BUNDLE: Mind the Gap & Apoxie Sculpt with Kelley Knickerbocker

In this Bundle Option you will have the opportunity to own both of Kelley's courses "Mind the Gap: Space as a Design Element" and "Beyond Adhesive: Apoxie Sculpt as Mosaic Material" for one low price. Each of these courses is full of so much information as Kelley dives deep in step by step instruction demonstrating in real time how to create both space as a design element and how to use apoxie sculpt in a multitude of ways. Please scroll down to read in more detail each of these course descriptions.

"Mind the Gap: Space as a Design Element"

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you did not fill your entire substrate with tesserae? Does that seem foreign to you? If leaving space on your substrate is something you would like to learn on your mosaic art journey we have the course for you!

In this online course, Kelley Knickerbocker introduces her signature methods for using space as a design element. When mosaic is the functional skin on walls and floors, full-coverage density is mandatory. But in fine art mosaic we can leave spaces for contrasting effect without compromising structural integrity.

But why design open spaces into mosaic? Well, sometimes it's a purely practical consideration of time or budget. But it’s an aesthetic consideration as well. It's precisely because mosaic is so dense that incorporating space can be so visually effective. Dense areas appear denser, and the void space(s) deeper, calmer. Like juxtaposing two complementary colors: they enhance one another like no other combination can.

There are many approaches to incorporating open space into mosaic. In this online course Kelley covers six more uses for open space and shows you how to mix, match, and combine them. In this course Kelley demonstrates in real time how to build an ungrouted mosaic start to finish (in materials of your choice) setting directly into thinset mortar, that incorporates three or four different uses of space. As you build you'll be learning how open spaces can strengthen a design and allow you to work larger (and faster!); how to apply and manipulate mortar with a steel spatula, set your tesserae around open areas, and finish off the surface of open areas of mortar to keep them consistent and create a clean and fabulous effect.

This is a great course for anyone starting out in mosaic art or has more experience. There is a PDF with suggested tools, materials, and resources to get started.

"Beyond Adhesive: Apoxie Sculpt as Mosaic Material"

Mosaic Arts Online is thrilled to present Kelley Knickerbocker and her online course, "Beyond Adhesive: Apoxie Sculpt as Mosaic Material." Apoxie Sculpt has gained a lot of fame in the mosaic sphere as an adhesive with filati and jewelry, but did you know this two-part epoxy putty (known as Apoxie Sculpt in this course) can also be tinted to any color and used as a mosaic material? Kelley has been innovating a number of fascinating uses for Apoxie Sculpt in mosaic for a while now, and to our delight she’s now brought them together for her exclusive online course for all of you to learn and enjoy.

First out of the gate Kelley walks you through how to color Apoxie Sculpt. She shows us how to use the black, natural and white products with certain paints to produce any color imaginable and then tint (add white) or shade (add black) any color to create its multi-value gradient. (Knowing how to create gradients is particularly useful later in the course when we make Apoxie Sculpt filati; gradient palettes make for much more nuanced and expressive micromosaics!)

From color Kelley moves on to gilding Apoxie Sculpt with metallic paints for brilliant or subtle moldable bling (learn why it’s more effective to gild the metallic paint onto the exterior rather than mixing it into the epoxy putty), then she demonstrates how to edge an entire mosaic with one or multiple colors of Apoxie Sculpt. Yep, you heard right. Apoxie Sculpt becomes as discrete or visible a frame as you wish, and protects your edges from dings and fingerprints. Did we mention you can also form bumps, curls, wrinkles, and divots into your edges, and tuck little surprises in between the mosaic and the Apoxie Sculpt edge and/or between the Apoxie Sculpt edging layers? These steps are where the adhesive, sculptural, and strength properties of Apoxie Sculpt come together!

And speaking of edging, be sure to have a few tesserae handy to practice wrapping individual tesserae (as many layers as you like!) for a bit of color zing or metallic bling anywhere in your mosaic, and get ready to learn how to contour design elements or sections of your mosaic with a line of Apoxie Sculpt for definition, emphasis, or continuity.

Kelley will also demonstrate how to form several elements out of Apoxie Sculpt, using it as you would any other sculptural clay to form rosettes, sticks, rings…let your imagination fly! And finally, you’ll create both round and uniquely-shaped filati in a color/size gradient and set it into black Apoxie Sculpt as a micromosaic.

When you’ve completed this course you’ll understand how to tint and form two-part epoxy putty like a pro; to add either subtle or dramatic color, texture and objects to enliven and protect your mosaics and strengthen/support your designs/compositions.

This course comes with a PDF for download of the suggested tools, materials, and resources.