ONline COURSES

Same concepts as my in-person workshops, but doable at your own pace in your own space.

Click on each course to be catapulted to its page, then click Watch Promo to see me geek out about the thing.

WHAT STUDENTS SAY ABOUT THESE ONLINE COURSES:

“At the risk of being repetitive - another great course from Kelley. Infectious enthusiasm is the kind of contagion we all need right now. Loved this workshop and all the great ideas. Thank you thank you thank you....”

“Another comprehensive and instructive workshop. Loved it!! Love your explanations and examples with artworks. Lots of ideas now percolating.... Thank you for such generous commentary and advice.”

“OH WOW. My birthday present this year was 3 of your courses...Kickassiette, Mind the Gap, and Apoxie Sculpt. BEST GIFT EVER. I sort of feel like I won the lottery...or died and went to Creative heaven! You are a great artist and teacher and a brave experimenter! How you created a whole new art form with this material...and how generously you share it with us.”

“BRAVO...loved it! I learned SOOOO much and I love the way Kelley "let us in her head" and talked us through her entire thought process as she worked. I also appreciated that she showed the reality of not getting everything perfect every time and how she made delicious lemonade out of lemons.“

IN-PERSON COURSES

All my courses are geared to engage and challenge students at any level of mosaic proficiency. No prerequisites required.

2025 ABSTRACT mOFO* SEATTLE:
YOUR SKILLBUILDING MAKE-CATION

If you’ve been looking for a concentrated opportunity to advance your understanding of abstract mosaic design/construction using unique materials and adventurous techniques, this is the workshop for you. You’ll have time to design/build at least one if not more abstract mosaic(s) start to finish, with an inspiring array of materials at your disposal (special concentration on the one-of-a-kind recycled glass of Seattle’s own Bedrock Industries - but also other glass, ceramic, crockery, stone, wood, porcelain, epoxy putty, and more!). We’ll start with an intro to abstract design principles, cut/prep your substrate, choose your material palette, process your materials, then build your abstract mofo directly into pigmented mortars, maximizing height differentials. I’ll work one-on-one with each student on the way, and you’ll get an extra dose of inspiration with a special guest lecture. Instruction will be via slide show, demos, discussion, exercises, hands-on building, one-on-one guidance, and critique.

*MO(saic)FO(cus)

2025

MAY 15-18 (Th-Sun) (waitlisted)
MAY 22-25 (Th-Sun) 3 seats remaining (2 beds available on-site)

WORKSHOP: $550/person (max 8/session)
4-day Abstract MoFo Workshop (instruction, materials, substrates, guest lecture, lunches, snacks, 24/7 studio access)

ON-SITE LODGING: $400/person for 4 nights
Accommodations: One huge shared (2 queen beds) room with its own bathroom; two queen rooms that share a bathroom. Evening studio hours, transportation from/to train station. Extra nights may be available before/after workshop

Email kelley@rivenworks.com to register.

“What a fantastic, creative, heart- and mind-opening weekend in Seattle with 12 amazing women that inspired me beyond what I could have imagined! I’m happy to say that I felt my fear and doubt melt away and in its place a bold new statement emerge. “Do all the things” makes me feel big and confident and capable; things I haven’t felt in a long time and feared were gone for good. Thank you for such a fun, funny, kick-ass creative adventure! DO ALL THE THINGS!!”

The power of one:
Turn any material into many materials

Mass-produced materials can speed up our mosaic production, but the lack of variation in their shape and texture severely limits their expressive potential. In this course Kelley will unpack how to recognize and bring out the unexpected in a number of typical machined materials, such as the penny round tiles that are the only material in the mosaic shown above.

Specifically, Kelley will unpack and demonstrate five major factors that impact how any material presents in mosaic, then you’ll put them into practice by building several small sample mosaics. You’ll quickly see that what you’re learning isn’t just for machined materials. Once you’ve trained your eyes and mind to inquire past the obvious, you’ll be using simple cuts, setting tips, quick alterations and more to breathe new, expressive life into any material in your studio.

