1105 News from Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art

Posted on December 31, 2014 by admin

Santa

Barbara

School of

Mosaic Art

 

MAY 2011

Wow where has this year gone?  We have been so busy making mosaics that summer is nearly upon us.  Everyone at SBSMA is turning out such great art work and really letting their creativity flow.  The Stained Glass mosaic workshop was a great success (check out pictures below).  In two weeks there is the popular Garden Sphere workshop where students mosaic a basketball size sphere for decoration in their garden or patio.  The Boulder workshop, coming in June, students will have an opportunity to mosaic a small boulder with an address or other design.  Stay tuned for more announcements regarding well known local mosaic artist/teacher Betsy Gallery who will teach a Mexican Smalti workshop in July.  There is so much more coming too as the summer schedule is now set.

Below you can also catch a glimpse of the latest commission from All Cracked Up Mosaics.  An outdoor pizza oven on a family’s front yard deck in Santa Barbara.  The underwater theme was a blast to create.  You can go to www.allcrackedupmosaics.com  for more pictures. 

   

 Remember if you are on Facebook don’t forget to become a friend of the Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art group!

All workshop descriptions are available at

www.santabarbaraschoolofmosaicart.com

   

Class Schedule   

Garden Sphere Mosaic                   May 14th & 15th                         $175
Beginner Mosaic Workshop          June 4th  &  5th                          $145
Boulder Mosaic Workshop            June 11th & 12th                        $185
Table Top Workshop                      June 18th & 19th                        $175  

STAINED GLASS MIRROR MOSAIC WORKSHOP

 

Sharon’s Stained Glass Mosaic piece        Laurel’s “under the sea” theme piece                                                    

 

                  

Mary’s stained glass & mirror mosaic rose  

 

Latest commission by Tami Macala owner of All Cracked Up Mosaics and Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art 

                                       

   pizza oven side1pizza oven back

pizza oven side2 

          


 

Recent Publicity

Looking forward to a small write up in the “805 Living” magazine.  Keep an eye out for the article on Mosaic Artist Dan Chrykno with a small piece on SBSMA. 

 

 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. 

LAB time is a great way to work on all your mosaic projects.  For $20/hour you have access to all adhesives, grout, tools and my time as well as not worrying about making a mess.  

 
SBSMA Supply Store

 SBSMA has all your mosaic art supply needs. More new colors added to the tile collection as well as stained glass. There are new tools stocked up as well as nippers, files, adhesives and grouts.   

  

Bring a friend discount

Any time you bring a friend to a workshop you and the friend get a 10% discount on your fees and for the month of May there will be an additional 10% off all supplies and tiles at the time of your workshop.  
 Tips and Techniques

TECHNIQUES IN BREAKING YOUR TESSARE

 

Now that you have chosen your adhesive and tessare you are ready to break or cut it.  Whether you use stained glass, ceramic tile, pottery, china, mirror, smalti or stone this following information will hopefully be very useful.  There are many tools out there for cutting and breaking each of the different tessare.  Here are examples of some the tools for breaking your tessare.  

  Side note ALWAYS wear safety glasses.

If you are using ceramic tile and they are full size tiles you will want to break them first with a hammer.  To do so you will want to either use a thick suede glove putting the tile in your hand or put them on a few layers of newspaper on the ground (always glaze side DOWN), using a hammer hit them in the center of the tile.  The tile should break into 4 or 5 pieces and from there you can either break them smaller with the hammer or use your tile nippers to create smaller more specific shapes.  

If you are cutting glass or mirror you will need three tools.  They are stained glass cutter, running pliers and mosaic wheel nippers.  Each of these make it possible to cut glass and mirror into precise shapes and sizes.  Using the mosaic wheel nippers you are able to nip your pieces within a millimeter of the shape you desire.   

