All Cracked Up Mosaics!

I am so excited to host Betsy Gallery here for the first SBSMA guest teacher workshop.  I am even more excited that we have only one spot left.  If you are interested call or email me asap for that last space.  It will go I am sure.  Smalti is such a beautiful form of tesserae and Betsy has so much knowledge and is so excited to spend her weekend sharing all this information with us all the while everyone will be creating their own Smalti piece. 

Summer is almost here and everyone loves to feel creative and let their spirit run free....check out the SBSMA schedule for all the new and exciting workshops.  The Smalti workshop coming up in July is a great new addition, taught by well known SB local mosaic artist Betsy Gallery.  Only 4 more spots left.  This weekends Beginner mosaic workshop is sold out but the July 9/10 workshop still has a few spaces.  The boulder workshop is filling up as well.  What a great way to make an address boulder or a starfish on a boulder.  So many different ways to create and enjoy mosaic art.....come on you know you want to!!!!!!!!!!

I had such a blast working on my latest commission.  This Forno Bravo pizza oven started out a nice shade of beige and it has been transformed into an underwater sea theme with bicycling chickens.  Not sure if you will see this anywhere else.  I used stained glass as my tessare and the eyes on the octopus are glass fused by well known mosaic artist Martin Cheek.  You are welcome to email me any questions or thoughts regarding this piece.  If you would like to see it in person also email me and I can give you information how to see it.  It is in the front yard of an amazing family here in Santa Barbara.

Here is the pizza oven from blank to pre-grout. The clients liked the idea of an underwater sea theme. They let me really go with the design and we chose colors together. Here are just a few pics to see the progress. The final pictures to come next week.

I am in the process of working on a mosaic of an outdoor pizza oven at a very nice home on the Mesa in Santa Barbara.  While working one day the next door neighbor paid a visit.  We got to talking and he told me he is a retired professor from UCSB.  He taught art history for 35 years with an emphasis on African Art.   I asked him if he had ever heard of El Anatsui, I explained I had just learned of him from a film I saw of him at the SAMA conference I was at in February.  He went on to tell him not only had he heard of him but he was friends with him.  That this man got El Anatsui his first American piece into the DeYoung museum.  To thank him El gave him a piece of his art.  If you don't know El Anatsui's work the best way to describe him is large scale recycled material such as bottle caps, cans and other metal scraps that create a mosaic like blanket of colorful beauty.  It is awe inspiring what he creates.  This man showed me his El Anatsui piece hanging perfectly in his home.  It was like meeting a celebrity.  So amazing what a small and sweet world we live in........

Working on a mosaic that I think will be one of my favorites....under the sea theme with seaweed, starfish, coral and biking chickens...stay tuned for pictures and watch this regular pizza oven come to life...

Just back from a great conference with amazing people.  Learned  so many new mosaic techniques and made some great friends.  Cannot wait till next year but in the mean time going to go make and teach mosaic art...come one come all!!!!!

Looking forward this week to getting to know fellow mosaic artists at the SAMA conference in Austin, Tx.  Should be a good time with lots of learning and networking, ok and some good Austin food too!!!