Media Reviews
Barbara Dybala has been feature in a wide assortment of publications throughout Texas and beyond.
Blue Ribbon News- Rockwall, Texas.
Friday October 29, 2021
MCLENDON-CHISHOLM, TX (June 23, 2021) On a plot of sprawling acreage out in rural McLendon-Chisholm sits a home that simply has to be seen to be believed.
A Creative Resolution; Mosaic Art.
On a cold winter morning Paige McCoy Smith from WFAA came to Hidden Mosaic to interview Barbara. The gardens were not in bloom but the response was overwhelming. Thank You Paige.
Watch Barbara Dybala interview with WFAA
Paige McCoy Smith
Shops at Clearfork
By Gaile Robinson September 14, 2017
Over a year process, the art finalists were winnowed to nine, with 14 works total among them. Barbara Dybala, in conjunction with Artspace 111, is one of the artist.
Rockwall Harold Banner
May1 2016
The McLendon Chisholm seal now hangs in the great room of the new city hall. This 4 ft wide mosaic was created by mosaicist, Barbara Dybala.
Rockwall Harold Banner
September, 2014
Winning Mosaic Design created by Barbara Dybala will be on display for one year in the downtown Dallas Arts District.
Groutline
Groutline is the editorial arm of SAMA, the Society of American Mosaic Artist organization. Barbara was the Co-partners of 2B publishing who published Groutline for over five years.
During the years of Groutlines publication Barbara was a contributor in the area of “new work” and “how to” mosaic.
Press Release
The Mosaic Arts International: Architectural & Site-Specific Mosaic
The Nashville Public Library
615 Church St.
Nashville, TN 37219
Monday — Friday: 9:00am — 6:00pm
Saturday: 9:00am — 5:00pm
Sunday: 2:00pm — 5:00pm
The Mosaic Arts International: Architectural & Site-Specific segment is a juried exhibit of the best in contemporary architectural and in situ mosaics from SAMA’s diverse international membership. This segment was juried by Kim Emerson, Award Winning Public Artist and Founder of the San Diego Mosaic School, San Diego, California, USA. The 19 installations selected will be represented at the Nashville Public Library Art Gallery through print and digital images, video, and a collection of ephemera provided by the artists. Materials on display will including drawings, sketchbooks, materials samples and tools that will provide visitors a unique perspective into the process of creating a large-scale mosaic work. The exhibition features the works of 19 artists from the United States, Canada, Australia, and Brazil, including Barbara Dybala, Hidden Mosaic Studio in Rockwall, Texas.
Entry : Ranch style gate with header and side wings
26 ft wide x 14 ft tall
Hidden Mosaic is the studio/home to Barbara and David Dybala in Rockwall County, Texas. Barbara has set a goal to add a new mosaic every year to the property. In 2018 the decision to was made to mosaic the main ranch style entry & exit gate. The challenge of creating this outdoor mosaic was that it had to be lightweight enough for the gate to be functional, while sturdy enough to withstand the elements. Texture was provided in places by doubling the mounting board to give more depth. This creates shadows as the sun moves across the mosaic prompting the viewer to search for some of the hidden creatures in the art. This gate welcomes all who cross its path and celebrates the nature they will see beyond it.
This gate is the first of its kind in America and well recieved. There are now two gates in Rockwall County. The second on Quail Run Rd.
For more information on the full 2019 Mosaic Arts International Exhibition Series, visit, https://americanmosaics.org/
Title
Barbara Dybala’s mosaic art challenges the notion that mosaics are two dimensional in nature. Her career has been spent understanding how to use found and/or seemingly random items to create organic mosaics with amazing depth. At the same time, she will use a three-dimensional form to create a mosaic sculpture. It would be easy to say that Barbara is an organic mosaic sculpture artist, but that does not fit either. It would be more appropriate to say that you engage with her mosaics. They pull you in and then they ask you to step back and look at them from a different angle. They want to tell you something, but most of all they want you to smile. It is the sheer process and enjoyment of discovery that Barbara uses when she interacts with her medium. It is Barbara’s hope that a person interacting with her art would do the same.
Who is she? Barbara started her art career as a child. Inspired by the book “The Color Kittens”, she would spend afternoons mixing food coloring in water to see how the colors combined to make new ones. The first part of her adult career used her artistic talents to create and later manage entire department store advertising displays. Later, she was called away by her pride in her Czech heritage. She worked with a local non-profit to develop a widely acclaimed historical display that covered over 20,000 square feet and told the story of how the Czechs came to Texas. Her entrepreneurial itch needed to be scratched and so she next combined her art and advertising skills with her heritage to own and run the largest full-service Czech bakery in the Dallas area for over 6 years. Still, she kept being called back to her first love, art, and wanted to take her next professional step in that direction. Having never completed college, she went back to school and earned a Fine Arts degree from the University of North Texas taking the top portfolio award. She spent the next 15 years as a professional graphic designer/art director for award winning magazines in the airline industry as well as working as adjunct faculty for UNT. Ultimately, she reinvented herself again and threw herself into becoming a mosaic artist full-time. Her work has won awards at the local, national and international level. It has been selected for curated and juried collections. It has been commissioned for and displayed in the Dallas Arts District, schools, civic buildings, city parks and anywhere else that some extra beauty was needed. She even reinvented where she was living by moving out to 8 acres in the prairies east of Dallas and creating a mosaic habitat that includes ranch gates, entire sides of buildings, stairwells, ceilings, pond houses, fence posts, giant frogs, furniture and more, covered in mosaic. It’s open to the public every Mother’s Day if you ever want to stop by. One day she even plans to get that life-sized fiberglass elephant on the property mosaicized as well.
She did all of this while raising a family of two boys and a husband who she has loved for over 50 years. You begin to appreciate Barbara’s art because of its beauty, you come to love it because of the joy it brings you. You could say the same thing about the life she has lived. Just ask anyone who has met her.