Mosaic Artist and Instructor: James Schlichting , By Nancy Niggel

Creating art, building, and community engagement have always been part of James’s life. And what a life! He has been a roughneck on oil rigs; a set carpenter in Hollywood; an event organizer of the Pittsburgh Arts Festival; and designer, builder, and driver of Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade floats. He is also the catalyst for many fantastic community mosaics that involved hundreds of volunteers for the city of Philadelphia, the Overbrook Environmental Center, and the City of Camden. Truly, a life well-lived.

James is now a retired Vocational Ed teacher from the Philadelphia School District. He keeps busy at his home studio in Collingswood, NJ. His projects are a combination of all his expert skills – mosaic furniture, decorative art, interactive sculptures, functional mosaics, and tile installations. Students can schedule a private mosaic session or small group workshop with him. Classes include all materials and cover mosaic design and structure, tile and stained glass cutting, adhesives, and grouting.

For more information:

schlichtingjames210@gmail.com

856-397-6789

Mosaic Artist and Instructor: Aya Kinoshita, By Nancy Niggel

Current member of the Mosaic Society of Philadelphia

Aya’s background includes working with performance and visual artists; and teaching as well as researching art museum management and cultural anthropology. She began making mosaics in California while on sabbatical from her teaching in Japan. Her style varies with what she is working on and what material she uses. Most of her work is commission-based, ranging from large murals to small pendants. No matter what she is making, she enjoys the creative process and the discovery upon completion. She adds that it’s always very special to create a mosaic with a school, hospital, or community.

Aya teaches beginner-level mosaic classes at the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen and the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, both in Lancaster, PA. She also teaches private classes, summer camps, and occasionally in Tokyo, Japan. She feels mosaics are an intriguing art form that allows creativity, exploration, fun, and relaxation. Her students enjoy learning by experimenting with colors and shapes, and being introduced to cultural symbols and traditional Japanese designs she includes to inspire new ideas.

Visit these links for more information:

https://ayatrapeze.wixsite.com/mosaics

https://pacrafts.org/events/introduction-to-mosaic-art-april-6-7/

ayatrapeze@gmail.com

Mosaic Artist and Instructor: Yulia Hanansen, by Nancy Niggel

Member and workshop instructor for the Mosaic Society of Philadelphia

Yulia opened her mosaic studio shortly after graduating from art school. She has been creating mosaics, doing commission work, and teaching mosaics ever since. Yulia is a master of many styles and skilled in using several types of tesserae. She creates mosaics for indoor and outdoor spaces. Florals, landscapes, and abstracts are her favorites; especially abstract wall art as she loves beautiful sweeping andamento and the ability to include stone, smalti, stained glass, and glass rods. Yulia is constantly looking for new ways to create mosaics and recently began including paper along with her hard mosaic tesserae. Using traditional techniques, substrates, and adhesives, Yulia has found great satisfaction with her new mosaic endeavor!

Yulia offers online and in-person mosaic classes and consultations. Her wide selection of online courses is available at Learn Fine Arts, Mosaic Arts Online, and Create Arts Online. In-person classes are usually 2-day workshops held throughout the country. She also holds workshops at her home-based studio. As a mosaic teacher, Yulia is quick to note that some people learn by listening, some by watching, and others by doing. Her approach to teaching is a combination of all three so everyone can benefit. Plus, she is willing to add some one-on-one when needed.

Visit these links for classes and registration information:

Workshops – Mosaic Sphere Studio, LLC

Art & Mosaic Courses | Learn Fine Arts

https://mosaicartsonline.com

Sign up for Yulia’s mailing list - yhanansen@gmail.com

Instagram – yuliahanansen

Website:www.mosaicsphere.com

Mosaic Artist and Instructor: Carol Shelkin, by Nancy Niggel

Founding member of the Mosaic Society of Philadelphia, past president,

and current member

After attending Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Carol became a painter and potter before beginning mosaics. Her shift to mosaics is the perfect niche for her love of color, tactile nature, and artistic background. Mosaics allow her to “paint with glass” as her vision evolves using stained glass and millefiori in her mosaics to create her specialty, portraiture, and offer commissions. She especially likes working in stained glass using an impressionistic style.

Carol’s teaching method is to understand her students’ vision and help them grow while developing their own style. She offers mosaic workshops locally in her hometown, nationwide, worldwide, and courses online. Carol teaches locally at Main Line School Night in Radnor, PA and Schoolhouse Center in Folsom, PA. She also offers online courses at Mosaic Arts Online, art retreats, art tours, and weeklong workshops around the world through her company Worldwide Mosaic Art Workshops, Retreats, and Tours. This includes small group travels to such places as Italy, Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, Morocco, and France.

Visit these links for more information:

https://mosaicartsonline.com/courses/author/63789

www.carolshelkinmosaics.com

https://mainlineschoolnight.org/

Schoolhouse Center: 610.237.8100 (Jessica)

FB: Carol Shelkin Mosaics | Carol Soritz Shelkin

Instagram: CarolShelkin

Twitter: Carol Shelkin Mosaics 

Pinterest: Carol Shelkin 

Mosaic Artist and Instructor: Laura Lyn Stern, by Nancy Niggel

Former board member and current member of the Mosaic Society of Philadelphia

Laura Lyn’s background is in textiles and ceramic design. Her first encounter with mosaics was during a grad school project - 4-foot-high teacups covered in handmade tiles. After grad school, she focused on metaphoric and figurative sculptures of functional ceramic pieces, slip-cast tableware, and open-faced molds for hand-pressed tiles. Laura Lyn describes her style as abstract and narrative. She works on custom commissions for clients using handmade ceramics, cast glass, stained glass, and tile. As a teacher, she sees herself as a guide and problem solver. She recently created a mosaic mural for the facade of Tacony LAB Community Art Center in Philadelphia, PA.

She teaches mosaic workshops at the Tacony LAB, and the Fleisher Art Memorial, in Philadelphia PA. She is also an artist in residence for art centers and schools, teaching large site-specific installations. She offers workshops for individuals or groups on mosaic murals, kiln-fired glass casting, and 3D substrate design.

Visit this link for more information:

https://lauralynstern.artspan.com/home

https://lauralynstern.artspan.com/workshops.html

Mosaic Artist and Instructor: Carol Stirton-Broad by Nancy Niggel

Founding member of the Mosaic Society of Philadelphia, and member of the Education Committee

Carol has a degree in ceramics from Tyler School of Art, and mosaics have been part of her artwork for a long time. She began by incorporating mosaics in her tile-making and glasswork. This allowed her to enjoy multimedia projects. She is a versatile artist, able to work on large and small-scale mosaics, and easily meets her clients’ expectations. She enjoys pushing the boundaries, taking risks, and exploring new techniques. Her current work incorporates reclaimed materials, and she is relishing the challenge.

Carol describes herself as a relaxed teacher, and her classes as a safe place to learn and take creative risks. She is keen to teach the basics and find each student's level of experience so she can help them reach their individual goals. Her classes are available at Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia, PA on Monday and Tuesday nights, and at Main Line Art Center in Haverford, PA during the day and Wednesday evenings. True beginners might find the Monday classes at Fleisher most beneficial. Classes run for a semester and fill quickly. She often takes a break from teaching in the summer so she can take classes herself, research, and work in her studio.

Visit these links for more information:

https://www.carolstirton-broad.com

https://www.artworkarchive.com/profile/carol-stirton-broad

https://fleisher.org

https://mainlineart.org/

Mosaic Artist and Instructor: Claire Brill, by Nancy Niggel

Former board member and current member of the Mosaic Society of Philadelphia, and head of the Education Committee

Claire has a background in education and great deal of experience working as an artist in residence to create large-scale installations. These days, she enjoys mostly working from her home studio. Her mosaic style varies depending on what she’s making, and she loves bright colors and a little bit of whimsy. One of her favorite pieces is a 3D indented orb entitled “Loss”. She feels it is technically well executed and conveys the exact emotion intended. Her current mosaic project is a series of faces inspired by her contour drawings of real people.

Claire is mindful of her students' learning styles and aims to provide clear instructions and a learning atmosphere of inclusion, connection, and support. She encourages exploration, independence, and self-growth. She teaches two classes at Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia. Mosaics 101 is for beginners and those who want to visit or revisit the basics. Independent study classes are for students to bring projects and Claire supports their goals while teaching mini-lessons as topics arise. Feedback from her students is always positive. She is also available for private or semi-private lessons at her studio.

Visit these links for more information:

https://fleisher.org/adult-education/? gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7qK24NHOggMVjVZyCh0U6Q6MEAAYASAAEgJihfD_BwE

clairebrill@verizon.net

http://mosaicspaces.com/

"Three Generations of Artistic Women" by Marcy Rosner

A very special show will be on exhibit at the Cosmopolitan Club in Philadelphia next month. My mosaics will be shown along with by my mom’s (Fran Silberfeld) paintings and pastels and my daughter’s (Brienne Rosner) jewelry and mixed media wall pieces.

My initial connection with the Club was through MSOP. One of their gallery committee members saw my “Breathe” piece at the annual show in Chestnut Hill in March 2022. She invited me to participate in a rotating exhibit showcasing three other artists. Wondering if this was something I should pursue, I forwarded her email to Brienne. Her response was, “Maybe they want to do a mother/daughter show. “The committee loved the idea. Since that time the show has taken on a new meaning,

Last spring Brienne and I were visiting my 100-year-old mother. She was looking around her room, filled with her paintings, and asked” What is going to happen to all my work when I’m gone?” I answered, “We will have a show!”. She got very excited and we began to plan it. Having hung many shows and coordinated numerous artist receptions she wanted to know where it would be, who would be invited, and what we would serve. We went along with her fantasy, not realizing it would become a reality.

Painting by Fran Silberfeld

She passed away this past February, just after her 101st birthday. When I knew her life was coming to an end I thought about what we would do with her belongings. Her paintings were her prized possessions. I kept what I had room for and gave close family and friends what they wanted. There were still some left and I remembered the mother/daughter show. I contacted the club and they thought it was a most touching idea. Although Mom was not very responsive at that point, I told her my plan. I believe she understood and was very pleased. That was the last time I saw her smile.

Preparing for the show has given me the opportunity to reflect on the importance art has played in our lives, the strong connection it has fostered between our 3 generations, and the influence that genetics and exposure have on what we pursue in life.

My mother was born and raised in the Bronx. Her childhood was very different from mine. Her immigrant mother, a single parent, was neither educated nor cultured. However, she was a wonderful seamstress, embroidered beautifully, and could knit and crochet anything,

After graduating high school, Fran helped her mother run her fur business during the day and attended classes at night. Her love for color and painting began at Columbia University. She continued studying drawing and painting throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s at various schools in NYC. She taught painting and drawing in several adult education schools and exhibited in many solo and group juried shows including the Newark, Trenton, Morris and Whitney museums, and many colleges and libraries. She was a founding pioneer and trustee of the Art Center of Northern New Jersey.

Clock by Marcy Rosner

I don’t think I truly appreciated my mother’s uniqueness, artistic talents, and art in general until I was an adult. Our house was filled with her paintings and pastels on the walls, her cousin’s ceramics, and lots of large of art books. I think my friends appreciated her more than I did. They loved the smell of oil paint when they came into our house; I disliked the strong odor. She enrolled me in children’s classes and bought me paper and paints. When I was about nine, she had one of my pictures framed and hung it in her bedroom. I was embarrassed; she thought it was wonderful and free. She put a clay horse I made on a shelf in our entranceway. I hoped nobody would notice it because the nose wasn’t straight. My mom, being an abstract artist, thought it was great. She schlepped me to museums, where I would grow bored and impatient while she stood in front of a Matisse for what seemed like hours trying to explain to a child why he painted as he did.

My father was creative in a different way. He would have liked to be a professional sports commentator, but had to support his family so worked in the business world instead. He was the creative writer and named all my mother’s paintings. I was very surprised when I cleaned out my mom’s apartment and found the detailed journals with descriptions and drawings, she kept during all her travels She was never without a sketchbook in her purse. She always thought and identified herself as an artist. My father would be driving and as she marveled at a view, she would say to us “Look, it t’s just like a painting,” (and add to my father “But not you Vic.”. To this day, our family jokingly uses that phrase when driving through beautiful scenery (but usually add “As Fran would say”.

Shoe by Marcy Rosner

I did realize growing up that I too carried the “art gene”. I much preferred a writing paper or creating a 3-D project to taking a test. I always signed up for arts and crafts in camp rather than sports and archery if given the choice. I made my own clothes, learning to sew in high school in home economics. I got more creative in college, making skirts out of old jeans and embroidering on everything. Once married, I tried out numerous crafts from macramé to weaving. I decorated a doll house my husband built and electrified. I needlepointed miniature rugs, made pillows out of grandmother’s fabric she used to line coats, and sewed curtains from vintage lace. It was quite an obsession as I dragged my family to dollhouse stores whenever we traveled. Eventually I discovered mosaics which became my longest lasting medium and true passion. When you asked my mother what color something was, she would answer something like “cerulean blue”. I look at pretty glass and china and want to break it. But I never wanted to paint.

Brienne has the art gene on both sides of her family. Her paternal grandmother was a painter and crafter. Her aunt made jewelry. Her father, a surgeon, made a few pieces of jewelry and furniture when he had time and always appreciated handcrafts. Our home was also filled with original artwork., mostly from family members. I naturally enrolled her in art classes at Perkins as a child, and at Moore College in high school. By the time she was born, I loved going to museums with my husband and we took both our children often. She much preferred creating art to playing sports. Although we supported her decision to major in art in college, we suggested graphic design as it seemed like a more marketable career. It didn’t take her long to switch her major at Boston University where she earned a BFA in Painting with a minor in Art History. I believe it was during those years that her bond with her grandma Fran became so strong.

Jewelry by Brienne Rosner

Brienne seems to have inherited the best of all of us. She combines sewing and painting in her mixed media pieces. She has her father’s strong fine motor skills and keen attention to detail. He has passed on his smart business sense, which has allowed her to have a successful career as the gallery and craft’s fair director at Peter’s Valley School of Craft and her current position as the Managing Director of the Society of American Goldsmith’s (SNAG).

We are looking forward to the opening of our show on November 7, 2023. Brienne and I will both be speaking at the opening reception on November 9 at about 5:15. If you are unable to attend, arrangements can be made to view the show until December 27.

For further directions and details visit https://www.cosclub.org/Gallery/Coming_Up_Next

To see more of my mosaics visit https://www.mosaicsbymarcy.com

For more information about Brienne visit https://www.briennerosner.com

Jewelry by Brienne Rosner