Last updated on December 30th, 2020 at 08:03 pm
An artist has turned a childhood gesture from her grandfather into incredible mosaic artworks.
Madeline Rector, 19, from Fort Worth, Texas, has kept the bundles of National Geographic, Audubon, Birds in Bloom and other educational magazines that her devoted grandfather Richard, 92, bought her as a child.
He had intended them to inform and inspire Madeline, but never thought she would keep hold of them after reading
But secretly, Madeline kept the magazines over the years until her late teens when she decided to turn the treasured, but beat up, magazines into something she could present her beloved grandfather.
Knowing her grandfather loved sentimental objects that spark memories of the past, she decided to create a portrait of his dog, who has since passed.
And from there things began to spiral. After a video she posted online gained millions of views, she continued to create new artworks, before presenting them to her grandfather at the end.
PMadeline Rector presents her grandfather with a portrait 
The art process involves cutting up small pieces of magazines, then using them to create stunning mosaics
Each mosaic takes Madeline up to 80 hours to create; from ripping up the tiny pieces of different colored pages, to painstakingly pasting each onto the canvas.
But once complete, she continues to present them to her grandfather to remind him of the happy memories they’d created over the years.
Madeline, who has created 11 artworks to date, but has since begun gaining commissions after sharing videos of her process online, said: “Showing my grandfather the finished works makes all of the time spent worth it.
Madeline, who has created 11 artworks to date, but has since begun gaining commissions after sharing videos of her process online, said: “Showing my grandfather the finished works makes all of the time spent worth it.
“I hope artists and non-artists alike watch this video and are reminded of the simple beauty of honor and memory through art.
“I hope that artists will be inspired to use the world around them to make art for more than themselves, to reach beyond politics, propaganda, and forcing a message and touch those closest to them.”
Madeline – who traditionally works with oil paintings – is now gaining commissions to make more of the stunning mosaics, including wedding portraits.
She added: “Nothing in art has never been done before, but an artist has the opportunity to look at their grandpa – or any loved one – and paint or draw a face that has never been put on canvas, or paper.
“How can you get more original than that?”
Story courtesy Madeline Rector of T&T Creative Media