Artist sees mosaic of possibilities

Dawsonville — Vickie Croft can turn almost anything into a work of art.

She made a wall display of 45 shiny hubcaps from late-model cars in the dining area of her rustic Dawsonville home. But her favorite creations are mosaics made with common and uncommon objects such as toasters, guitars — even car doors.

"I am thinking all the time, 'What can I make?' " Croft said.

Croft, 56, recently turned a trunk door from a Volkswagen into a Jimmy Buffett-themed mosaic. Inspired by Key West, Fla., and the song "Margaritaville," Croft attached an array of pastel pieces, including tropical fish, a blue flip-flop, a lime and a salt shaker. "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere," the title of a duet by Buffett and Alan Jackson, is written at the top in turquoise letters.

Since 1999, she's made enough pieces to sell them at Matilda's Art Gallery in Alpharetta and on the Internet.

Croft creates art in her downtime. By profession, she's an outpatient surgery nurse at Northside Hospital Forsyth in Cumming.

Her artwork is a big hit with co-workers, for whom she has made mosaic vases and steppingstones. Scott Ballard, an anesthesiologist at Northside Forsyth, commissioned Croft to make a Mafia-themed piece for the movie room in his basement.

"I have posters of 'The Godfather' and Mafia-type movies. I thought it would be cool if she made me a movie theme with Mafia types," he said.

Croft knew little about gangsters or Mafia films before she got started. But research is part of the fun, she said.

She scoured flea markets for worn realistic pistols, handcuffs, photos and other memorabilia from the era of Bonnie and Clyde to modern-day fiction, such as "The Sopranos."

Ballard's neighbor saw his mosaic and expressed interest in one based on Wall Street — another topic requiring research. "I have to come up with a theme," Croft said. "I don't know anything about that stuff."

— This article is a reprint from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.