About

Tapestry mosaic is about bling, bright colors, and pattern. What makes this technique unusual is that it is not grouted, allowing the use of a variety of materials that can’t easily be used in traditional mosaic. 

Beads, rhinestones, buttons, broken jewelry parts, glitter tile, and a selection of shiny things make for a complex and interwoven mosaic created on the rim of a 10” square. This is a technique and design class.  The design is a series of smaller graphic vignettes each with a focal point. The skills covered are working without grout lines, how to use both very small beads and a variety of different types of glass, metal and found elements, and how to make what could be a chaotic mess into something pleasing to the eye.  

What to Bring:
Prior to the beginning of the class and enclosed with the registration confirmation, students will receive Pre-class Planning Instructions which includes a Material Selection Guide for planning elements (the amount of bling they want to use, colors and focal points) of their projects and how to purchase/find the pieces they will need to bring to class. 

Students will need to provide  a substantial amount of their own materials including focal points of larger beads and broken jewelry as well as seed beads. 

There is an additional $12 materials fee which is included in the price of the class. The material fee covers the cost of adhesive, color tint, a selection of stained glass, glass gems, and tiles. 

Instructor: Gillian Allard

Gillian Allard first fell in love with mosaics in Barcelona’s Park Güell after seeing the work of Anton Gaudi. Her first art pieces were stepping stones. She then progressed to furniture and signs. Most of her work is inspired by discarded or broken dishes that become one-of-a-kind functional pieces for the garden and home.  In addition to china, pottery and stoneware, a variety of glass tile and gems, broken tile and found objects are incorporated into her designs.  The breaking of the ceramics is organic and random in nature and one of her goals is to capture that energy.  Recreating memories reusing materials are an important part of her mosaic work.  When someone gives me a broken dish and I can give it back to them recreated and ready to function again, I have united the best elements of this art form.