Surfing Madonna's Creator Speaks At Mira Costa

Perhaps you heard about the mosaic of a surfing Madonna that appeared on a wall of a freeway underpass in the beach town of Encinitas? No one knew who created it until the artist came forward a few weeks later when they were going to pull down the mosaic and he didn't want it damaged.
Mark Patterson is the creator of the beautiful mosaic and he said he doesn't consider himself an artist. I think whatever he wants to call himself, he is a very talented and thoughtful person.
In his talk at Mira Costa, besides answering questions about the controversy the mosaic caused because it was placed on public property without permission, he spoke about the steps he sees in the creative process. 1. Intuition 2. Expectancy 3. Practice & Play 4. Understanding 5. Reality.
He said the Surfing Madonna appeared in his sketchbook for a few years and he created her face during a 2 week mosaic workshop in Italy. He then completed the mosaic when he returned home and wanted to give it to the city of Encinitas as a gift.
I felt pretty fortunate to hear what prompted the creation of the mosaic from him and I think he can call himself an artist.