NEXT SESSIONS:

15-16 FEB 2025, OAKLAND, CA (Studio 9 Mosaics)

$400 (includes materials, substrates, adhesive, supplies, and instruction)

Email me at kelley@rivenworks.com to register/query

Contact me at kelley@rivenworks.com to discuss booking in your area

FUNdamento: Shape + direction = flow

The order and arrangement of the pieces (tesserae) in a mosaic is essential to how it will “read” to the viewer. Through a fun, fast-paced combination of lecture, slideshow, discussion, drawing, and hands-on practice, students will learn to execute three modern field patterns:

• random circles (“Circlemento”),

• random squares/rectangles (“Squaretangular”),

• linear quadrangles (“Linear”)

Students will gain understanding and proficiency by discussing and then drawing each pattern and creating a 6” x 6” paper (one-day) or hard material (two-day) mosaic in their choice of one of the given patternsi. Additional topics discussed: choosing an appropriate field pattern for a mosaic, fun with interstices, and adapting/inventing/customizing patterns.

NEXT SESSIONS:

Contact me at kelley@rivenworks.com to discuss booking in your area.

MINd the gap: space as a mosaic design elemenT      

There are many approaches to incorporating open space into mosaic design. Through slides, demos, and discussion, this workshop introduces you to at least six of them. For hands-on practice, you’ll choose an approach and execute at least one space-centric mosaic.

It’s because mosaic is so dense that incorporating space can be so effective. Dense areas appear denser, and the void space(s) deeper, calmer. Like juxtaposing two complementary colors: density and space enliven each other like no other combination can.

NEXT SESSIONS:

Contact me at kelley@rivenworks.com to discuss booking in your area.

SERIOUS ABOUT SERIES

If you’re looking to develop a cohesive body of mosaic work to show, this course is for you.
If you’re looking to develop a recognizable personal style or “voice,” this course is for you.
If you have a favorite subject/idea/color/style you want to explore, or a longer story to tell, this course is for you.

Too boring, you say? Like to change things up with every new work? That approach can fuel one of the most exciting and satisfying successes of a series: maintaining continuity while changing a lot of things up!

In this course, as you build a series of works, you will learn:

- To explore beyond your first (reflexive) idea
- How a series differs from a multipart artwork
- How to choose a cohesive, design-supporting color/material palette
- How to compose/design for a series
- When spontaneity in execution can complement pre-planning
- What unifying elements will link your series works together
- How to riff off of “master” or “anchor” design elements in each work
- How working on multiple artworks at the same time aids continuity and efficiency

NEXT SESSIONS:

Contact me at kelley@rivenworks.com to discuss booking in your area.

SHARD LOGIC: FINDING RHYTHM IN THE RANDOM

Wondering for the nth time what to do with that pile of random scraps and shards of material in your "crap library?” Leftover tesserae, offcuts, accidents, samples and bits we pull out of the floor sweepings because they're expensive, rare, meaningful or just beautiful. Not much of any one thing, and none of it "matches" the rest (curved, straight, jagged, right angles, different sizes, colors, etc.).

Let me show you how to assess random scraps, see (or create) the rhythm in them, and join them together in one cohesive, vibrant, active mosaic. You'll discover that the unruly dissonance of your shards is actually their visual/textural strength!

Through building a sample board and then a Mosaic from your shards, you will learn this and more:

- How to see (or create) the corresponding aspects of various similar scraps
- How to choose a neutral unifying material that pulls your discordant scraps together
- The importance of dissonance in creating energy and interest in an andamento
- The importance of contrast, value, shape and texture in the success of a mosaic
- How uniformity can make areas of “chaos” really pop
- How to effect a "chaos gradient,” and why you might want to

NEXT SESSIONS:

Contact me at kelley@rivenworks.com to discuss booking in your area.

KICKassiette: blowing the lid off crockery mosaic

Picassiette* is the process of transforming crockery and found objects into mosaic. What makes crockery so tempting and ideal for mosaic is not only its availability, ease of cutting, and varied glazes, but its unique curvatures, bumps and protrusions that translate to gorgeous dimensionality in tesserae.

In this technique-rich, hands-on workshop, Kelley ramps picassiette up an innovative notch with her unusual methods of cutting/setting not only the flat surfaces of plates and other ceramic ware, but the lips, feet, rims, handles, lids, spouts, and more, including the exposing/tinting of the inner clay body. Students will learn cutting tools and techniques; setting in mortar to maximize sculptural/dimensional possibilities; building a cohesive color/material palette, and composing with crockery’s challenging curves and bumps.

*Thought to be derived from the French slang “piquer” (to steal) + “assiette” (plate).

NEXT SESSIONS:

Contact me at kelley@rivenworks.com to discuss booking in your area.

WHAT STUDENTS SAY ABOUT IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS:

“Wow, Kelley Knickerbocker’s FUNdamento class is amazing. I have learned so much from this class including many techniques and really clever ideas I know I will carry well into my mosaic life.”

