2-Session Series: Drawing Ancient Roman Mosaic Patterns

Live from Pescara, Italy

This is a specially curated 2 week series to learn how to draw patterns from ancient Roman mosaics found in ancient villas, Roman baths, as well as churches. For two consecutive Saturdays, from July 11 - 18, join VAWAA Artist, and Irish-Italian surrealist artist Colleen. No prior experience required, all levels welcome!

Each session will last 90 minutes. We'll learn how to draw different patterns using only a ruler and a compass. We'll start with the geometry behind the 6 petal flower, a recurrent motif in Roman art, then construct more complex patterns using different kinds of intersections, and end by understanding how Solomon's knot was used in various forms. 

By using different intersections, we'll learn how to create our own patterns for further projects, whether it is for a mosaic, a pattern for printing on fabric or just for fun. The final project will take us through all the steps needed to create a complete design of a Roman floor as found in the Roman Villa Sileen.

Please note that VAWAA Online Pass cannot be used for this series.

Joining us from a different time zone? Be sure to convert the time.

What you'll need

Drawing paper, pencil, ruler, compass, and eraser.

How to join

We'll be hosting this VAWAA Online on Zoom. We'll send the link and details to join via email a few hours before each session begins.

About Colleen

Colleen is a surrealist printmaker and sculptor whose work reflects her love for buildings and architecture. After learning and teaching across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Saudi Arabia, Colleen now lives in rural southern Italy, working with monotypes to get fresh images directly on a plate; woodblocks to work with several layers of color and etchings for varying textures and applying different inks. Her biggest project to-date is a twenty-year multimedia exploration of Italo Calvino’s novel Invisible Cities. These days she's creating experimental prints using alternative materials and textures, and when she is not printing, you can find her dreaming up cityscapes by sketching, painting, or working with clay!

Visit her artist page to learn more about her in-person VAWAA.

Reviews

"Great course - really clear and enjoyable - really good to have the follow up session as well" - P.

"It was good that we were able to draw along with Colleen in the session and that we were given recordings of the session so we could revisit the things we learned. I enjoyed doing the homework too. I would definitely sign up to more." - Clara

Sessions are ticketed to support artists, makers and our small team. If you’re experiencing financial hardship, please reach out. We may have a generous participant who has paid it forward and would ask that you pay the love forward by sharing online sessions with 3 new friends.