed a respect and healthy appreciation for all of the diverse and beneficial creatures here in the beautiful and unique Sonoran Desert. The snake never felt threatened by us and was very zen-like in our presence. (I wish all human beings that I have engaged with in my lifetime could be as well-behaved.) Enjoy my Labor Day morning photos and videos here. The natural world, the colors & textures that surround us, are such an important part of our lives here. It offers a lot of inspiration for my abstract artworks. I was also happy to see all of the beautiful butterflies enjoying the desert milkweed plant. May we all find elements of peace when we take the time to slow down and appreciate them. by @blackcatmosaics

17

9

a month ago

Sunday Morning Surprise from Mother Nature! 🤣 A non-venomous, beneficial for the garden, beautifully patterned Sonoran Gopher snake has been hanging around for more than a week behind a large planter on our front porch. It has peacefully and unobtrusively remained behind there during the day. It’s a perfect place for it to enjoy relief from the heat and days when the sun is exceptionally hot and bright. I was initially worried that it was unwell, I saw it changed position behind there, so I just left it alone. I am someone who has always been terrified by all snakes (sometimes even fake ones, 😆), but I have truly evolved since moving to Tucson in 2021 and becoming more educated about the wildlife here. While I NEVER want things like this inside my house, I can appreciate them from a distance and in their natural environment. This kind are the good guys, getting rid of packrats and other pests that can do significant damage to our gardens. Some of my art followers may remember how surprised I was to find a perfectly intact shedded snakeskin next to our backyard patio in August 2021 (our first year here in west Tucson). And even more surprising, I stopped being afraid and started being inspired by that gift from Mother Nature. I found a way to preserve the shedded skin and used in one of my handmade cement-based figurative travertine stone sculptures. I named it “Shakti” and some people in the art world (both locally & internationally) told me that it was one of the most innovative and unique contemporary mosaic artwork that they had seen here in the Southwest. It was definitely an adventure for me here in my art studio back then. Last night I gently poured a little water behind the planter, so it would just reach the edge of the snake. An offering of coolness. This morning I found my reward! The shedded skin was lying around the front corner edge of the planter, just waiting for me to come out and see it. 🤣 So now I’m feeling like I have been challenged to create some other unique work of art using it. Shakti (meaning primordial energy) was very precious and truly one of a kind. It will be interesting to see what comes forth from this gift from nature. 😃 taken in Tucson, Arizona by @blackcatmosaics

28

6

a month ago