By OLIVIA BERGMEIER
Salina Post
Fragments of colorful glass littered the paint-stained tables of the Salina Art Center Warehouse for the last few weeks while students chipped and shaped glass for mosaic designs.
Art Center Director of Education Darren Morawitz led a glass mosaic art class in December, encouraging students to learn from the unique art medium for their own practices.
"I think every medium benefits the next medium," Morawitz said. "If you're a drawer, you can apply drawing skills to the mosaic, and mosaic skills help you break things down into shapes and become a better drawer."
Morawitz said he enjoys practicing multiple mediums as an artist and found that it helped him continue improving his art.
"All those little intricate plays back and forth between mediums help you grow as a creative person," Morawitz said.
The Art Center Warehouse regularly hosts art classes, where local artists can learn or teach any medium from ceramics to collage.
Morawitz usually works with two-dimensional art mediums but enjoys learning and teaching various creative mediums. He began the class by introducing the mosaic design process on Dec. 7.
Glass mosaics are made by placing glass pieces onto another canvas and then using grout or paste medium to lock those pieces in place.
The class met once a week for three weeks, and on the second week, students and Morawitz were cutting out glass shapes and lining them up to the wooden canvas.
A student participating in the class, Kristy Yenkey, is a fabric artist and decided to sign up for the mosaic class to learn some new techniques.
Yenkey decided to make a mosaic piece from leftover scraps of cut glass, challenging herself to use the elements uniquely.
"I'm enjoying the design process the most," Yenkey said. "I had this all laid out last time, and it's a little different because it shifted in flight, so I'm having fun with it now."
Yenkey said she didn't mind that the pieces shifted since it brought a new perspective to her art, which she loves as part of the artistic process.
"When you try different things, it's really a source of happiness," Yenkey said.
Her pieces of glass clattered as she placed them on the board, preparing the final design for the grouting phase the following week.
She encouraged other artists to try new types of art at any point in their careers and to participate in their local art communities.
"Sometimes, a blank canvas is difficult, but creating is a wonderful process," Yenkey said. "Just expose yourself to all sorts of avenues of art. It's not always an easy step, but maybe just allow yourself the freedom to pursue something different."