What’s New in Mosaicland?

Posted on February 21, 2012 by

I hope this finds you all well and excited for all this sun and warm we’ve been having.  Spring can’t come soon enough!

Workshops have been going well and filling quickly for what’s left of the Winter sessions.  There is still room in the March 7 Glass on Glass Mosaics, as well as in the Intro to Mosaic class for March 24 & 25.  So if you’re interested, it would be a good idea to get your registrations to me as soon as you can.

I have a lot of busy-ness coming up in the months ahead… On March 2, 3 & 4 I’ll be doing a demonstration of pique assiette (broken china) style mosaic at the New Hampshire State Home Show ( http://www.nhhomeshow.net/) at the Radison Center of New Hampshire in Manchester. This is where I’ll be showing my newest work for architectural installations of back splashes, fire place surrounds, counter tops, etc.  I’ll be located in the New England Made room and hope you’ll come say hello!

Coming up later on this spring, I’ll be returning to Nottingham West Elementary School for another Artist Residency with grades 3, 4 & 5 to create a 2 dimensional wall sculpture for their cafeteria.  We recently had a great time there doing a special workshop for teachers who created hanging mosaic hearts.  Sometime this summer we’ll be installing the 3-D mosaic toadstools we made last spring in the new courtyard.  Thanks Nan, for a great workshop, I’m looking forward to our newest project!

Some exciting news for the Concord Arts Market…This summer we’ll be in our new location for the newly renamed Concord Market Days Festival on July 19, 20 & 21.  We’ll now have a prominent spot up on Main Street in front of the Capitol Building.  We’re so excited to be out where we’ll be more accessible and visible.  I’ll be there again this year with another Community Mosaic Project and hope to have a surprise for you all as well… More on this later!  http://www.concordartsmarket.com/

I’m happy to say I’m busy and loving every minute of it. I’ll let you know what’s happening as more events are planned.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for your ongoing support and encouragement.  I love sharing mosaic making with you and as always, hope to see many more of you in the days ahead.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

What’s New at Kast Hill Studio Mosaics

Posted on January 26, 2012 by

Workshops are filling fast and I’m excited for the upcoming “Mosaic Hearts” class. It’s a chance to try out a great new adhesive and create a project in one evening. The class only has 2 openings left, so if you’re thinking about it, email me soon! Also on the table is a commission of a slice of garden- dragonflies are the focus and I’m having fun with the materials, especially the irridescent bits for the wings. Who ever knew there were so many kinds of dragonflies in NH? Or that damselflies are of the same family- or is it species?!? I also learned that dragonflies do what’s called “obelisking”, when the summer sun is at it’s highest, they point their abdomens to the sky to expose the least amount directly to the sun, so staying cooler. Pretty interesting, I thought! This panel will be lifesize x2 or so- a close up view of dragonflies and habitat. It will hang outside on a garden wall. What a great project for this cold and strange winter! Next up, I’m preparing for the NH State Home Show, March 2, 3 and 4 at the Center of NH, Manchester. This is their 45th year and should be a huge event. There are hundreds of exhibitors. I’ll be doing a demonstration/creating a backsplash for a kitchen from recycled stained glass and china- my specialty! I’m excited to be a part of this huge show and am working at designing a killer booth. Hope you all will stop by and say hello. Not sure where I’ll be in the building yet, but you can find me in the directory there! After that, I’m planning on the same type of demo at the NH Made Expo also at the Center of NH on April 14 & 15. Depending on how large the crowd is, this may be a Community Mosaic Project that you can work on with me. I’m so happy to have so much to look forward to. It’s going to be a busy time and I feel very lucky to be doing what I love the most; introducing the art of mosaics to people every day. Hope to see you soon!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Back in the Saddle Again

Posted on November 14, 2011 by

Hi All! I’m sorry it’s been such a long long time. I was in a battle with Lyme disease this summer and it knocked me off my horse. It’s all good now and I’m back out in my studio and have discovered some rockin’ new materials to mosaic with. I’m planning some fantastic workshops for the winter and will post dates, etc. soon. Life is mosaic, life is good!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

“Bras Across the River” Event

Posted on September 7, 2011 by

Come out to the Elm St. bridge in Manchester this Saturday from 1-5 pm to support breast cancer cure research. I’ll be there demonstrating the art of mosaic and donating a 2-Dimensional mosaic, “Healing”, for the raffle. There’ll be live music, info booths and food and a lot of good energy. Come say hi!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Inspired Spring Mosaics and the Care and Feeding of an Artist

Posted on April 14, 2011 by

Just wanted to share some thoughts about spring and such. I’ve been inspired by the piles of snow still lingering in our yard. Tucked in the corner of the barn and ell is an especially large one we affectionately call “Mt.Fuji” to honor our intention of building a japanese style garden there some day. We think it will work well as it will be primarily fine gravel and large stones for a zen style garden. In other words, it can tolerate a large dumping of snow/weight and not by any worse for the wear. But I digress… I love the various tints of white, blue, yellow and even rose as the light changes on this snow pile. Spring is all around in new shades of greens and yellows, yet here sits this pile of stubborn-ness. Anyway, I’m inspired by it and have found myself making all white mosaics in the form of 3-D mushrooms. I have a lot of white scraps in various tints with interesting cracks and raised patterns and I LOVE how they work together. The sculptural effect can’t be underestimated…
I also wanted to tell you how good Tai Chi and Yoga have been for me this past winter and now. So calming and grounding. Much needed in all this business. And fortunately, I AM busy!
So, if you’re looking for peace, try Tai Chi and Yoga, could be just the thing!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

March Mosaics

Posted on March 15, 2011 by

I guess it’s a good thing I’m so busy I can’t seem to keep up with this writing… Just recently awarded an artist residency in April at the Nottingham West Elementary school in Hudson, NH to work with grades 1-5. I’ll be making mosaic toadstool seats with the little ones and Caribbean style mosaic wall panels with the 4th and 5th graders. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate spring than with sunny, bright, sparkly and colorful kid mosaics! Thank you Nan Constant!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mosaics to Go at Bed & Breakfast

Posted on February 21, 2011 by

Had a wonderful time running this workshop at Wild Orchard Guest House in Deerfield, NH this past weekend. We had nine participants all from the surrounding area who had a fine time, each person creating a 9×12 mosaic panel using recycled stained glass, china shards and found treasures. We had a blast sitting in our host’s dining room surrounded by her gorgeous collection of contemporary ceramics and other fine crafts. We were warned to keep our mitts off though, just in case we were eyeballing them for our mosaics! The workshop was followed by a great picnic style lunch and everyone went home with a fantastic completed mosaic and a full belly…
The weather, though extremely windy and chilly, cooperated and a great time was had by all.
I hope to run more workshops like this in the near future, but in the meantime am preparing for the Dunbarton Arts and Garden Festival at the end of April and first weekend in May. I’ll tell you all more about this soon!
Thanks for visiting my blog/website and keep those comments coming!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment