Glass Mosaics with Ellen Blakeley

Soooo...
with my studio space all torn up...
I was very fortunate to spend this past weekend in the studio of glass mosaic artist and teacher Ellen Blakeley...

Now how is this for space???

Ellen is a delight.

She is quite fun, very talented, a great teacher, and gracious and generous with technique, inspiration, and finding order in the chaos of students in all sorts of material all at once!!!

Ellen was the innovator of discovering how to use tempered glass for mosaic art. Over the past sixteen years she has perfected this art medium into a tile and art business that is brilliant, literally. Her pieces  are sometimes enormous, finishing walls, sinks, and even waterfalls. In the picture above, Ellen is standing on a table top, with bowls spheres beyond. Ellen's art has changed how glass tile can be used and installed in all sorts installations, concepts that were before, thought to be impossible.

Ellen is a true artist, for she doesn't see impossible, she always sees that there is a way...

So, eight of us dove into learning some beginning techniques of working with tempered glass...

while Ellen and her assistant Kate (on the left) gave us guidance...

I loved working with this medium...

and learned a lot...
And I'm loving all the new ways I can think of now...
to fill my new space...