" I just finished one of Kelley's classes. Not only was it fun, but it was fast paced, centered on learning new skills and incredibly inspirational. I could look at her work all day. She has opened my eyes to a whole new relationship with materials."  

"Great class. I have taken classes where the instructor has in their mind what they want you to create, which I find very difficult because I see the project completely different from what they see. This class lets you choose how your composition will look. Thank you for the freedom to create from your own mind an art piece. And I hadn't realized that you can use mortar/thinset as part of your piece. Very interesting and inspiring ideas and techniques.”

"I really enjoyed the class,  and I appreciate how much time you obviously put into preparing for it.  I also appreciate your generosity in sharing your knowledge.   I thought my head might explode from all the info!  I was a little concerned that I wouldn't remember much, but then I saw what a great job you did of recapping in your handouts."

"The workshop was excellent! My head is about to burst with ideas how to use all the techniques I learned."

VISITING ARTIST WORKSHOPS, Seattle

Hosted in a spacious, bright, comfortable, 3-bedroom Seattle Airbnb.
Come for just the workshop or add lodging so you can roll out of bed and into the studio each morning and work late into the night on your project(s)

Session 1

July 12 Cut Everything: The Hammer and Hardie Workshop
$225 ($205 if registering for two workshops)

July 13 Smalti Intensive
$245 ($225 if registering for two workshops)

July 14-16 Andamento as Language
$490 ($470 if taking two workshops, $450 if taking all three workshops)

Session 2

July 19 Cut Everything: The Hammer and Hardie Workshop
$225 ($205 if registering for two workshops)

July 20 Smalti Intensive
$245 ($225 if registering for two workshops)

July 21-23 Andamento as Language
$490 ($470 if taking two workshops, $450 if taking all three workshops)

Complete course descriptions below. Max eight students/course. Limited on-site lodging available for $100/night.

Contact me at kelley@rivenworks.com with questions or to register

CUT EVERYTHING

Cutting well with hammer & hardie is the result of good technique and the appropriate hammer for the material — and all will be revealed in this one-day beginner-friendly workshop. You will learn the optimal positioning of hammer, stump and your own posture to obtain the best cuts. Rarely discussed details will be thoroughly explored in an effort to maximize the efficiency of your cutting technique with a variety of materials, and you’ll leave understanding exactly how to set up or modify your studio and tools for maximum cutting success! Participants may complete a small composition, but the focus will be in achieving specific cuts with all available materials.

Materials & lunch are included, but students are encouraged to bring any materials for which they have questions about cutting.

SMALTI INTENSIVE

From pizzas (or tortillas) to tesserae: Learn how to break down smalto from its largest presentation to the more common A-cuts, and do so with minimal waste. The workshop will give you practical knowledge about the manufacturing process, which will aid in deciding which smalto format is best for your particular project or style. The workshop will also cover gold-foil glass (sometimes called gold smalti) and precision cutting. A variety of tools will be used to facet smalti and achieve beautiful texture, all the while keeping in mind its reflective nature and focusing on how to harness light in mosaic compositions. Participants may complete a small composition, focusing on setting techniques that enhance the potential of this beautiful material.

Materials & lunch are included.

ANDAMENTO AS LANGUAGE

Classical andamento need not be thought of as boring, restrictive, or old fashioned, but rather as the grammar of mosaic, giving definition and clarity to the work. Going beyond the principles of andamento, this course shows you how to develop a voice and a narrative in mosaic, creating your own language. I believe that the way we each set tesserae to form lines is a lot like handwriting, and will work with each student to start developing their own style.

Grammar and typography govern how we arrange letters into words and determine how easy or hard a text is to read and understand. In mosaic, the language is seemingly simpler in that there are no language barriers — it is universal — but texture, spacing, and dimension, layered over the basic principles of andamento can give lines, and therefore a mosaic, very different characteristics —or accents. Making analogies rooted in my love of typography and languages, we will build on the principles of andamento to create different languages within mosaic, calling attention to the nuances of the grammar that go beyond the simple principles, exploring options for different narratives by adjusting spacing, material qualities and dimension, encouraging everyone to develop their unique mosaic voice.

Previous knowledge of andamento rules is a pre-requisite. Hammers and hardies will be available, but students are welcome to bring nippers to work with the softer materials.

Materials & lunch are included, but students are encouraged to bring any favorite materials or smalti colors that may help in developing style and language (found objects, metal inclusions, site-specific materials, etc.)

Contact me at kelley@rivenworks.com with questions or to register.