MANILA CLOUGH
This versatile artist depicts
St. Augustine through a variety of mixed media

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.

Individual Artists

With its beautiful scenery and vibrant arts community, St. Augustine is a haven for visual artists working in a variety of media. Following are some of the community's best artists ...