 
If any artist in St. Augustine
can be referred to as a “Rennaissance
[wo]man,”: a highly cultivated
person who is skilled and well-versed
in many, or ideally, all the
arts and sciences, it is Manila
Clough.
Born in Florida and raised in
Puerto Rico, this versatile visual
artist, who counts drawing, painting,
calligraphy, and print making
among her many talents, has lived
and studied art all over the
world, including Spain, Belgium,
and Greece.
Manila completed her BA at Florida
State University with a double
major in English Literature and
Studio Art. While working on
her Master of Arts Degree in
medieval English literature from
Georgetown University in Washington,
D.C., she was admitted into the
Rare Book Room of the Library
of Congress to study 13th and
14th century illuminated manuscripts.
During this time, she developed
a lifelong love of calligraphy.
Manila completed two years of
a four-year doctoral program
at Tulane University before she
and her family were transferred
to Belgium for three years and
Spain for four years. While living
and traveling abroad with husband
Paul, a Navy Civil Engineer Corps
officer, and their son, Manila
studied the arts and showed her
work all over the world.
Well-known for her original
water colors, serigraphs, and
calligraphy—combining flowing
scripts with decorative illustrations—Manila
accepts commissions for house,
boat, and pet portraits. But
lately another old-world art
form has captured her focus:
glass mosaics. Manila creates
mosaics by cutting, nipping,
or breaking each tesserae (glass
piece) from sheets of glass normally
used in stained glass works.
She draws directly onto plywood
or cement board; then, begins
laying in the hundreds of pieces
of glass one little piece at
a time. Beads, ceramics, and
decoupaged elements add variety.
Various colors of grout enhance
the vibrant hues of the glass.
In addition to numerous commissioned
pieces she has produced for private
collections, she recently created
three large mosaics of marsh
birds for the lobby of the new
Anastasia Island Branch of the
St. Johns County Library, which
opened this past spring.
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