Online Registration Now Open for my "Tile Mosaics for Beginners" Classes in Denver

YEY!!! I’m SO excited to be offering some classes on mosaics for beginners, coming up in Denver. They are offered through Colorado Free University (www.freeu.com), a wonderful community continuing education non-profit that has provided excellent content for over twenty years. I’ve been a longtime student of CFU, taking classes on such topics as “Using Twitter for Business”, “Using Facebook for Business”, “Creating the Work you Love”, “Publishing your Book”, “Making a Living without a Job”, “Investing Basics for Women”, “Grantwriting”, and many more!


COURSE DESCRIPTION: In this fun, fully interactive course, learn to make your own mosaic art piece. Choose from several project bases (what you will put your mosaic on; like a frame or address number plaque), which are included along with tiles, adhesives, grout, and sealer. Use the wide array of colored ceramic tiles provided or upgrade by purchasing more elaborate tiles and other items that can be used in mosaics. In the first class, students learn the basics of breaking, cutting, arranging, and adhering tiles and complete their designs. In the second class, students learn how to grout their piece and complete finishing steps that “bring their piece to life”. Leave the second class with sealer to take home and apply later. Information on mosaic basics, great sources for materials and supplies, setting up a mosaic art workspace, and next-level mosaics will be also be discussed. Each class consists of two 3-hour sessions for a total of 6 hours.

DATES and TIMES and REGISTRATION LINKS:

Two Fridays, 9 a.m.-noon Begins 2/5;
https://www.colofreeu-registrar.com/sdc/regclass.html?class=254871

Two Sundays, 1-4 p.m. Begins 2/21;
https://www.colofreeu-registrar.com/sdc/regclass.html?class=254872

Two Wednesdays, 6-9 p.m. Begins 3/24;
https://www.colofreeu-registrar.com/sdc/regclass.html?class=254873

Two Wednesdays, 6-9 p.m. Begins 4/28;
https://www.colofreeu-registrar.com/sdc/regclass.html?class=254874

COST: $69 member ($25 yearly membership fee for CFU, gets you member rates on all classes), $81 non-members. Materials fee includes all materials to make your own awesome mosaic piece; $21 if you bring your own safety glasses, $26 if you don’t (you’ll receive a pair to keep).

QUESTIONS? Please email me or post here; would love to see you there; should be really fun; I already know of several people coming! (Oh; and; NO: you DON’T need to have any prior artistic experience; believe it or not; mosaics are VERY easy to learn, I’m a very supportive and encouraging and fun teacher, you CAN bring wine, drinks, or food and you WILL have a great time!)

"Grouting Step-by-Step"

…Coming soon…I finally got some extensive pictures taken last night of my step-by-step process for grouting; should be helpful to those of you starting out in mosaics or wanting to change your grouting process. It’s funny; every book and every mosaic artist seems to have different directions for grouting; you really do have to do what works for you. I’ve combined the direction I’ve received from instructors, books, and websites and that’s what I’ll be sharing, if you’re interested in trying it and settling on what works for you. Keep watching; coming soon!!

Oh; ya know; before I sign off on this post, I think this might be a good place to rant about “what not to use” when grouting….many books and artists say to NOT use “pre-mixed grout”. Well, lil ‘ol TMG is here to tell ya that she took a bullet and defied their direction and tried it over the holidays. I was away from home and thought a pre-mixed grout would make my job easier with less mess. First of all, “less mess”; yes; no grout dust in the air from mixing, or slopping it around while mixing, or grout powder spilled on the table or floor. “Make my job easier”…uh…NO!!! Nightmare!! NOW I SEE WHY they say to not use it; it was WAY too wet, took FOREVER to set up enough to really work with, which dragged out my already way-too-long-grouting process, did not want to be molded w/ the sponge (def. not w/ rags!!), mostly b/c it was so WET, and left a very substantial film and thick granules on everything, that took extra time to get scrubbed off afterward (who needs that?!) So…long story short…DON’T waste your valuable time and money w/ pre-mixed grout!

Cool Mosaics by artist Dotti Stone/Smith Mtn. Mosaics

Just found out about this mosaic artist via another mosaic artist, @shonalockhart, one of my followers on Twitter (thanks; Shona!); I checked out her stuff and it is REALLY cool, plus she teaches classes in Virginia. Check her out:

http://tinyurl.com/yjl3bq9