Kelley Knickerbocker - Society of American Mosaic Artists

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Imagine the energy of a national SAMA meeting continued on a local level. How to Create a Regional Mosaic Group by Sharon Plummer Starting a regional mosaic group in your area is easier than you think. Here, one of the founders of MOSAICO, Society of Houston Mosaic Artists, shares her success in creating what she calls “year-round inspiration and camaraderie.” Starting a local Group Locate mosaic artists in your area. The new SAMA Member Directory lists members who elected to be included by actively “opting-in.” Members of the MAO Yahoo group can post information about a regional group in FILES. Review the list of attendees at the annual SAMA conference (included in the registration packet). Find SAMA members in your state who have websites in the “View by Region” list on the “Member Websites” page within the “Members Only” section. Determine a convenient date, time, and location for an initial meeting. At this meeting, assess level of interest and discuss frequency of meetings, locations, group structure, group goals, etc. Begin meeting on a regular basis and continue discussing group structure and goals. Formal group with officers, reporting of minutes, and membership dues? Casual group with members sharing organizational responsibilities? Occasionally conduct a process review to make sure that structure, goals, and activities of the group are in line with members’ needs. Decide how to handle group communications, photo posting, sharing of files: Consider setting up a Yahoo group. Recruit new members. Consider a group website. Create group business cards. Publicize group activities and meetings in local publications and online arts calendars. Talk about the group in social settings. MOSAICO members attend a weekend retreat in Rockport, Texas, just one of the many perks of a regional group. Back row: Susie Curry, Sharon Plummer, Sheri Lapin, Penny Laird, Anne Krum. Front row: Tania DeJohn, Lisa Bonin. Imagine having a team of personal coaches immediately accessible for mosaic inspiration, consultation, technical advice, encouragement, collaboration, and celebration. This seemingly fantasy-world is a reality for mosaicists in Houston, Texas. MOSAICO, Society of Houston Mosaic Artists, is a thriving group organized in September 2005. Our fun-filled, educational gatherings have become a monthly highlight—and we carefully guard the second Saturday of each month to avoid scheduling conflicts. Frequently someone demonstrates a special tool or technique, then members display recently completed pieces and works in progress. The 20 members come from all experience levels. Meetings average 10 to 12 attendees and take place in our homes and studios. We meet for about two hours and then head to a nearby restaurant to continue conversations over lunch. We’ve mounted two group shows, participated in another show, and been involved in two community projects. Several members have collaborated on commissions. Another nice benefit is buying supplies in quantity to receive discounts and sharing the products and savings. Last fall we decided to downplay the promotion of individual artists’ business activities and realigned our goals to become a support and inspiration group only. We ended membership dues and discussed what to do with the funds in the treasury. A member suggested contributing the money to SAMA’s Robin Brett Scholarship Fund, and the group immediately recognized the appropriateness of that act in supporting mosaic education and training. That contribution got us thinking about how fortunate we are to have an organization like SAMA that provides such incredible support of our passion for mosaics. The services and opportunities we receive are unmatched by any other professional or arts organization we know of. We decided to show our appreciation by making a group contribution of $1,500 to become a Bronze Circle sponsor of the 2008 SAMA conference. Our collection effort has begun again for the 2009 conference. We feel really good about playing a part in the successful operation of an organization that has promoted our individual development and actively promotes the appreciation of mosaic art to the public and the arts community. Photo: Sharron Plummer For more information about MOSAICO, visit www.mosaico.ws. Sharon Plummer fell in love with mosaics 10 years ago, works primarily in bright colors of all tesserae types, and especially enjoys creating garden art. www.flickr.com/photos/plumartmosaics. To see more MOSAICO images, please visit the SAMA website. 4 Society of American Mosaic Artists
Create interaction through reflected light and movement that goes beyond the mosaic surface. Artist Profile Confessions of a Texture Junkie by Kelley Knickerbocker Hi. I’m Kelley, and I’m a glass texture junkie. The visual depth and light-handling properties of glass hypnotize me like the goodies in the window of a French pastry shop. Resistance is futile… 33° F, 2007 Photo: Kelley Knickerbocker In 2005, when I took my first mosaic class with Laurel True at the Institute of Mosaic Art (IMA), I noticed that the mirror elements in much of her work added an element of interaction: any movement in front of the mosaic becomes part of the mosaic. I filed that intriguing thought away and began working primarily in unglazed porcelain. Soon, though, I couldn’t resist mixing glass in with the unglazed porcelain for the tasty contrast between its shiny depth and porcelain’s matte opacity. I also enjoyed the texture produced by mixing different heights of glasses and porcelains. That led me to explore what surface textures (muffles, ripples, etc.) were available in stained glass. There were some, but I discovered that clear architectural glass was available in a full-on patisserie of textures. My fall was imminent. Coincidentally, I live just around the corner from a commercial stained glass studio and retailer housing a limitless supply of textured architectural glass. How cool is that?! Grids, crackles, dots, vines, veins, swirls—bring on the éclairs! I remembered that intriguing idea of creating interaction through reflected light and movement, and imagined creating a similar interaction by layering a field of clear textured glass over plain glass to capture the color, light, and movement occurring beyond the mosaic surface (In Relation To, 2007). I was in heaven. But like any junkie, I craved more. I wanted more height variations in the tesserae. I got to thinking that if I were to mix tall chunks of smalti transparenti with the clear textured glass, get rid of the grout so that there was no impediment to light pass-through, and group some regular smalti and Karma glass next to the field of transparency to dramatize the contrast between opaque and transparent, I would create a sublime textural experience. And what the heck, why not put the whole thing on a mirror substrate for a twist on the “Laurel True Effect”? Light and movement would be reflected in the mirror and distorted by the gazillion textures of the architectural glass (33° F, 2007)! Now we were talkin’! Could I stop there? No. The mirror substrate offered more possibilities. What if I put translucent glass over mirror, then in some places stairstep a second layer, then a third? The first layer would be luminous with light reflecting back from the mirror, and successive layers would appear darker and would naturally form a 3-D “landscape” effect (Love As Hail, 2008). I confess, I’m up to seven layers now (Oil Meets World, 2008). These days I teach my techniques so that I can spend time with other junkies. Please, if there’s a Textureholics Anonymous group out there, don’t tell me about it. I’m having too much fun! Kelley Knickerbocker left a 22-year program management career with the University of Washington in 2006 to found Rivenworks Mosaics (www.rivenworksmosaics.com), which specializes in custom fine art mosaic for public, commercial, and residential settings. She teaches textured glass and stacked glass techniques through Seattle Stained Glass. www.seattlestainedglass.com/classes Society of American Mosaic Artists 5
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Kelley Knickerbocker - Society of American Mosaic Artists

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