"I like intricate layouts," says Maggie Morrison, sitting in the northeast Minneapolis studio of Mercury Mosaics. "I'm a perfectionist."
Morrison is well known locally as a musician -- the former Lookbook vocalist now performs with LaLiberte and Votel. Arranging artisanal tile is her day job, the latest in a line of ceramic endeavors dating back to her high school years in Eau Claire, Wis.
"I moved to the Twin Cities for music," she explains. She started college at St. Catherine University but "wasn't ready" for it, so dropped out to pursue her music career and to work for Grey Fox Pottery, a Minneapolis company where she made "mainly Renaissance Festival mugs." Ready to move on after six years in the "cool but crazy" world of Renaissance re-enactors, she found the Mercury Mosaics job on Craigslist.
Mercury Mosaics is an entirely self-contained operation. Designers at the studio create highly customized tile mosaics for clients far and wide, including the likes of Pixar animators and the CEO of Wal-Mart. Morrison works within sight of the stations where tile is shaped, glazed, baked and cut. Once the tile is finished, it's Morrison's job to precisely arrange the tile and affix it to sheets of rubbery mesh for transport to the installation sites.
Locally, the work of Morrison and her colleagues can be seen in Lululemon stores at the Mall of America and on Grand Avenue. The flower-themed mosaic at the MOA store was just finished a few weeks ago. "I have calluses in new places from that project," says Morrison, displaying a bandaged finger.
Working among artists is one of the perks of Morrison's job. "Almost everyone here has another artistic project," she notes. She points to a co-worker nodding along to music on headphones as he strolls out of the kiln room. "That dude was in a metal band."
Her co-workers are "really cool about letting me do what I need to do with my music," says Morrison, "as long as I make sure my tile projects get done." She'll occasionally bump a shift back after a late-night gig, and has taken up to three weeks off to go on tour.
Morrison expects that she'll always work in both ceramics and music. "Really," she says, "I'd just like to have one successful career ... but I'd like even more to have two."
