Mosaic Pillows!
Come make a soft and squishy looking pillow out of mosaic. The mosaic pillows are visual contrivances. Despite their rigid and hard surfaces, they bring to mind plush comfort. You can create colorful mosaic patterns that are whimsical and evocative of exotic tapestry, antique lace, quilting or colorful fabric. Perhaps you’ll find inspiration for your pillow from a memory or dream. The creative possibilities are boundless.
The substrate for the pillow is lightweight concrete, the ideal substrate for a durable mosaic that can be displayed indoors or outdoors. Each concrete pillows has a unique shape and feeling. Come join Wilma as she teaches this method to create your unique mosaic pillow.
Wilma will provide a selection of lightweight concrete pillows that she will have made for this class. Each pillow is 10 -12″ wide. A variety of materials will be available – vitreous glass tile, ceramic tiles and dishes, pebbles, beads, coins and more – for you to create your mosaic. You’re welcome to bring materials and mementoes made of ceramic, glass, stone and metal to add into the design. Nippers and cutters needed to shape the materials, will be provided. If you have your own tools, please bring. Some basic mosaic experience is helpful.
- Some basic mosaic experience is helpful but not required.
- Feeling comfortable using hand tools is a must.
- Requires some wrist and hand strength.
Materials fee: $75 includes concrete pillow and all mosaicing materials.
Wilma Wyss is a professional mosaic artist in the San Francisco Bay Area whose work features unusual materials and nuanced colors. Wilma began creating abstract sculptures in concrete and mosaic in 2007. When she first started out making mosaics she was fascinated with making sculptures made of concrete and mosaic that looked soft and flexible, and developed a method to create concrete pillows covered with mosaic. She was intrigued with the meaning and associations of softness, relaxation, and lightness, while simultaneously expressing the seemingly contradictory properties of hardness, discomfort, and weight.
Wilma’s art practice has taken her in two complementary directions: fine art mosaics and commission work for public and private spaces. Wilma’s mosaic art work, which is loosely abstract, has been shown in over 50 shows nationally, and won several awards. She has participated in over a dozen open studio events.
For the past few years her work has been largely focused on commissions. Site-specific mosaic artwork has been commissioned by Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, as well as Esalen Institute. She has created and installed mosaics in bathrooms, kitchens and gardens in Bay Area private residences. Recently, Wilma has designed, fabricated and installed four outdoor mosaics in public parks in the San Francisco Area.
Wilma teaches mosaic art at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, Studio 9 in Oakland, and for groups retreats.
Outdoor spaces, particularly the Northern California landscape, provide inspiration for Wilma’s art practice. Being in nature gives her time to focus her thoughts and see things in a new light, conceptually and physically.
Website: http://www.wyssdesign.com