Colorful mosaics depicting nature scenes lined the walls of the Second Floor Gallery at the Austin ArtWorks Center during this weekend’s ArtWorks Festival. A closer glimpse of each one revealed intricate details one might miss from afar.

Sitting on a table in the center of the gallery was another mosaic in progress, depicting kangaroos.

In total, there were 14 pieces on display on the walls and windowsills, all the works of the Festival’s featured artist, Owatonna native Michael Sweere.

“I like all of them for different reasons,” Sweere said when asked which was his favorite. “A lot of the works here are projects I’ve done for myself, so it’s a little different then when I work on client work.”

Sweere currently runs Michael Sweere Mosaic Company, LLC, a Minneapolis-based company that allows him to pursue his love of art. His works consists of recycled material, from paper goods to glass and stone.

“It goes back to the 1990s when I was working it advertising,” he said. “I worked as an art director and mostly worked on packaged goods accounts. I was sent to New York City for a meeting and had some time to kill, so I ended up in the Lower East Side where I saw mosaic work done out in the public; in the cracks, the sidewalks, on light poles and utility boxes. I was just fascinated by it. I came home and was having Saturday morning breakfast with my son and told him about these recycled mosaics I had seen and I said, ‘These artists use everything. They could use a cereal box like the one in front of us.’ My son said, ‘We should do it.’ So, we made a mosaic from a cereal box and that was the very beginning of everything. I had a lot of knowledge about paper packaging and had a ton of paper to start building mosaics.”

Once a project is started, the medium used affects the time it takes to finish.

“Probably the most time consuming is working with glass and stone and tile,” Sweere said. “It depends on how big the piece is. A smaller piece, when done with tin, is probably the quickest medium I can do, in about two to three days. With larger murals, I’ve had some I’ve worked on for eight months before they were finished.”

“Lately, my new favorite thing to do is work on these robots made out of recycled tin, just because they’re different from anything else I’ve done,” he added, pointing to examples displayed in the gallery’s window sills. He said he hopes to build a series of the robots so he can do a show of just those.

Sweere’s work can be seen on display at the Mayo Clinic, Minneapolis Airport, Sioux Falls Airport, St. John’s Mercy Medical in St. Louis, Missouri, Methodist Hospital in Minneapolis, Lake Superior College in Duluth, and the Fort Dodge Airport.

Sweere said he was a little overwhelmed when he was asked to be this year’s featured artist.

“I had been really busy with different projects I’m working on,” he said. “Sometimes, when I’m working in my studio, it’s quite isolated, so it’s really nice to get out and visit with people and talk to them about the artwork and see their reactions to it. It’s been really exciting.”

“I’ve enjoyed being here,” he added. “I’ve met some really nice people and their reactions to the work have been great.”