Welcome to the San Diego Mosaic School!
Most of our workshops are instructed by Kim Emerson and assisted by her husband Dennis Reiter in the Normal Heights community of the City of San Diego, California, USA. Kim has been creating mosaic art for galleries, public and private spaces since 1991. Their workshops take place in Kim and Dennis’ private home and working studio spaces. The San Diego Mosaic School was established in 2015.
Would you like to receive current information about mosaic art workshops in San Diego, California? Please email Kim to get your information on her contact list: kim@kimemersonmosaics.com
WE PLAN TO RESUME OUR MOSAIC ART WORKSHOP SCHEDULE IN THE FUTURE – Until then stay healthy and creative!
PLEASE CONTACT US IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ON OUR MAILING LIST!
HERE ARE DESCRIPTIONS OF THREE OF OUR FAVORITE WORKSHOPS:
SPONTANEOUS MOSAIC with MIXED TESSERAE
ROMAN REPRESENTATIONAL with SMALTI (glass)
ABSTRACT with SMALTI (glass)
The price for each and every workshop includes all materials, use of professional mosaic tools and adhesives, 14 hours of serious instruction, an invaluable materials resource list, endless inspiration, new artist friends, AND so much more! In each workshop you will create and finish a fine art mosaic of your own design on a quality wood panel to be ultimately displayed in your own interior wall space. Individual weekend workshop hours are Saturdays and Sundays, typically from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
More information below here about each workshop:
SPONTANEOUS MOSAIC METHOD:
This intuitive method of creating mosaic art is inspired by what Ilana Shafir called the Spontaneous Mosaic method. Ilana Shafir of Ashkelon, Israel was widely known, respected, and adored throughout the contemporary global mosaic community. The Shafir family has given permission to Kim Emerson to share and teach Kim’s version of Ilana’s philosophy and her intuitive approach of creating mosaic art at the San Diego Mosaic School.
Utilizing the Spontaneous Mosaic method is thought to be the most comprehensive way to gather a serious understanding of the medium of contemporary mosaic art, whether you are a beginner AND/OR if you are an experienced mosaic artist. In this workshop, you will have a variety of “tesserae” (little pieces of stone and/or tile) available to choose from to build your own unique compositional design, that being abstract or representational. We will be utilizing what Kim calls the “directly-direct” way of adhering the tesserae with thin-set. The mosaics will NOT be grouted in this workshop.
You will be adhering your mosaic “opus” to a quality wood panel to be displayed in an interior space. The panel sizes to choose from are either 9” x 12” or 12” x 12”. Kim and Dennis will be sharing many other tips and details of how to professionally finish your mosaic to take home on Sunday.
Upon request, you have the option to learn what Kim refers to as “transfer techniques”, that being assembling your mosaic design with either MESH or TILE TAPE or both. Also by request, you can learn about which materials are most appropriate for exterior mosaics.
Student works: Images below of mosaic art created in the SPONTANEOUS MOSAIC METHOD workshop:
REPRESENTATIONAL ROMAN with MEXICAN SMALTI:
The inspiration for this workshop came to Kim Emerson during a 2017 trip to Italy while visiting ancient Roman mosaic sites. Particularly in Aquileia on permanent exhibition at the Museo Nazionale, there is one of only five discovered 2nd century still-life themed floor mosaics known as “the unswept floor”. The imagery of these infamous floor mosaics are literal representations in stone tesserae of edible elements from nature and Roman times. Using the square and cubic geometry in the Roman style, we will have fun recreating detailed representations of what was left on the floor after the dinner party!
In this workshop, using only Mexican smalti glass, we will recreate imagery of still-life subject matter, such as a lemon or an olive branch. We will focus on the geometry of the main element, and fill-in the background in classical andamento, as well as play with shadows in tesserae. This is an excellent workshop to better understand representational design in mosaic, and practice precision cutting using modern materials, adhesives, and tools.
The size of the mosaic panels (on wood for interior display) will be your choice of an 8” x 10” or 10” x 10”. We will NOT be using thin-set adhesive in this workshop, but we will employ what Kim Emerson refers to as the “directly-direct” method technique. Grouting your finished mosaic will be optional, possibly after the workshop, if necessary.
Student works: Images below of mosaic art created in the ROMAN REPRESENTATIONAL with MEXICAN SMALTI workshop:
ABSTRACT with SMALTI:
Smalti is glass and is the only tesserae made especially for mosaic art. Over time, smalti for mosaics was developed by the Romans and perfected through the centuries by the Italians. There are only a few smalti glass factories still in production today. This beautiful glass material has been especially developed to be easily cut by hand with a mosaic hammer and a hardie (chisel) on a wooden stump. These are the traditional metal tools designed especially for the mosaic artist. This amazingly colorful and reflective glass tesserae is what was used during the height the Byzantine era to embellish interior walls of churches in Europe – particularly Ravenna, Venice, and Rome in Italy and beyond.
The prerequisite for this workshop is that you have already taken the Spontaneous Mosaic method workshop at the San Diego Mosaic School, or another equivalent workshop elsewhere. You will be designing and building your mosaic composition while utilizing the intuitive design process of Ilana Shafir (see description above).
In this workshop you will also be cutting and creating only with smalti glass made in both Italy and Mexico. We will be discussing and sampling the unique properties of each. You will be encouraged to cut with the hammer and hardie to prepare your smalti tesserae that will ultimately be incorporated into your own unique abstract composition. Both “normal cuts” and “pizzas or tortillas” of smalti will be available. The panel size (on wood for interior display) will be approximately 8” x 8”. We will be using thin-set and NOT grouting in this workshop. Smalti is not typically made for or meant to be grouted.
Student works: Images below of mosaic art created in the ABSTRACT with SMALTI workshop:
We look forward to creating beautiful and meaningful mosaic art with you!
Questions? Call Kim Emerson at 619.379.1123
ALL PHOTO CREDITS GO TO DENNIS REITER