These 4th graders read and interpreted the wonderful book “The Quiltmaker’s Gift” by Jeff Brumbeau, which teaches the importance of kindness and prioritizing thinking of others over possessions. They used their character analysis to create warm and cool tiles for a classroom quilt wall hanging to decorate their school and their own individual squares to take home and give to someone special. This education & arts integration project was sponsored by ArtsinStark.
Breaking Glass: Mosaic Art of Dyanne Williams
I made a mosaic montage several years ago, using David Bowie’s song “Breaking Glass”. It’s the most perfect song, so even though I needed to update the montage with projects I’ve done since then, I stuck with the song. I’ll be doing a lot more video, including exclusive videos for my patrons on Patreon, so I hope you’ll join! Just click the Patreon link below. Thank you!!
Credits:
Song by David Bowie “Breaking Glass”
DecoBall Lamp Designed by Kishani Perera for Rummage Boutique
Fireplace Mosaics designed by Courtney Jordan Bindel for Jordan Design Crew
Delta World Map photography by Yuno Cho at Studio Q Photography
Feather Cabinet designed by John Strauss for CMJS Creativ
Photograph of Afghan Girl by Steve McCurry
Afghan Girl collage is a collaboration with Tim Carmany
Krishna photograph by Jeffrey Boardley
Lion and the Mouse Mosaics
These kids worked so hard to make these gorgeous glass mosaics based on the fable The Lion and the Mouse. They were second graders at Louisville Elementary School in Louisville, Ohio. The project was sponsored by Arts in Stark as part of their wonderful education and arts integration program. The designs were based on drawings the kids created after reading the story and the final 3’ x 5’ mosaics were permanently mounted in the school’s third grade learning center for them to enjoy the next year.
It was a challenge for these tiny little hands to work with pieces of Stained glass, Van Gogh glass, glass gems, and millefiori, most of which were smaller than a centimeter. They did such a good job of listening and working together and were deservingly proud of their accomplishments!
For more information and images: Louisville Lion & Mouse Mosaics
Selecting Tesserae for New Copper Mosaic Series
I’ve started a new Patreon account! Join to get exclusive videos showing my artistic process.
Video transcript for deaf or hearing impaired:
Hey everyone! So during these Corona times I’m waiting for some glass to be delivered from Italy so I can finish up a project that will go to Florida; it’s a large driveway mosaic. And in the meantime I’ve been working on some mosaic gifts for my family, but they are gifts so I can’t show those to you. So what I thought I’d show you today is, um, I am starting a new mosaic, a personal project, um, that is based on the idea of copper, oxidized copper. So I’m going to be picking out materials and I though I would show you some of the fun supplies I’m going to be working with and how I go about selecting them.
I’m going to start off with this gorgeous turquoise Bullseye stained glass as a base color for the oxidized copper. My stained glass is pretty accessible in my studio, so I will only pull out a few sheets for now just to get a range for my palette. I’m adding in a nice blue/green swirly glass, then the background color of the mosaic, which is a natural creamy glass, including some iridescence. Then I’ll add in the transition colors: earthy browns, including some with copper tones, and iridescent blacks with funky patterns. This stained glass array is the general palette.
Next I’m going to pick out some gems. Here I have a variety of turquoise to blue, including iridescent and translucent gems for depth, and some milky tan gems in case I need them for the background.
This is Hakatai Aventurine tile. It has gold streaks through it and will be perfect for this project
Here I have a variety of 5/8” tile from Sicis and Hakatai. To add different thicknesses, I’ve pulled out some thicker tessera: glass, ceramic, marble, and metal.
These super cute glass beads and tiles are only about 8mm. This is millefiori which means thousand flowers, ball chain, pebbles, agate slices and a bit of broken pottery I love, and some beautiful mother of pearl.
Finally we have the beads and found objects. When I had the idea for this series, I put out a call on Facebook and the wonderful Linda Broka was kind enough to send me these metal pieces. I haven’t experimented yet to see how best to use them, but I’m looking forward to it! I also try to collect a wide variety of accent pieces such as broken jewelry whenever they cross my path.
Next, I arrange everything into the color palette. You want a lot of variety when making a mosaic like this so that the final artwork has a lot of texture and depth. I have a good range of sizes, textures, thicknesses, and sheens, so I’m really excited to get started!
Blue Aspirations Mosaic
Blue Aspirations Mosaic
I wanted to make the 3-D and spacing elements more impactful by using a monotone color palette. I also wanted to experiment with making the spirals more curly. This piece was created early in my mosaic experimentation and previously I only had access to stained glass that came in the 1 cm pieces I wanted for the spirals. This was the first piece that I had found molded glass tiles in 1 cm pieces to use. The result was much more fluid than with stained glass, so I was able to create tighter curves that were still relatively smooth.
