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Next mosaic workshop, December 13/14/15, VHS Berlin Mitte

Published by gertrud

You can now register for my next mosaic workshop on December 13/14/15/2024 via the Volkshochschule Berlin, Mitte, course number: Mi212-014H
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https://www.vhsit.berlin.de/VHSKURSE/BusinessPages/CourseDetail.aspx?id=726086

Would you like to get to know one of the oldest artistic techniques? Feel the hard glass tiles in your hands and transform it into a unique, completely individual mosaic picture with skillful hand movements? Then this workshop is just right for you.
In this course you will familiarize yourself with the classic mosaic technique that has been used for thousands of years to individually design rooms and surfaces.
You will learn how to use the mosaic nippers, rules of classic mosaic laying technique and how to glue and grout a mosaic on an approx. 20 x 20 cm substrate. At the end of the course you can take your mosaic picture home with you.
The course is suitable for beginners. No previous knowledge is necessary.

First workshop

Embroidery pattern – Mosaic, Washington DC

Published by gertrud

Turning embroidery patterns into mosaics has always appealed to me. Cross stitch patterns in particular are notated in small squares. Pixel mosaic templates are produced in the same way. I wanted to use this equality in the design templates to create an embroidery pattern mosaic.

In March/April 2024, I worked with over 50 women from the World Bank Family Network in Washington DC to create a community mosaic based on embroidery patterns.

The patterns come from embroidery and other textile works from many cultures, which women from different parts of the world discovered, photographed and sent in for the project. Each woman has written a short text about the embroidery design and her relationship to it. At the moment, one of these stories appears on Facebook every week. I will forward them to you:

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The miraculous journey of a mosaic

Published by gertrud

In 2015, when I exhibited pieces for the Hamam mosaic in Brazil, visitors asked for a similar mosaic for their house in Washington. Years went by…

Floor mosaic in private residence, Ayvalik, Turkey 4m2, natural stone

We have since moved to Washington and I now live in here and in Berlin. In September 2023, I met our friends again and asked them if they were still thinking about the mosaic they had asked me for so many years ago. I met them in their house, we looked for a place and found a suitable niche above the bathtub. One of the fish from the Ayvalik mosaic could swim well there!

I presented them with 4 designs for the 45×29″ niche and an estimate, they chose one design and accepted the budget.Design_M&C_Oct_23

In November and December 2023, I produced the mosaic on a temporary support in my studio in Berlin. I glued the tesserae upside down onto craft paper.

IMG_1213

When I was finished after 40 hours, I was able to cut the mosaic apart and pack it in pieces between polystyrene sheets for transportation to Washington.

As the journey went via our chalet in the mountains of Switzerland, the mosaic also traveled up there and back down into the valley before flying to Washington. It arrived there with me in one piece on January 8, 2024.

I fitted the mosaic to the specially made aluminum frame and glued it in with thinset tile glue. Then came the exciting moment of uncovering the mosaic. After a few hours, the wet wrapping paper could be removed.

On January 26, 2024, the time had come – the mosaic could be slid into the niche. The clients were overjoyed! It goes perfectly with the interior of the bathroom!

Commission in private residence, Washington DC, Jan 24, 45×29″, natural stone, ceramic tile, glass tile