Mosaic Your Pet: Martin Cheek 2 day Workshop: September 13, 2014

Mosaic your Pet:

Martin Cheek Mosaic 2 day-Workshop

September 13 and 14, 2014

Guest Instructor:  Martin Cheek (UK)

Dates:     Saturday and Sunday September 13 and 14

 Time: 9:30 – 4:30

Project:   Choice of 12” x 8”, 12” x 12” or 12” x 16” mosaic incorporating Martin Cheek’s own handmade fusions

Tuition:    $250, 50% deposit required  by August30, 2014. 

The payment in full is due by September 1, 2014

Material fee: $100
** Cancellation refund requests must be made within 72 hours**

Language of instruction: English.

Location: Mosaikashop

 

Materials provided in Material fee:   4 oz of fused glass, smalti, vitreous glass, stained glass, wood substrate, adhesive, use of all tools, studio time if needed.  There will be an additional small fee for extra fused glass mosaics or millefiori purchased at Mosaikashop studio. Prices for extra fusions purchased in the studio will cost $30 per 100g

(for special commissioned fusions,  price to be determined with Martin according to the complexity of the fusion see text below ‘When ordering glass fusions”)

Take note about the fusions:

1oz covers a credit card in area
4oz covers a postcard in area

Registration deadline: June 1, 2014.  Limit 14 participants.  suzanne@mosaikashop.com

British mosaic artist and author Martin Cheek returns to Canada for an exclusive first time, 2-day workshop – Mosaic Your Pet. This course aims to make the student think about the character and personality of their own pets. Martin will work with students to assist them in creating personality and expression. In this course students will design and make a mosaic of 12 x 16 inches or 12 x 12 inches in area. This course is suitable for both”beginners and improvers”. Martin will teach cutting, shaping and classical layout techniques of the tesserae.

As a unique feature, Martin can pre-make bespoke fusions especially for the course participants. The students can email Martin a photograph of their pet or their design plus dimensions a few weeks in advance, so that unique fusions of dog / cat / horse/ chicken/ rabbit / parrot/ mouse eyes/ nose /ears, etc can be made. Included in the workshop will be slide shows of Martin’s own work and he will demonstrate how the use of glass fusions can affect your finished piece

Creating Character in Mosaic

AIMS OF COURSE:          

This course aims to make the student think about the character and personality of your pet.
it asks: What is your mosaic about?…and I don’t just mean – a cat or a dog…WHAT is it about that particular cat or dog that you are trying to say? What effect do you want your mosaic to have upon the viewer of it?
What emotional response are you trying to achieve?
If for example you are trying to provoke laughter by making a funny mosaic then the ENTIRE mosaic should be funny – not just the fish but the coral should be funny – and the starfish and shells sitting on the sea bed should be funny – everything should contribute to the whole – like building up points of fact in an argument.

You know your pet as well as you know any person – so let’s see if we can capture HIM or HER in your mosaic!

WHAT STUDENTS SHOULD ACHIEVE:

During the course you will design and make a mosaic of 12 x 16 inches or 12 x 12 inches in area. These MDF substrates will be provided. Participants can work to different and larger dimensions if they wish, but in that case they must bring their own substrates.

TEACHING METHOD:

During the course Martin will give at least 3 x slideshows showing how he tries to inject character into his mosaic creations. Using examples of his own work, Martin will demonstrate how to get character into your work.

Participants will then begin working on their mosaics.

Martin will then give individual tuition and by looking at the participant’s designs will suggest how these tools and effects can be applied to your artwork.

STUDENT PREPARATION FOR COURSE
It would be really useful if you could bring with you two design ideas for your pet mosaic. Try to make your ideas different from each other, so that we will be able to discuss the various mosaic possibilities, which your designs will suggest to me. Your designs should be between a square foot: 12 x 12 inches (30 x 30 cm), in area up to a maximum of A3: 12 x 16 inches (30 x 40 cm) – if you want to finish your mosaic during the course.

