Classical andamento need not be thought of as restrictive or old-fashioned, but rather as the grammar of mosaic, giving definition and clarity to the work. Going beyond the principles of andamento, this course shows you how to develop style and narrative in mosaic, creating your own mosaic language.
Grammar and typography govern how we arrange letters into words and determine how easy or hard a text is to read and understand. In mosaic, the language is seemingly simpler — but texture, spacing, and dimension, layered over the basic principles of andamento can give lines, and therefore a mosaic, very different characteristics.
In this workshop we will also cover cutting with hammer & hardie, using a multitude of materials, and emphasizing proper posture and cutting techniques for different effects. We will then spend a few hours working with smalto to understand its properties, characteristics and how to cut it to achieve different effects. After these two basic topics, we will launch fully into developing language, now with tesserae that are intentionally cut for exploring andamento as language.
Previous knowledge of andamento rules is a pre-requisite. Hammers and hardies will be available, along with nippers and all other mosaic tools.