Ceramic & Mosaic Workshops

Art has no boundaries and the materials are endless. The marriage of stone, porcelain, clay, glass and of vegetable matter leads to a complexity of techniques and skills that make work original and unique. I urge you to combine techniques, to break away from the strict frameworks of mosaic and ceramics. I encourage you to use ceramic glazes to render the fluidity and transparency of the sea, to experiment with the whiteness of porcelain clay to portray the layered limestone rocks, to use the white marble from the islands of Paros and Naxos and even pebbles as materials.

Let us leave the well-worn paths and familiar images of ancient and medieval mosaics. Let us go and meet a form of contemporary expression, using natural or recycled materials. Mosaic is a complex field and from this complexity a harmonious body of work can be produced. Micheline suggests that you go in search of raw materials, collecting on the shores of the Ionian Sea, using leftover pieces of Greek marble, white, black, green, ochre or red…. The tools used are the marteline, (marble hammer), a palette knife, mosaic pliers, nippers, spatulas, trowels and floats. All matters concerning the choice of medium, using the cement adhesive, techniques in cutting, execution and positioning, will be explained individually and collectively.

The use of clay and porcelain in the creation of a complex mosaic work. How do we use clay and porcelain to recreate fishing nets, jagged and broken rocks; how do we render the clarity of the turquoise sea using glazes. To these questions we need to propose technical and artistic solutions offered by the earth and the glazes. How do we break up an idea into its components and put it together again to create a meaningful and aesthetic unity?