Antique Feather Relief Sculpture and Mosaic with Caitlin Hepworth
Birds of a feather, Mosaic together!
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Are you looking to learn, tackle, and succeed in creating a 3D sculpture to then mosaic onto?
Something that can be displayed as a relief sculpture hung on your wall or with a stand?
Can you imagine using a mix of mosaic art materials and other mixed media art pieces to create a unique mosaic sculpture?
All of these questions and more will be answered when you dive into Caitlin Hepworth’s course “Antique Feather Relief Sculpture and Mosaic” here at Mosaic Arts Online.
Caitlin's deliberate choice of the mosaic feather sculpture as the subject of this course is not without reason. Its versatility for making and displaying it, and its ability to easily manipulateit make it ideal for each student’s own creative style and artistic voice.
What you will learn throughout this course:
- How to choose your feather shape (there are many)
- Scaling your design to size
- How to cut and manipulate the wire mesh
- How to prepare and create the feather sculpture
- How to plan and choose your color palette
- Choosing a selection of mixed media materials
- Cutting tips for each of the materials used in the mosaic feather sculpture
- Positioning the materials to create a sense of flow and movement
- Tips and techniques for achieving a balanced composition in your mosaic sculpture
- Explore ways to use different sides of the tesserae to create subtle gradations in color
- How to create a beautifully sculpted quill
- Important tips for a wall-mounted relief sculpture
This course does require some mosaic knowledge, but we know you are brave and capable, and we cannot wait to see what you create!
Caitlin is available through the comment sections in each segment of this course to guide you through any challenges and questions.
This course has an in-depth suggested list of the tools, materials, and resources.
Below is a list of some of the tools and materials necessary for this project:
- ¼” hardware cloth
- 6mm Steel or Aluminium Rod
- Galvanized Tie Wire
- Alkali-resistant fiberglass mesh
- Ultra Fine Mesh Tape
- Mapei Keraflex SG
- Black Pigment
- Copper Foil or Thick Aluminium
- Copper Sheet
- Copper Wire or craft wire
- Mexican Smalti Tortilla
- Mexican Smalti
- Italian Smalti
- Asstd. mixed media materials
- Mosaic Nippers
- Picking, Tweezers, Scraping, and Palette knives
Your Instructor
Caitlin Hepworth is an Australian artist working in contemporary sculptural mosaic. Her work is thematic exploring narratives of regeneration, resilience and transformation observed through environmental and psychological perspectives.
Graduating from the National Art School in 2000 with a BFA in Sculpture, Caitlin went on to complete a Master of Teaching in Visual Arts at USYD graduating in 2002. She has been included in numerous national and international exhibitions including being a finalist in the Society of American Mosaic Artists Mosaic Arts International Exhibitions 2021, 2017 & 2016, and in MAANZ International Exhibitions 2021, 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013 and in GoCM Chicago ‘Stories we Tell’ exhibition in 2017.
Career highlights for Caitlin include participating in three international symposiums at the invitation of Giulio Menossi. Firstly in 2018 in Ploaghe Sardinia, then a virtual participant during Covid in 2021, and in person in Adana, Türkiye in 2022.
In 2018 the Caitlin was awarded the SAMA Robin Brett Scholarship which assisted her to study under Verdiano Marzi at the Chicago Mosaic School in May 2019 which was an incredible experience.
Caitlin is the founder of Hepworth Studios – School of Visual Art and Mosaic in the Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia and the Co-Director of Art of Andamento, a sequential online curriculum for students of mosaic.
Course Curriculum
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StartCourse Introduction with Caitlin Hepworth (3:19)
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StartPresentation of Caitlin's related works (3:48)
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StartPDF for download: Suggested Tools, Materials, and Resources for both the US and AU
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StartPDF for download: Feather inspiration Images and sketches
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StartUnderstanding Feathers: Shapes, Colors, and Textures (4:23)
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StartSketching the feather (13:08)
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StartCreating Small-Scale Feather Models (11:31)
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StartPDF for download: Model Evaluation
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StartScaling Up the Feather: Drawing the Template and Preparing the Center Rod (7:00)
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StartCutting the Mesh into the Feather Shape (3:11)
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StartPDF for download: Securing the wire mesh diagram
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StartPart 1: Preparing and Stitching the Galvanized Wire for Attaching the Mesh Layers to the Rod (7:45)
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StartPart 2: Preparing and Stitching the Galvanized Wire for Attaching the Mesh Layers to the Rod (11:13)
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StartStitching and anchoring the two layers (13:59)
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StartIntroduction to Alkali-Resistant Fiberglass Mesh, Shape Cutting Techniques. Thin set mixing consistency (7:26)
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StartApplying the first layer of mesh and thin set (19:42)
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StartTrimming the feather after the first layer has cured (6:30)
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StartTrimming and cleaning up bits of wire on the backside of the feather (3:05)
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StartApplying the thin set to the backside of the feather (7:48)
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StartPreparing the edges of the feather (6:58)
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StartPart 1: Applying the self-adhesive mesh to the edges with thin set (13:22)
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StartPart 2: Applying the self-adhesive mesh to the edges with thin set (14:37)
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StartEvaluation, positioning, and installing the hanging hardware (10:59)
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StartPreparing the Apoxie Sculpt for the Quill (5:37)
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StartModeling the Quill with Apoxie Sculpt (5:49)
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StartMosaic Materials Tour (10:43)
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StartPDF for download: Palette Planning
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StartPDF for download: Color planning and Gray Scale
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StartEvaluating the design and color placement for the feather (5:11)
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StartPreparing the mosaic for the center of the feather (6:59)
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StartApplying the gold smalti down the center of the feather (16:15)
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StartCaitlin's cleaning technique around the mosaic gold (2:37)
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StartPlanning out the mixed media mosaic materials (10:02)
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StartApplying the mosaic material to the feather substrate (9:24)
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StartEvaluating and designing the next section (14:36)
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StartWatch as Caitlin uses small, medium, and large pieces to create a balanced composition (19:56)
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StartLearn to use both sides of the Mexican smalti for color gradation (7:42)
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StartIts good to have a rough idea as you plan out each section (9:20)
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StartContinue to evaluate the balance of colors and shapes (10:52)
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StartComplementary colors: Watch as Caitlin creates a beautiful gradation of blues and greens that meets with copper and gold smalti (23:18)
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StartThe tesserae become smaller and lighter in color as you move to the top of the feather (7:01)
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StartCompleting the mosaic and finishing off the edges with thin set (6:17)
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StartFinishing Details: Wrap Up and Thank You! (1:33)