Are you wondering for the nth time what to do with that pile of random scraps and shards of material that Kelley Knickerbocker refers to as a “Crap Library?” Leftover tesserae, offcuts, accidents, samples, and bits we feel obligated to pull out of the floor-sweepings because they’re expensive, rare, meaningful or just beautiful. Not much of any one thing, and none of it “matches” the rest (curved, straight, jagged, right angles, different sizes, colors, etc.).
The answer is here! Mosaic Arts Online is thrilled to present this course as Kelley unpacks how to assess random scraps, see (or create) the rhythm in them, and join them together into one cohesive vibrant, active mosaic. You’ll discover that the unruly dissonance of your pile of shards is actually their visual/textural strength!
In this course, through demos, illustrations and building one 12” x 9” mosaic and one 4” x 4” sample board, you will learn:
- How to see (or create) the corresponding aspects of very dissimilar scraps
- How to choose a neutral unifying material that pulls your discordant scraps together
- The importance of dissonance in creating energy and interest in an andamento
- The importance of contrast, value, shape and texture in the success of a mosaic
- How uniformity can make areas of “chaos” really pop
- How to effect a “chaos gradient,” and why you might want to
- Two new andamenti with specific types/shapes of scrap
Using a quantity of random scrap from her own crap library, Kelley builds in real time a 12” x 9” mosaic starting with uniform shapes of the neutral unifying material and progressing into variations of materials and sizes which crescendo in organized chaos to a raucous but balanced finale. If you’re a careful perfectionist this course will show you how to effectively bust some spontaneous moves, and if you’re a wild, intuitive sticker-downer this course will show you how adding strategic uniformity can intensify and enhance your wild style.
Included in this course is a PDF for download of Kelley's suggested tools, materials, and resources. Now start saving those floor scraps.
Your Instructor
Visual artist Kelley Knickerbocker left a 22-yr administrative career at the University of Washington in 2006 to found a mosaic studio (Rivenworks Mosaics, Seattle) and direct her accumulated skills in project management and planning toward designing/fabricating/installing mosaic artwork for public, commercial, residential and gallery environments.
Kelley’s ruggedly dimensional mosaics, in a broad range of materials, are a textural distillation of her fascination with contrast, material properties and the technical challenges of mosaic construction. Sharing that fascination and learning from other art makers are keys to the freshness of Kelley’s mosaic practice, and she travels extensively throughout North America speaking, collaborating and teaching in-depth workshops on mosaic style and technique.
Kelley’s fine art mosaic panels have been accepted to numerous national and international juried exhibitions, and many reside in private collections. She is an active member of the Society of American Mosaic Artists.
Course Curriculum
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StartIntro and Personal Interview with Kelley and Tami (9:37)
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StartPDF for download. Kelley's suggested tools, materials, and resources
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StartImage of Kelley's piece for this course
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StartStarting from uniformity (5:26)
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StartBuilding uniformity (5:54)
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StartIntroducing variation (13:40)
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StartEffecting directionality (8:06)
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StartKeystoning review (5:05)
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StartTriangles! (9:56)
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StartClawdamento (13:32)
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StartInventamento (13:51)
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StartOrganized chaos (8:35)
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StartBuilding our mosaic 1 (11:05)
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StartBuilding our mosaic 2 (7:03)
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StartBuilding our mosaic 3 (19:45)
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StartBuilding our mosaic 4 (17:00)
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StartFinishing our mosaic (5:17)
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StartBuilding clawdamento (12:09)
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StartBuilding accordionmento (9:34)
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StartReview and wrapup (8:29)