If you are breaking pottery or china depending on the thickness of each of these will decide which tool to use.  If you have a thick plate you will want to use your tile nippers.  If you are cutting a thin piece of china or delicate crockery  you will want to use your mosaic wheel nippers.  

If you are cutting smalti or stone you would use a hammer and hardie.  These are two traditional tools used to cut smalti and stone into smaller shapes.  The hardie has a cutting edge, like a stonemason’s chisel, fixed into a firm, heavy log of wood.  The smalti is set on the hardie and using the hammer you carefully hit the smalti cutting the pieces into desired lengths and shapes.  

 

 

Reminder if you want to purchase many of these tools they are for sale at the SBSMA supply store. 

 

Stay tuned for next month for Applying your tessare…..

 

Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art / tami@allcrackedupmosaics.com / Santa Barbara, California 93111 / 805.703.4291

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1104 News from Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art

Posted on December 31, 2014 by admin

Santa

Barbara

School of

Mosaic Art

 

April 2011

 

The feeling of spring brings blooming ideas of what to make next at the Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art.  Creativity is flowing here as more and more students are executing great art and enjoying the experience.  Whether in LAB or in a workshop students are learning so much while creating beautiful, different and exciting pieces.  If you always thought you were missing that artistic bone in your body, check out some of the pictures below.  Everyone has to start somewhere and students are showing incredible artistic talent.  Kudos to all of the SBSMA students!!!  


Remember if you are on Facebook don’t forget to become a friend of the Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art group!

All workshop descriptions are available at

www.santabarbaraschoolofmosaicart.com

 

Class Schedule

Stained Glass Mosaic                     April  9th &  10th                         $175
Boulder Mosaic                               April 23rd & 24th                         $185
Mother/Child Mosaic                     May 1st ~Sunday only~            $115
Garden Sphere Mosaic                   May 14th & 15th                         $175 

  

TABLE TOP WORKSHOP

Racha Table top

Racha’s Hibiscus Table Top (first mosaic)

 

Joanna Table top

Joanna’s Mexican Tile Table Top

(first mosaic project)

archie pet portraitelsa mirror laurel

“Archie” Clare started this in workshop,    “Elsa” Mirror Laurel’s LAB project.  

finished in LAB.    

 

 

   

          


 

Recent Publicity

Looking forward to a small write up in the “805 Living” magazine this month.  Keep an eye out for the Garden issue, article on Mosaic Artist Dan Chrykno with a small piece on SBSMA. 

 

 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. 

LAB time is a great way to work on all your mosaic projects.  For $20/hour you have access to all adhesives, grout, tools and my time as well as not worrying about making a mess.  

 
SBSMA Supply Store

 SBSMA has all your mosaic art supply needs. More new colors added to the tile collection as well as stained glass. There are new tools stocked up as well as nippers, files, adhesives and grouts.   

  

Bring a friend discount

Any time you bring a friend to a workshop you and the friend get a 10% discount on your fees and for the month of April there will be an additional 10% off all supplies and tiles at the time of your workshop.  
 Tips and Techniques

CHOOSING YOUR ADHESIVE

 

Now that you have chosen your design, your substrate and your tessera it is time to pick your adhesive.  There are many to chose from and usually the first question you want to ask yourself is “will my piece be an outdoor or indoor piece?”  Each adhesive has qualities that make it important to really pay attention to what you are working on.   

If you are doing an indoor piece with ceramic tile or stained glass you can use tile mastic.  It is a premixed adhesive that usually comes in a white color and is the consistency of thick whipped cream cheese.  The dry time with mastic is at least 24 hours.    

Another good adhesive for indoor projects when working with stained glass is Weldbond glue.  Weldbond glue is great as it dries clear so if your stained glass is translucent than you will see whatever is behind your glass, i.e. your substrate.  There are other glues and silicone adhesives on the market, each with it’s own pro’s and con’s.  I find Weldbond the most all around good product. 

