Mosaics at Snow Farm
Student work, made by Kate M.
I just got home from teaching a weeklong class at Snow Farm. What an incredible week! Even though it’s only 25 minutes from my house, I decided to live there for the week to make it as much of an immersion experience as possible. So basically, I got to spend my week in the most beautiful place in the world, with other artists and students, doing what I love most, and not having to worry about cooking or washing dishes!
The group was organized through Road Scholar, so it was ages 55+. There were 8 students in my class, with various levels of experience.. About half of them were brand new to mosaics and the other half had some experience, including one woman who has taken my weeklong class at Snow Farm for the past 3 years in a row. Everyone was from out of state, including 2 women from the west coast and one from the south.
They all made beautiful work, and demonstrated one of my favorite things about mosaics: everybody has a different style and approach to this medium, and the work is always so varied and exciting! I learned new things from the work they did, particularly through problem solving some of their ideas about using unorthodox found objects, like beaded chain to make a flower, and adding raised components. One guy even found a rock outside and turned that into a base for a mosaic!
I taught them both the direct and indirect methods. Most of them preferred working in the indirect method (building a mosaic temporarily on contact paper, flipping it over, and then attaching it all at once to the final substrate from the back side). Four students made stepping stones. My proud teacher moments came when I saw my students helping each other, and overheard them explaining the process to others, which told me that they really understood and took pride in what they were learning.
We finished the week with a Gala and Auction, where they got to display their creations. Some people donated a piece to the auction to raise money for improvements to Snow Farm. The class collaborated to make a stepping stone to donate to the auction. It turned out beautifully!
I left with a feeling of tired contentment.
And I’ll be back in just a few days to teach the Memorial Weekend Intensive (Saturday thru Monday). My class still has a few spaces, so this is your chance to get in on the Smashing Good Times.
