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.

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, at the annual conference of the Society of American Mosaic Artists (SAMA) and has recently started doing workshops in Tuscany (check her website for details)

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.”

Musician Lisa Lynne visited the artist at the amazing Skyelab in 2010 and created the lovely video below.

Website:  Laurel Skye Designs

Enjoy — Nancie