If you are doing an outdoor piece you will want to use a more sturdy adhesive which would be thin set.  Thin set is a mortar adhesive and is what most tile contractors use when doing any type of tile work in bathrooms, kitchens or floors.  Thin set is very durable.  The best kind of thin set to buy is one that is polymer fortified. This type of thin set has great bond strength and will bond most tesserae to your substrate.  

Reminder if you want to purchase any of these adhesives they are for sale at the SBSMA supply store. 

 

Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art / tami@allcrackedupmosaics.com / Santa Barbara, California 93111 / 805.703.4291

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1103 News from Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art

Posted on December 31, 2014 by admin

Santa

Barbara

School of

Mosaic Art

 

March 2011

 

Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art is well on it’s way to a great year!  With spring right around the corner classes are filling up and students are learning lots of new styles of mosaic.  Last month was busy filled with great workshops including the Pet Portrait as well as a trip for me to Austin for the SAMA conference.  The SAMA (Society of American Mosaic Artists) Conference was an amazing experience while meeting incredible artists, taking great workshops and enjoying Austin, Texas.  


Remember if you are on Facebook don’t forget to become a friend of the Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art group!

All workshop descriptions are available at

www.santabarbaraschoolofmosaicart.com

 

Class Schedule

 

Beginner Mosaic                             April 9th & 10th                              $145 

Boulder Mosaic                               April 23rd & 24th                            $185 

Mother/Daughter Mosaic              April 30th/May 1st                          $115  Garden Sphere Mosaic                   May 14th & 15th                             $175 

  
PET PORTRAIT WORKSHOP

Taj pet portrait by Tami
“Taj” Pet Portrait by Tami (instructor)

Truman Pet Portrait sitka pet portrait sharon 

“Truman” Pet Portrait by Mary                       “Sitka” Pet Portrait by Sharon 
“Biscotti” in progress by JulieJOOLES


 

Recent Publicity

Looking forward to a small write up in the “805 Living” magazine this April.  Keep an eye out for the Garden issue, article on Mosaic Artist Dan Chrykno with a small bit on SBSMA. 

 

New LAB punch card
SBSMA now has a 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. 

LAB time is a great way to work on all your mosaic projects.  For $20/hour you have access to all adhesives, grout, tools and my time as well as not worrying about making a mess.  

 

SBSMA Supply Store

 SBSMA has all your mosaic art supply needs.  There are a few new tools stocked up as well as nippers, files, adhesives and grouts.  Don’t forget if you want great colorful tiles, I have those too.

  

Bring a friend discount

Any time you bring a friend to a workshop you and the friend get a 10% discount on your fees and for the month of February there will be an additional 10% off all supplies and tiles at the time of your workshop.  
 Tips and Techniques   
How to choose your Tesserae
Now that you have decided on your design and substrate it is time to pick what type of “tess” (nic name) you would like to use.
The definition of Tessera (Tesserae pl) is “small square tile of stone or glass used in making a mosaic”.
These are some tess choices; ceramic tile, glass, stained glass, mirror, crockery, pottery, found/sentimental objects, stone and smalti.
Each one of these will give you a different look and texture while creating a different effect with your end result.  It is fun to experiment with each to see what you like and let your creative juices flow.  It is good to do a little research on some of these tesserae when deciding on  your mosaic.  Weather can make some of these pieces prohibitive due to frost/thaw issues as well as extreme heat.
You are always welcome to email me questions regarding these issues and I will answer them to the best of my knowledge, now let’s go MAKE ART!!!! 

Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art / tami@allcrackedupmosaics.com / Santa Barbara, California 93111 / 805.703.4291

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1102 News from Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art

Posted on December 31, 2014 by admin

Santa

Barbara

School of

Mosaic Art

 

February 2011

 

Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art is off to a great 2011!  Classes are filling up with new and returning students.  New classes are being added throughout the year.  Looking forward to joining fellow mosaic devotees at the SAMA conference in Austin Texas in the middle of this month!!  