I used robin egg blue vitreous glass for the background and an opalescent steel blue molded glass for the ripples. For special touches on the artwork, I used gems, bits of iridescent stained glass and foil backed translucent blue glass. I worked with grout as part of the design by creating different spaces between the rows of circles. This was a fun piece to work on, both simple and bold.
6 Week Fine Art Mosaic Workshop
Fine Art Mosaic Classes in Canton, Ohio
For the first time I'll be hosting fine arts mosaic workshops in Canton, Ohio. The classes will begin in January, 2018, running for 6 consecutive weeks. Currently available sessions are Saturday mornings from 10am-12noon beginning January 6th, and Monday evenings from 6-8pm beginning on January 8th. I will add classes if there is interest and can schedule custom times for groups of 3 to 8.
In this workshop you will create a 12" x 12" or 12" x 15" mosaic of your own design out of stained glass. No experience in stained glass or mosaics is necessary. I will guide you through the process. Before the first class, we will discuss your idea and adapt it to the mosaic medium. When you come to the first class, we will go over the basics of mosaic art and techniques. I will have your idea printed in proportion to be transferred onto your substrate so that you can get started. From there I will personally guide each student in the specifics of their project, as the techniques and concepts are different for each project.
There is the option of purchasing a basic mosaic kit so that you can work at home between classes, as most students will take longer than 12 hours to create their mosaic. If you chose this option, please note that you will also need to purchase glass during the class to work at home. All supplies and tools are included during the class, though. You also don't need to purchase this immediately if you think you are a quick worker. The price for the basic mosaic kit may differ if not ordered before the class, as many of my suppliers offer discounts based upon quantity, and that is why I'm offering the option pre-class.
I'm offering an early bird registration price of $360 for the class (regularly priced $480) until December 10th, 2017, and class registration ends on December 23rd. I'm really excited about the project ideas students have already sent to me, and can't wait to see what else everyone comes up with!!
Register for this mosaic class here.
Announcing Holiday Mosaic Classes!
Photo Credit for all images: Joe Albert
Come have fun at my holiday mosaic classes! I'm so excited to teach this fun new project and can't wait to see the amazing art everyone makes! To start off the holiday season the classes will be $10 off through November 13th, so register today. I'll be adding more classes as necessary.
Getting Back to Blogging!
I am finally making an attempt this week to get photos of mosaics I've worked on the last few months together and put them on my site & social media. Why do I always put things like this off? To start with, I have a mosaic flower vase I made for my mom for Mother's Day. Yes. Mother's Day. More than 4 months ago.
I wanted to create something simple and elegant since my mom is very particular about her decor. I created delicate flowers by making thin slivers and used stained glass for the background arranged in a tight picassiette pattern. I made sure to utilize the glass near the edges of the sheet because the thicker texture and rolled edge is my favorite part of this glass.
Despite my delay in photographing and putting the project on my site, I promise it was actually given to her on Mother's Day!
I'll be updating over the next couple weeks with the projects I've worked on this summer, including the dove mosaic that was part of the Arts Camp at Faith United Methodist Church and the vase created with kids from Pathway. I should also have images of the architectural installation I created for a home in San Gabriel, CA soon. I can't wait to show this piece of art! It is simple, clean and fits in beautifully with the clients' pool area.
Outdoor Shower Mosaic
I started this week on a mosaic for an outdoor shower that will find its home in San Gabriel, California. Here's a short video showing you a bit about the piece. This is my first video so bear with me. Hopefully I'll get better!
Video Transcript:
Hey everyone! My name is Dyanne Williams and I just want to show you a little bit about my current mosaic commission. So this is going to be an outdoor installation. It will be about 3 square feet, um, it's about 8-1/2 inches tall by almost 4 feet wide and it's going to be for an outdoor shower. It's going to be like this little band in the middle of the shower stall. The um, tile for the back is already installed and they're going to put a border that's cobalt around it. This is some of the tile for the pool and then this is on the stairs, so it has these pieces that come together with cobalt and kind of a speckled color. I'll show you a close up in a second.
So first I started by asking the homeowner what kind of artwork she likes, what kind of design she likes, what kind of color spectrum does she like? Well she said that she's been doing a lot of midcentury modern in her home and who doesn't love midcentury modern? And she wants to use some of the cobalt so I put a design together. Oh, and that she likes circular things and since I love circular things we came up with this. So we both agreed that the orange looked really nice against the blues and so this will be the strip in the middle.
