Lotus Flower Comission

Blue Lotus Flower on Yellow, stained glass mosaic, 12"x12", 2017 ~Sold

Below are some of the color choices of stained glass narrowed down by the client.

All of the glass, including the flower petals and circles is completely handcut with just the tools seen below.

This is an original Kasia Mosaics Design which is often requested to be commissioned in different colors and sizes. The design is exclusively copyrighted to Kasia Polkowska and may only be reproduced by the artist. Below is a photo of an earlier rendition of the same design but larger (22"x22") and hence with a more detailed center and background. It is the mosaic that inspired the above commission.

Blue Lotus Flower 
stained glass mosaic, 22" x 22" (23" x 23" framed), 2013   ~Sold

Online Owl Class Coming October 2017

Learn the art of stained glass mosaics while working on a variety of unique owl templates designed by artist Kasia Polkowska. This new class will be released during the first week of October. Email Kasia at kpolkowska@gmail.com to be notified when the class is out. The first 10 students to sign up will save $25 and receive a free gift! The class will be available for instant streaming anywhere in the world via the Kasia Mosaics Classes Website It will come with a full set of owl templates, full instruction for the entire Stained Glass Mosaic Process from start to finish, additional owl design tutorials, background pattern tutorials, information on substrates, adhesive and grout for both indoor and outdoor mosaics and more! All students will be invited to a private facebook learning group where they can interact, ask questions and post photos of their class projects.

Learn how to approach your first mosaic art project, how to cut stained glass using simple and affordable hand tools and how to use the versatile taping technique.

Learn how to glue your project and how to choose the right substrate for you mosaic.

Learn to easily grout your mosaic project.

Learn to create beautifully beveled edge that will give a clean, finished look to any mosaic project!

Community Mosaic Mural

Kyle and I with the installed mural!

At the end of June 2017 we installed the first Kasia Mosaics community mural project in Alamosa, Colorado.  I created the design and the color scheme for the pattern while my partner Kyle did the engineering drawings for the installation as well as the steal frame.  We had 36 volunteers come to our studio to learn how to use basic tools to shape glass and how to arrange it into a pattern at no cost to them.  I precut all the glass for the volunteers to work with and they each got to build a section of the mural with my help and guidance.  In total there were 93 sections that made up the finished design.  In addition to the volunteers, Kyle and I got to create many of the sections of the project.  Once all the pieces were ready, Kyle and I glued them on the the custom substrate Kyle built.  Then we grouted and installed it into the steal frame and finally onto the building.  Take a look our project photo album here: Community Mural Project

We also organized a successful Indiegogo Campaign to help us raise funds for the material cost for the mural.  Check it out here: Help Us Beautify Our Town With a Community Mural  To cover the remainder cost of materials, a grant from the Colorado Creative Industries was given to us by Jeff Owsley from Alamosa Small Business Development.

We installed the mural only 3 blocks from our studio so transporting it was easy!

Me with the mural before our team put it up on the building.

Iwona, Jurek and Kyle - our amazing installation crew.

Below you can see a few photos of our volunteers diligently working in our studio.  

Clockwise from top right: Marcia, Nickie, Luke, Liz and Matt.  

From the Left: Emily, Jeff, Me giving a demo and Kelsey.

Clockwise from the top: Kyle, Eva, Sam, Bryce and Emily.

Jeff and Hollie adding their sections to the layout - almost ready for gluing!

Gluing the mural, one section at a time.

Creating a map of who created which section so the volunteers can easily locate their pieces. 

Peeling the tape after the adhesive dried.

Cleaning the glass prior to grouting. 

Grouting the mosaic.

Close up.  Grouting with epoxy grout is a little bit more work than the standard grout but its perfect for the outdoors!

Polishing the grouted mosaic.

Close up of the signature plaque for the mural.

We even made the paper!

To read the full article, click Community Comes Together to Construct a Mural

A New Kasia Mosaics Classes Template

 Expanding Flower Mandala, stained glass mosaic, 15" in diameter, 2017 Available

This is the latest mandala design I created as a template for the Kasia Mosaics Classes Website. This design is available as a download via the Templates Section of the site which offers mandala, flower, owl and geometric patterns for glass enthusiasts, hobbyists and Kasia Mosaics Students.     