Also if you are on Facebook don’t forget to become a friend of the Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art group!

All workshop descriptions are available at

www.santabarbaraschoolofmosaicart.com

 

Class Schedule

Light Weight Concrete Sculpture                 Feb. 11th (Friday only)                 $ 95

 Table Top Mosaic                                           Feb. 12th & 13th                          $165

 Pet Portrait Mosaic                                         Feb. 26th & 27th                          $165

 Mosaic Collage & Mirror                              Mar. 5th & 6th                              $165

 Beginner Mosaic                                            Mar. 12th & 13th                          $145
 

Garden Heart Sculpture

Garden Heart Sculpture by Tami Macala teacher and owner of Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art

Student work in Collage and Mirror Mosaic Student work in Collage and Mirror Mosaic

 Table Top Mosaic student work            Collage & Mirror Mosaic student work

 

Table Top Mosaic in process

student work Table Top workshop

 


 

Recent Publicity

Thank you to everyone for your support and great feedback  about the recent article in Noozhawk online newspaper.  Thanks to Jenn Kennedy for the write up.  If you did not get a chance to see it here is the link

http://www.noozhawk.com/article/010711_the_working_life_mosaic_artist_tami_zweig/

 

New LAB punch card
SBSMA now has a LAB punch card.  For every 10 hours of LAB time you get the 11th hour free.

LAB time is a great way to work on all your mosaic projects.  For $20/hour you have access to all adhesives, grout, tools and my time as well as not worrying about making a mess.
 

SBSMA Supply Store

 SBSMA has all your mosaic art supply needs.  There are a few new tools stocked up as well as nippers, files, adhesives and grouts.  Don’t forget if you want great colorful tiles, I have those too.

 

Bring a friend discount

Any time you bring a friend to a workshop you and the friend get a 10% discount on your fees and for the month of February there will be an additional 10% off all supplies and tiles at the time of your workshop.
 
 Tips and Techniques
 How to choose your substrate
 Now that you have chosen your design you must decide what type of substrate you would like to make your mosaic on.  There are many different types of substrates to chose from.  First you need to ask yourself will the piece you are making be outside in the weather elements, get wet or walked on?  Once you have made that decision you can chose accordingly. 
If you are doing a piece that will be outside such as a table, ground insert or is a shower or kitchen back splash you will want to work with a water proof/resistant substrate.  There are a few out there but I recommend either HardieBacker or Wedi Board.  There is Wonderboard or Green board as well but I don’t find those as easy to work with.  If your piece will be indoors then you can choose to work with either a wood or MDF substrate, just make sure you bond it.  Glass is a great substrate if you are working with stained glass and looking for a transparent affect.  If you are working directly on to a brick or stucco substrate such as a wall or fireplace it is recommended to skim coat your wall first to give a smooth finish to avoid bumps that make it difficult for your tessare to adhere.
Stay tuned next month for choosing your tessare.
 

Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art / tami@allcrackedupmosaics.com / Santa Barbara, California 93111 / 805.703.4291

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1101 News from Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art

Posted on December 31, 2014 by admin

Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art
January 2011


Welcome to the brand new SBSMA monthly newsletter.  We are starting out the New Year with a big BANG! Check out the new schedule and unique workshops.  
Call or email to register, don’t wait as workshops fill up quickly! All workshop descriptions are available at the website.
Each month the SBSMA newsletter will come with a new tip or technique for all your mosaic projects.