Let me show you how it's coming along. So, this is what I have so far. Originally the design was to include four colors of blue. Well, unfortunately one of the blues was discontinued and it ended up just being really crowed and I wasn't seeing, you know, when you put the tiles next to each other it looked like a lot of contrast, but in practice it wasn't looking like as much so I cut out the second to darkest blue. I also did try, I have a lighter blue color than this that I could have used for the background and I did try but it didn't have the impact. Then when she sent me this glass sample, and as you can see, it has that same lighter blue as the lightest level of blue in there, so it turns out to be the perfect choice for this project.
So I finished all the oranges, I'm working on the cobalts right now and then I'll go out and finish everything else. So it's all looking good. I should probably be done in about a week or so. I'll show you the progress and then after I ship it out I'll have an installed picture.
I did mean to tell you a little bit about how it's done. Basically what I use is just a little Elmer's glue. Elmer's glue does not hold it, what it does is hold it in place while it is being shipped and installed. Then they will use thinset mortar to install it and that will hold it in place. With the exception, the only thing I didn't use Elmer's glue on are these little gems because they are translucent and I despise the mesh showing through the translucent glass. It drives me crazy. So what I do in this circumstance is foil back it. So then I use a clear adhesive that is waterproof and what I use usually is called Goop. And that's about it. I will keep you updated on the progress. Thank you and have a good day!
First Friday June 3rd
The theme for this First Friday is Canton Pride! There will be tons of art and entertainment and the weather will be wonderful. I'll have a free craft at my studio. You can come make raffia flowers to wear on your wrist or hair or wherever you like! This craft is perfect for any age and will just take a few minutes so that you can enjoy all the other activities.
Friday is also the last day for discounts on both my Cherry Blossoms mosaic series and my Mosaic Frame Class. You can stop in on Friday to order or ask any questions or you can purchase Cherry Blossoms or register for the June 11th Mosaic Frame Class.
Looking forward to seeing you all this Friday!!
Dyanne Williams Mosaics
514 5th Street NW
Canton, Ohio 44703
Mosaic Class in the Canton Arts District!!
Come enjoy this beginner's mosaic class on June 11th from 10 AM - Noon!
Thank you to everyone who has stopped by my studio to say hello. A lot of you have expressed interest in learning how to make mosaics so I decided to open up my studio for a few classes this summer. This is your opportunity to get started in this addictive art!
You'll make a beautiful mosaic picture frame of your own design to take home with you. This is a very easy class suitable for most ages and skill levels. There is no cutting or grouting; you'll work with a wide range of already cut glass to make your gorgeous art. This is a great introduction to the mosaic medium and a wonderful way to spark your creativity.
Class size is limited so click here to reserve your space today!
This class is regularly $45 but you'll enjoy $5 off if you register by First Friday on June 3rd. Register for the class by clicking the link above and feel free to email or call 310.500.8757 with any questions.
Dyanne Williams Mosaics
514 5th Street NW
Canton, Ohio 44703
May First Friday
Nifty fifties is the theme for May's First Friday in the Canton Arts District! I decided to celebrate by making glitter poodles for kids to get all fancy and 50s. Stop by and get a little 50s glam!!
It's impossible (at least with my photography skills) to take a decent picture of the storefront, but I still try...
And here are a couple new mosaics I've made this month...
For the month of May there is also a 20% discount on the entire Cherry Blossoms series!
May Flowers!
All Cherry Blossoms Mosaics 20% off in May!
For the month of May, the entire Cherry Blossoms series will be discounted by 20%. The featured mosaic above is 9"x13" and is created with gorgeous stained glass. Each mosaic is handmade, with dozens of hours spent hand cutting and precisely placing each of the thousands of pieces of beautiful glass. Each one of the Cherry Blossoms mosaics is made-to-order and can be customized to your taste.
Cherry Blossoms Zen with Stone Background
Zen is one of five mini mosaics in the series, shown above with a stone background. The mosaics are also available with a glass background as shown below with Cherry Blossoms Bloom. Each of these mosaics has a 4" square mosaic inset onto a 12" background.
Cherry Blossoms Bloom with Glass Background
There are the five mini-mosaic styles available in the Cherry Blossoms series: Bubbles, Bloom, Zen, Flutter and Purity, as shown below. You can custom order these mosaics with any color background. Just email me with questions.
New Mosaic Studio Hours in Canton Arts District
Starting next week on April 20th I'll be open for regular hours in the Canton Arts District!
Dyanne Williams Mosaics
514 5th Street NW
Canton, Ohio 44703
Wednesday: 10 AM - 6 PM
Friday: 10 AM - 6 PM
Saturday: 2 PM - 6 PM
Thank you so much to those of you that came a couple weeks ago to First Friday. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait until next month. Thank you to Brian Keith Matthews for taking these stealth shots of the event and sending them to me because of course I didn't think to take any!
