Dim Sum

15cm by 15cm - Smalti, mosaic gold, rock, ceramic, chopsticks

NFS

It's been a LONG time since I posted a mosaic that harkens back to the beginning of "Mosaic a Day" some 16 years ago. Honestly, some of that is because it's been a long time since I've made a small mosaic that wasn't jewelry! But back in February I taught my "Mosaic a Day" workshop—for the first time in a decade—on my Australia teaching tour, and the small class size meant that I had the opportunity to play a bit too. 

This mosaic piece was conceived the way so many of those small mosaic pieces were back in the day: with looking at an object in a unique way, a bit of imagination, and no small amount of serendipity. For this workshop I have students bring a variety of mosaic materials, but most importantly, I have them bring their weird crap—those items kicking around their studios that they don't know why the heck they've saved them, but they did. One student yanked some ceramic chopstick rests out of her bag to show me. Then, as I was  pawing though some rocks, I realized one looked like a gyoza dumpling. Imagine, if you will, the lightbulb that went off in my head—I'm pretty sure it was visible to the class. 

Then came the rest, the lurid red smalti plate, complete with gold trim, the takeaway chopsticks that obviously needed to be painted red. The background posed a challenge, as I wanted the smalti to stand proud of the surface, like an actual plate. I suddenly remembered an old technique that I hadn't used in years to create a smooth cement adhesive background that isn't a self-levelling cement pour. So of course, the class got taught that too!

That's the one thing I've always loved about teaching my "Mosaic a Day" workshop,which is based on all I learned from the first couple years of doing this blog: no two workshops are the same. The workshop changes and adjusts to the projects the students take on, and what their projects spark in me. Within this dynamic framework, I've taught double reverse, andamento, cutting, using materials WAY outside the box, adhesive techniques, and much more. It reminds me of those old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books I read as a kid. And on this particular workshop adventure, "Dim Sum" was created.