Keep you designs simple and bold – remember that the smalti briquettes average 2cm x 1 cm in size so don’t make your design too fiddly! A quick glance at Martin’s website: www.martincheek.co.uk of any of Martin’s books will show you what I mean, but please don’t copy Martin’s mosaics – you could do that at home!

If you don’t have time to prepare any designs before the course, then try and bring lots of pictorial reference with you, not just of your own pet – but of the particular breed of say dog or cat – so that Martin can see get an overview of what your pet SHOULD look like!. This could be anything from a book to a greetings card that you like or even a piece of wrapping paper or packaging that may have caught your eye. If you can decide and resolve your design beforehand, this will save you valuable time on the first day. Martin will be happy for you to email your design to him in advance, in order to discuss this with you.

You can see lots of examples of martin’s fusions in his own work on his website: www.martincheek.co.uk or on his facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/martin.cheek

You can see martin’s current range of fusions by looking on his Etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Mosaicfusions

There you will see that Martin also makes his own Murrini:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Mosaicfusions?section_id=11461414

…and jewellery:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Mosaicfusions?section_id=11705442

You can order your fusions, murrini and jewellery by writing to Martin: mrtncheek@hotmail.co.uk

When Ordering Glass Fusions

Try to make it easy for Martin – the most important thing that he needs to know is the SIZE / dimensions of your piece + the colours you would like.

A good drawing / illustration / diagram of – say a bird, is much easier for him to work to than a blurry photograph.

Please do your own research – please don’t just ask for a polar bear or a frog – in the past I have spent more time RESEARCHING the image than making the actual fusion!

Large pieces are MUCH easier to make than small pieces.

Your fusion does not have to be the entire bird / fish / butterfly whatever – it could just be an element – such as a wing or a fin for example.

RE: Coverage:  4oz covers an area of approximately the size of a postacrd.

RE: Pricing: Martin says: Glass fusions are usually sold as jewelry for about 8 x the price that I charge.

I will give you a price when I see the complexity of your design and then you can decide whether or not you wish me to go ahead.

I can only fire 2 x batts per day and it takes him a few hours to fill the batt…so 1 can only make about 500g of fusions per day.

You can see lots of examples of martin’s fusions in his own work on his website: www.martincheek.co.uk or on his facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/martin.cheek: Martin has added a facebook album for each of the courses on his last US tour in 2012. – Simply go to his abum page . Here’s the link:
http://www.facebook.com/martin.cheek/photos
After the courses the students send Martin pics of their finished mosaics. these are displayed in a separate album of their own. Here’s the link:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3334084625595.2146423.1072932954&type=3

Good luck with your designs – I look forward to making your fusions for you!

Warm wishes,

Martin

About Martin Cheek:

Martin Cheek has written six  best selling books on mosaics. He has been making mosaics professionally for 30 years. Martin graduated in graphic design from ExeterCollege of Art & Design in 1981. Having made award winning films as a student, he subsequently worked on several puppet animation projects including ‘The Wind in the Willows’ ‘Paddington Bear’ ‘Noddy in Toyland’ and ‘Portland Bill’. He then set up his own production company Cheeky Films Ltd. For many years Martin wads a part time lecturer at the Royal College of Art. He is a former art critic for the Daily Express and now works full time as a professional mosaic artist. Martin is regularly commissioned by both private and corporate clients as well as by museums. His work also appears in leading National magazines and newspapers as well as on television.

Martin has tutored workshops in the UK, USA, Turkey, France, Holland, Greece, Italy, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. His weekend courses in the UK and abroad continue to be popular with students from all over the world keen to learn the art of making mosaic. Over 2000 people have now attended Martin’s courses. In April 2008 Martin was the keynote speaker at the international conference of SAMA – The Society of American Mosaic held in Miami, Florida. In 2011 keynote speaker at the international conference of MAANZ – The Mosaic Association of Australia and New Zealand held in the BarossaValley.