1210 News from Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art

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SANTA BARBARA SCHOOL OF MOSAIC ART


October 2012 
Greetings!

Did I really just type October 2012?  How is it possible?  Here we are moving into the end of the year.  WOW! What a year it has been. 
It has been so wonderful to meet so many new students and see returning ones as well. 
With an array of visiting artists, students are finding more and more reasons to come to SBSMA and try new and different styles of mosaic art. 
In September Susan Crocenzi blessed us with her colorful and happy polymer clay and tempered glass workshop.  What a chock full and fun workshop.  She promises to come back next year if you missed it.  Scroll down to see pictures from the workshop.
Coming in December we will have Sue Baldwin teaching the best two in one workshop, Glass fusing and mosaics.  This is a great workshop with so much to learn and create.
This coming year will be no different.  In addition to the regular teachers and workshops there will be new ones added to the schedule.
In March we will have two new teachers to SBSMA, first will be Erin Pankratz-Smith, March 9-10, teaching “everything color” including color gradation, color blocking and more.  Next we will have Laurie Mika, March 23-24, teaching a mixed media style using a triptych substrate.  Both of these ladies come with so much talent and enthusiasm it will be hard to keep it all contained.
Also returning to SBSMA April 6-8 is Carol Shelkin.  This will be a three day create your own workshop style.  You will learn to do either portrait or still life image. 
If any of this sounds interesting to you, or you have always wanted to try a new form of mosaic don’t hesitate to sign up, these workshops will sell out!
If you are looking to find a workshop that suits you sooner than next spring there are many more, just check the website schedule page to see what is coming up!

  

 “Wide-awake I can make my most fantastic dreams come true.”

~Lorentz Hart  

 

 

 

VISITING ARTISTS BIO’S

 
Sue Baldwin

  

Sue Baldwin has reached her 27th year at the very same middle school where she started her teaching career and she still loves it. When she is not teaching, you will find her taking art classes in lots of different art mediums. Sue is most renowned for her unique fused glass jewelry designs. After meeting Tami at the Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art they have collaborated together to create extraordinary fused glass pieces specifically designed for inclusion in mosaicart. 

  

“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way–things I had no words for.”-Georgia O’Keefe

Sue Baldwin’s Glass fusing/mosaics

 


Betsy Gallery 

  

Betsy Gallery studied classical mosaic making in Ravenna and Venice, Italy, and modern mosaic techniques in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Her large mosaic murals are found throughout Santa Barbara. Her work is in collections from Madrid, Spain to Taipei, Taiwan. Betsy has published articles in The Groutline, the publication of SAMA (the Society of American Mosaic Artists), and has been the subject of interviews in the press and T.V.

Betsy has lived in West Africa, Spain and Costa Rica, picking up inspiration for her work from these cultures. Her current project is creating mosaics from children’s designs from Santa Barbara and East Cameroun, West Africa.

  

smalti
Betsy Gallery’s Mexican Smalti  

  

 

 

Laurie Mika

  

Laurie Mika is a mixed-media artist with a passion for combining and overlapping a variety of mediums creating an original style of mixed-media mosaics using handmade polymer clay tile. Laurie’s background in painting is evident in her mixed-media works influenced by medieval and Renaissance art. The gilded devotional panels of the past become secular icons imbued with personal narratives. Art and folk traditions referenced in her work derive from her travels and experiences of living abroad, (East Africa). The highly embellished surfaces, including segments of text, form sumptuous tapestries of traditional and modern materials. Like a modern-day alchemist tinkering with the ancient art of mosaics, Laurie finds magic in combining disparate elements. Laurie shares her distinct style teaching at national and internationally recognized art retreats like ArtFest, Art Unraveled, Art and Soul, Raevn’s Nest and Hacienda Mosaico in Mexico. She recently taught a workshop in Reims, France. Laurie is often on the move also teaching at venues across the States. Closer to home, Laurie participates in juried shows, teaches workshops and has her work in local galleries.

  

 

Laurie Mika’s Mixed Media 

 

Erin Pankratz-Smith  

As a multi-disciplined artist, Erin Pankratz-Smith has spent nearly a decade developing her skills and creating a supportive community of colleagues. With a background in dance, following training at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Erin went on to study at the Alberta College of Art and Design. Carving a new path in the visual arts, she established her own mosaic tile business supplying both education and materials to artists across North America.

Born in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Parnkratz-Smith has spent most of her life residing in northwestern Canada. Now married, with three children, Erin admits she has always been a highly visual individual, and sees mosaic as her current medium of expression. She considers art a practice that intersects every aspect of our existence, as a way of articulating the subjective human voice. Therefore, she expects that her art will continuously evolve, in both composition and subject.

Her most recent work “Everything Flows, Nothing Stands Still” celebrates the effect of colour and the seasons, in particular the ever-present landscape of the North Saskatchewan River, which both bisects and connects the city of Edmonton. The juxtapositions of urban and rural, texture and atmosphere; all contribute to a dynamic interpretation of cultural and geographic diversity.

 

Erin Pankratz-Smith’s Color blocking

 

 

 

Susan Crocenzi’s Polymer clay and Tempered glass workshop

Student works! 

 

 

 

           

  

 

 

 

LAB

LAB is a great way to work on all your mosaic projects. For $20/hour you have access to the SBSMA studio, all adhesives, grout, tools and my guidance as well as not worrying about making or cleaning up your mess.
Email for more details or to reserve a time.

Private Lessons

If you would like to learn mosaic art but do not have the time or weekend availability now for $45/hour you can book a minimum of two hours with Tami privately to have the full undivided attention with access to the studio tools, adhesives and grout. 

 
 

SBSMA Birthday Parties

Have your next child’s birthday party at SBSMA.  Any age, up to 12 kids.  Rates based on time and materials.  Call or email for more info. 

 
Gift Certificates 

Gift certificates are now available.  Any size amount towards classes, kits, tiles or other supplies.  What a great holiday or birthday gift.

 

 LAB punch card  

SBSMA LAB punch card.  For every 10 hours of LAB time you get the 11th hour free.  Students are loving their punch cards and getting their free hours. 

 

 

 
SBSMA Supply Store

 SBSMA has all your mosaic art supply needs. More new colors added to the tile collection as well as stained glass, Italian Smalti and Vitreous glass. There are new tools stocked up as well as nippers, files, adhesives and grouts.  Just added are Leponitt brand mosaic wheel nippers for $28.95. 

  

 

 

Sincerely,
Tami Macala
Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art
SAMA 
Weekly LAB email blasts will now go out to inform you on days and times. 
Please email me if you would like to receive these emails
  tami@allcrackedupmosaics.com
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