Class Schedule Winter 2011

Stained Glass and Mirror Workshop        Jan. 8th & 9th                    $165

Beginner Mosaic Workshop                        Jan. 15th & 16th                $145

Garden Sphere Workshop                           Jan. 22nd & 23rd              $175

Table Top Mosaic Workshop                     Feb. 12th & 13th                $165
 
 Pet Portrait Workshop                                 Feb. 26th &27th                 $165                                                 
Mosaic Collage & Mirror Workshop         Mar. 5th & 6th                   $165 

Students work in Stained glass workshopStudent work Stained Glass Class

student work Table Top workshop
Student work Table Top workshop

Students working on Garden Spheres
students working in Garden Sphere workshop

Recent Publicity
Check out “Noozhawk”, one of Santa Barbara’s best online newspapers,  this Saturday Jan. 8th for an article on Tami, her artwork and the Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art


SBSMA Supply Store
SBSMA has all your mosaic art supply needs.  There is an array of tools, buckets, fixatives, grouts and over 20 colors of high and low fire tiles.
Bring a friend discount
Any time you bring a friend to a workshop you and the friend get a 10% discount on your fees. 
Group workshops available with 4-6 weeks notice and a 10% discount on all students fees.

Tips and Techniques
How to choose a design.
Whether you are a first time mosaic artist or have some experience you must always make the decision to do an image design or an abstract.  Each style has equal value and can take a great deal of time and detail.   In choosing a design many parts have to come into play.  Number one, what size will your whole piece be?  Number two, will it be 2D or 3D?  Number three, will you use a template or free hand?  Number four, what will be my inspiration?  Size will be important for deciding your substrate and materials.  If you choose an image design you will need a template that will then require three different possible methods for seeing your image.  One; use tracing paper and copy your design on to your substrate, (tracing paper comes in many colors and usually found at your local art store).  Two; using fiberglass mesh with your design underneath (but make sure to put saran wrap over your design before you lay down your mesh).  Three; the indirect method that means executing your mosaic in reverse.
Stay tuned for next month’s tips and techniques when I will cover how to choose a substrate.

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WHERE MOSAICS AND CREATIVITY COLLIDE!

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Tami

Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art is a place to come learn and create mosaic art.  Open since 2009 by Tami Macala, the school offers a wide range of workshops covering many mosaic styles.  Many of these workshops are taught by Tami as well as many world renown  visiting artists.
Each month  you can come learn a new style or improve your skills.  The school is open for the very beginner to the more experienced.  There is something for everyone at SBSMA.  Nestled between the pacific ocean and the Santa Ynez wine country it is not only a a great place to learn mosaic art but a place to come explore and enjoy……

studio-renovation11

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Mexican Smalti Workshop

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Tami

Our Mexican Smalti workshop took place last weekend.  Every student worked on the same flower design while learning the processes of proper cutting and fitting skills.
Everyone left with the knowledge of color gradation, shading and color values.   It was a fantastic two full days of hands on learning!

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Three Dimensional Art

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Tami

Learning to work on a 3D object can be fun and a little challenging at the same time. The results will be so gratifying when you see the sparkle and reflection of glass from so many angles.

Our students use found objects, tile, mirror, and pottery to create a one of a kind object of beauty.  You will work directly with Teacher and Owner Tami Macala as she takes you through the process of creation including design layout, setting tesserae, and a grouting lesson.   You will leave with a beautiful, creative, and functional piece of art for your garden or home. Check our website schedule for upcoming classes!

 

 

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Carol Shelkin Returns!

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Tami

Visiting artist Carol Shelkin taught at The Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art last August, and we are so lucky to have her back!

She had such a great experience with our students last summer, that she decided to return. The Realistic Mosaic Art in Stained Glass Workshop on April 6th and 7th is filling up quickly! Carol is so skilled at teaching, that the skills you will learn in this workshop will equal what you would learn in a semester of art school.  Carol uses powerpoint lectures, hands-on attention, and feedback for each student. Every student will leave with greater knowledge of many artistic elements which will be used in any art medium they choose.

To read more about Carol and her work, visit her website: http://www.carolshelkinmosaics.com/About_the_Artist.html

You can register for a workshop by either email or call 805.703.4291

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Students at Work

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Tami

Picture of the day:

SBSMA students enjoying the process of making art out of concrete boulders and spheres in a recent workshop.

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