I'm still in the process of getting things organized but it's coming along well. I was so busy getting stuff moved in that I've just taken the last couple of weeks to try to catch up with some old mosaic projects and prepare for my next project. Hopefully I will get the city council's approval for the commission and I'll be able to start next week. With every day I'm waiting for final approval I just keep doing the math over and over in my head with how much more mosaicking I have to do per day to meet the deadline.
Since I will be on a tight deadline, if anyone knows someone interested in learning about mosaic art that would like to come help, please let me know. I haven't contacted Kent about being approved for artist internships yet, but it still could be useful for someone that has an interest. It would mostly involve basic glass cutting that can be learned in a few minutes but it is a skill that becomes strong with repetition, so it would help anyone that wants to learn and/or practice.
A lot of people have asked me about mosaic lessons. I will plan to have a workshop in July or August in my studio, but in the meantime I'll be teaching a class at Clays Park Resort on May 28th from 12pm-3pm. We'll be making a cute picassiette picture frame. I'll be making sample frames next week, so I'll post more information then. I'm really excited. It will be an awesome class!
Please stop by the new studio and say hello. I would love to see old friends and meet my new neighbors!
Prêt à Décorer
I just put Cherry Blossoms, the first series for my Prêt à Décorer line on my site. It is a ready-to-decorate line which can be ordered in different designs, sizes and colors for the home. Think prêt à porter but for mosaics. Cherry Blossoms consists of the theme piece pictured above and the five 4"x4" pieces pictured below: Bubbles, Bloom, Zen, Flutter & Purity.
I started the Prêt à Décorer line a couple years ago, but wasn't quite sure what to do with it. The intention was to make small inset pieces to be shipped ungrouted on mesh to be installed in the home for backsplashes, showers, etc. The problem is that everyone saw the 4"x4" mosaics and thought they were coasters. Fortunately I had some brilliant students at the time that suggested that instead of trying to market them that way I should place them in 1'x1' mosaics to be sold as wall hangings. They are still available on mesh for installation, but this way they are also available for people who are not in the process of redecorating their home.
I can recreate any of these mosaics in almost any color or size, using either glass or stone for the background. Just let me know what you'd like in your home!
I'm excited that I've found a practical way to use these designs and excited to start on the next series! I have a few sketches tucked away somewhere but haven't decided on the next theme yet. I'm leaning toward poppies because who can resist their delicious color?
Tiny Tiny Tiny Shards
I hope everyone is having a great week and making amazing art!
I started working on this mosaic of my awesome pug Velvet a while ago. I'm back to work on it, and hopefully I'll have time to finish before I start on my next commission.
I have to admit, even as someone that fusses over mosaics for a living, this one has been trying my patience! I'm about 80 hours into fighting this battle against these tiny little shards of glass that do not want to cooperate. It will be worth it in the end because Velvet is the best little monkey ever and deserves to be immortalized in mosaic.
I always get involved in projects and forget to post WIPs (work in progress pics) even though I adore looking at all the ones my friends share of their mosaic projects. So with this project I'm going to start making it a habit to share the progress.
New Mosaic Studio in the Canton Arts District
Velvet and I have been busy getting my new mosaic studio in the Canton Arts District ready! He would say he did all the work, but I have to thank my sister who helped me paint and hang my artwork. I would still be second-guessing everything without her help.
I'll be opening for First Friday on April 1st. The theme is masquerade, so I've been making glitter masks to give away to kids. I'm new to the Arts District, and too late for Arts in Stark to get the word out, so if you're reading this and in the Canton area, please come, bring your kids and tell everyone you know!
Dyanne Williams Mosaics
514 5th Street NW Canton, Ohio 44703
I've started making the glitter masks & I'm so excited about how cute they are!
The glare is bad on this pic, but you get the idea, it's decorated for the masquerade.
I'll have regular gallery hours starting in mid-to-late April, most likely Wednesday & Friday 10am-6pm and Saturday 2-6pm.
I'm happy to find this location just in time to begin my new commission. It's four panels totaling 148 square feet for a shopping center in Westlake Village, CA. I'm waiting for final design approval from the city council, then I will start posting information about the project. I'm very excited to begin this mosaic. It's going to be huge and gorgeous!
Wine Cellar Mosaic
I shipped this mosaic to California last week. It is part of a residential wine cellar. The cabinetry was all custom made by a cabinet maker and this will be placed into one of the cabinets. The mosaic was created on frosted plexiglass and will be backlit by a ton of LED bulbs placed 1/2" apart, for bright but diffused light. Hopefully I'll have pics of the mosaic installed soon.