ALL EVENTS
By Category: Drawing ✿ Fiber ✿ Glass ✿ Mosaic ✿ Multimedia ✿ Painting ✿ Upcycling ✿ Open Studios ✿ Guest Artists
Mug to Mosaic with Kelley Knickerbocker
The humble mug. Cheery, tacky, heartwarming, playful, snazzy, artful, endearing, or hideous. Each one contains mugtitudes, including the ingredients of an awesome abstract mosaic: surface colors/textures/patterns, claybody color/texture, curves/corners, and raw/finished edges. Using the the students’ own mugs as context and vehicle, in this 3-day course Kelley unpacks and guides students through each stage of mosaic metamorphosis: inspiration, design planning, palette development, material analysis, precision processing, and execution. Each student will transform their mug into an 8" square mosaic - set directly into cement mortar - in a wood frame. Bring your mug and let's get cracking! Your mug should be large-ish, any color(s)/pattern(s)/texture(s), and a different color on the inside than the outside.
A good understanding of basic mosaic principles and vocabulary is helpful but not necessary.
Self-Guided ABQ Mosaic Caravan Tour
This is a great opportunity to join a caravan of cars taking a tour of Albuquerque’s wonderful public mosaic artwork.
FREE Artist Talk & Booksigning: Rachel Davies
Join us for a free presentation and booksigning by internationally acclaimed mosaic artist Rachel Davies, who is in Albuquerque (from Scotland) for the CMA conference. Bring your copy of her book, or buy one there!
Guest Artist: Rachel Davies
Learn more about her website: here.
Mosaic Horse
Use your glass cutting and design skills to cover our lifesize horse with gorgeous stained glass mosaic. All materials provided.
FREE Artist Talk (Anabella Wewer & Kelley Knickerbocker): The Practice of Learning
Theories and opinions on how we learn vary wildly: Copy the masters. Take more workshops. Narrow your focus. Learn all the techniques. Repeat everything at least three times. Practice, practice, practice. Watch videos over and over. In-person is better. Experimentation is key! Theory is crucial. If the work sings, technique isn’t important. Toss the rules out and just make. If you like it, learn it. And on and on.
In their combined 40+ years of practice, and many, many years teaching, Kelley and Anabella have amassed a heap of experience, thoughts, and opinions about learning and teaching. And they know they'll always still be learning. They love having a good back-and-forth to get at the heart of - and keep learning about - any topic, and this time they’re having it in public in Albuquerque at the Amy Biehl High School during a free, live session as part of the ABQ Mosaic Art Festival. Come join the conversation!
Andamento as Language (Including Hammer & Hardie and Smalti techniques)
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.
Andamento as Language (Including Hammer & Hardie and Smalti techniques)
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.
Teacher Training: Mosaics in the Classroom
We invite APS teachers (of every grade level and content area) to apply for a free program being offered by The Community Groove at The Groove Artspace. We will accept up to 16 teachers serving a variety of schools and student populations.
3.11.26: Open Mosaic Studio
Bring your own project and supplies (or buy them at The Groove’s mosaic supply shop!) and work on your piece together with others. Use our tools and grinders as needed. Let’s make art in community!!
Making Mosaic Mirrors - Grouting
Includes Design/Andamento workshop the evening of Feb. 2 (on zoom)! We will custom-cut MDF board and use and glass tiles, found objects, tempered glass, stones and stained glass to craft a gorgeous mosaic mirror for your home. We will learn how to use a circle-cutter for glass and mirror. Make the mirror of your dreams!
Teacher Training: Mosaics in the Classroom
We invite APS teachers (of every grade level and content area) to apply for a free program being offered by The Community Groove at The Groove Artspace. We will accept up to 16 teachers serving a variety of schools and student populations.
Mosaic Horse
Use your glass cutting and design skills to cover our lifesize horse with gorgeous stained glass mosaic. All materials provided.
3.26.26: Open Mosaic Studio
Bring your own project and supplies (or buy them at The Groove’s mosaic supply shop!) and work on your piece together with others. Use our tools and grinders as needed. Let’s make art in community!!
Fused Glass Mosaics with Lavae
• Title of Class: Fused Glass Mosaics
• Brief Description: Mosaics that look like stained glass without the caming and soldering. We'll compose pieces of colored glass onto a glass backer sheet and then “grout” them with powdered glass to define and give depth. You might choose to paint an icon or pattern onto the glass with high temperature paint. It all gets fused in the kiln to created a solid piece of art that's suitable for a plate or light catcher in your window.
• All tools, materials, and heat (One kiln-firing included) provided.
Micro Mosaic Pendants with Nancy Holt
Learn the historical art of creating intricate jewelry using tiny tesserae of multiple kinds. This hands-on course will teach you how to cut materials, use them effectively in a design, and set them into metal bezels. You will leave with a finished, wearable artpiece of your own design.
Class topics:
* The history of the micro mosaic
* How to design a graphic micro mosaic using paper and colored pencils.
* How to cut micro mosaic materials: smalti, filati, millefiori, beads, and mini tiles.
* How to use specialized adhesives to attractively set your tesserae
No prior experience is necessary, and all tools and materials are provided.
Tweezers are necessary for this method and will be provided. If you have a favorite pair (like I do!) it would be good to bring it to class.
Also, there will be close up work so if you need visual assistance tools these would be helpful as well.
CMA Calling Card Mosaics
We will 1) join Contemporary Mosaic Arts (free), then register for the calling card activity $25. Then, with the guidance of Molly Bell, we will use glass, tile and other materials to construct and grout a miniature mosaic “calling card,” which you can either keep or submit to the calling card exchange activity associated with the CMA conference in ABQ this coming March. FUN for all ages!! The Groove will collect donations (approx $10) for materials), but otherwise the only cost is the cost of the CMA activity registration, which gets you the prepared tin.
