American Mistress of Millefiori: Laurel Skye

There is "The Lady with the Tutti Frutti Hat" and then there is Laurel Skye -- the American Mistress of Millefiori, the Pied Piper of Patterns, the Temptress of Tiled Tapestries.
The Institute of Mosaic Art (IMA) Instructor Bio for Skye below describes her work beautifully:

Skye works in mixed media, using such materials as milefiori, smalti, 24 K gold and Italian glass. Her mosaics resemble rich tapestries and bring together traditional and modern materials and techniques.

Skye's work has been featured in numerous magazines, books and television shows. We recently found a very insightful video (below) interview with Skye whose much awaited first book was published last year. (More about the book, "Mosaic Renaissance: Reviving Classic Tile Art with Millefiori" at the end of this post.)


http://kiem-tv.com/node/218

Skye, and we say this from personal experience, is a talented teacher who has a wonderful way of making people incredibly comfortable when trying on very new things. She offers workshops from her base, Skyelab (above) , mosaic schools like IMA in Oakland CA and at the annual conference of the Society of American Mosaic Artists (SAMA).

Most recently, Skye has been exploring her love of Rajahstani tapestries with sumptuous and extraordinary results. In the work above see her capturing the essence of the fantastic jeweled patchwork originals.

Rajahsthani detail

"Mosaic Renaissance: Reviving Classic Tile Art with Millefiori" has received rave reviews from readers. According to Skye: "More than just a How To Book, I want this book to be inspiring and a resource of patterns and ideas. I have included dozens of patterns for easy reference as well as a gallery of global mosaic artists all using millefiori in their own unique styles."

To order Skye's book, click here:

And do, do go to Skye's website. There is a bounty of eye candy and you don't want to miss the photographs of her home, trust us.

Enjoy -- Nancie