The Mancos School of the West, a local nonprofit, is hosting two workshops in early December for residents interested to learn from local artists and instructors about fire starting and mosaic creation.
The classes both take place in Mancos during the weekend of Dec. 8. Registration is open for both classes, and each has open seats.
Local sculptor Alex Bond will lead the class in fire-starting at the Mancos Creative District’s new maker’s space. The workshop will be the first to be held in the Creative District’s new space.
Lily Russo will lead a two-day workshop during the Dec. 8 weekend, leading participants as they create mosaic inlays in wood inspired by Russo’s 2017 mosaic “Tree of Life,” which she created with her husband.
You can register for either workshop on the Mancos School of the West’s website.
Friction fireBond’s class on fire starting will focus on creating fire using “natural materials,” creating tools for starting a fire using friction as an alternative to using lighters, matches or other fire-starting aids.
Participants can expect to leave the workshop having created their own set of tools for creating a friction fire. They will also learn about “the history of fire and its importance throughout human history,” according to the School of the West’s website.
Bond, a Mancos resident, says that learning to start fires with friction “inspired confidence” in him, and he now shares the skill with patients he sees through his work with Open Sky Wilderness Therapy. This will be his first class taught with the Mancos School of the West, but he has previously taught in Montezuma County schools.
The workshop will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Dec. 8 in the Mancos Creative District maker’s space, located behind the Alpacka Rafts headquarters on 192 S. Main St. The event will be the first held in the newly opened maker space.
A $45 payment is due upon registration, and a list of materials for participants to bring is available on the web page about the class. Registration can also be completed from that webpage.
‘Tree of Life’ mosaicsRusso’s class will give each participant an opportunity to create an 11-by-11-inch mosaic inspired by one of Russo’s pieces, which itself was inspired by Gustav Klimt’s oil painting “Tree of Life.”
Russo is a Mancos resident who has been installing public mosaic installations around Mancos since 2017.
According to Russo, she began to create mosaics as part of a furniture-making business that she began at age 17. She later studied mosaics in college then attended the Institute of Mosaic Art in Berkeley, California to learn about large-scale mosaic installations.
All materials will be provided during the workshop, though participants are welcome to bring “a favorite old bead, earring, charm, or broken china” to use in their mosaic, according to the School of the West’s website.
The workshop will take place over two days. On Saturday, Dec. 8, participants will begin the class at Russo’s home studio at 9 a.m. Participants will be provided the address after signing up for the class.
The class will continue until 4 p.m., with time for a one-hour lunch break during the class. The class will wrap up the next day, continuing at 9 a.m. and going until 11 a.m.
The total cost of attending the workshop is $120 per participant, $60 of which may be paid at the time of the class to cover the cost of materials. The class is limited to nine participants.
