Lydia Shepard is a Chicago-based mosaic artist with roots Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Vermont.  She has been incredibly fortunate to spend much of her life surrounded by talented artists who have both inspired and challenged her.  

The process is what draws her to mosaic; she finds wonder in breaking something apart- being the first to see the inner layers of a stone after breaking it with a hammer, or finding bands of color hidden deep inside a slab of smalti- and then putting it back together.  She finds beauty in the juxtaposition of flat and shine: stone and gold, plaster and metal, unglazed clay and glass.  She draws inspiration from comic strips, gentle curves from nature, outer space, and shiny things. 

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Lydia received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Vermont in 2011.  Since relocating to Chicago, she has been active in the arts in many facets, including blogging, curating, community outreach, teaching, and public art.

Lydia is currently a Principal Faculty member at The Chicago Mosaic School, where she is awarded a unique opportunity to both teach and learn.  She is currently working towards completing the Certification in Mosaic Arts program at the Mosaic School, and has studied independently in Ravenna, Italy.   When she is not at CMS, she enjoys traveling, scuba diving, doodling, drinking coffee, listening to podcasts, watching true crime documentaries, and bothering her cats. 

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Please see Lydia's full CV here