Seen above, the pre-gluing and grouting this new design measures 14.5" in diameter and then 15" in diameter once glued and grouted.  This particular patter is meant for intermediate glass students as it contains very small, harder to cut shapes in the center. 

If you've never worked with glass but would like to build up to being able to create one of the Kasia Mosaics Mandala Designs at home, take a look at the all-level, beginner friendly Kasia Mosaics Online Flower Class.  This class will teach you how to use the tools I use to create all of my mosaic work, it comes with 12 flower project templates, shows the entire process from start to finish with added tips and additional tutorials as well as access to a private Facebook learning group. 

Johona Mai Sculpture Installation

On June 2, 2017 my collaborative sculpture, Johona Mai, created with artist Kyle Cunniff was installed on Main Street in Alamosa, Colorado.  Below area  few photos from the installation day.  Our sculpture was chosen to be among 17 pieces in total, all part of Alamos's First Artscape Program.  To see all the other sculptures, visit the City of Alamosa website here: http://cityofalamosa.org/public-art/  This is also where you can vote for the People's Choice Award for your favorite piece.  

Read the article about Alamos's first Artscape here: https://www.alamosanews.com/article/alamosa-launches-first-artscape  Kyle and I were speakers at the event.

Easy transportation from our studio to the install site, 3 blocks down.

She was in good hands - the Alamosa Public Works Crew did a great job.

The sculpture was welded onto a 34" tall base.

Just doing my rounds and making sure that she is positioned onto the pedestal just right =)

John Mai, all set to spend her first evening away from home! 

Kyle and I with our sculpture at the day of the official unveiling of all the sculptures in the program.

New Landscape Portfolio Website

This week I published a new website for my Landscape Portfolio: https://www.kasiapolkowska.com  That will be my primary website for my fine art work.  The Kasia Mosaics Website will still be up as it contains a greater variety of projects from different time periods and functions more as a blog.

A Limited Edition Art Print

Later this Spring 2017, we will be releasing a Limited Edition Archival Art Print of one of my recent landscapes. The chosen mosaic will be professionally photographed for high resolution, crisp image (see details below).

This will be a signed and numbered, archival art print with a frame option. We have not yet decided on the paper but will most likely go with an archival water color paper on which we printed our last print.  Size of the printed image is yet to be determined but it will be medium in size.  Here are the numbers we are considering: A 12"x20", B 12"x24" and C 16"x20".

We'd like to get your opinion on which image is your favorite. We'd also like to see how many people would be interested in the non-framed vs the framed option. A, B or C? You can leave a comment here or vote on facebook where the majority of the voting is taking place or instagram where people are also leaving us input. Thank You All for your input!

Yellowstone - Chromatic Spring Mosaic

Chromatic Spring - Yellowstone National Park, a framed stained glass mosaic on board, 36" x 48", 2017 

Available for Sale: http://kasiamosaicsstore.blogspot.com/ 

  

In 2012, I first visited Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. I visited many of the geysers and was completely captivated. Seeing them in person was pure magic. Each one was more unique and beautiful than the previous one. Above is a photo I took of Chromatic Spring - one of my favorites.  That is the photo I used as inspiration for this new mosaic.

The beginning stages of the mosaic.  All the glass shapes are hand cut with basic hand tools seen in this photo.  I was working to create an abstract interpretation of the geyser created of a variety of funky, organic shapes that would come together to create an impression of the colorful spring.

The geyser is arranged and taped.  Here I am moving on to working on the tree covered hill in the distance. 

Every single piece of glass in this mosaic is hand cut and shaped by me.  Here you can see one of the many trees I've created to line the hillside behind the geyser.

The clouds are coming along.

Finally the building phase of the project is complete.

Here the mosaic is being sectioned off for gluing.

All glued and ready for grouting!

The unframed mosaic is being grouted.  It will be professionally framed once the process is complete.

The grand reveal!

Close up detail of the glass while the grout is still wet.

Polishing the mosaic, wiping away the remaining grout film.

Chromatic Spring - Yellowstone National Park, a framed stained glass mosaic on board, 36" x 48", 2017
Available for Sale: http://kasiamosaicsstore.blogspot.com/