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  • Heaven7 heaven on earth workshop jeremy criswell teaching todos santos baja todos artes
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  • "Heaven on Earth" is a yearly workshop held at Todos Artes, the Baja studios of mosaic artist Donna Billick. Each year Billick assembles a Dream Team of artists to lead workshops in the creation of sculpture, mosaics, and murals, with a group of international participants over the course of one week. In January of 2011 I had the honor of teaching one of that years three workshops. The following are images from the workshop I led, which resulted in three turtle sculptures for the courtyard rock garden.  

  • Workshop participants making clay shapes on the first day of the workshop

  • Clay pieces drying quickly in the Baja sun

  • Tiles are painted with under glaze and go back into the sun for drying

  • A final coat of clear glaze is applied to the fresh tiles at the end of day 1

  • Participants begin to layout the three turtle drawings at the start of the second day

  • The final touches are put on the drawings and the rebar supports are drawn in

  • The process of transferring the drawings onto the form making material is explained

  • Workshop participants cutting turtle forms with jig saw

  • The rebar supports are bent cut and welded at the end of the second day

  • Rebar supports and turtle shapes are ready for work at the beginning of day three

  • Together we all layout the finished ceramic pieces on the turtle shapes

  • Clay is rolled flat and forms are securely attached, details begin to be placed into the clay

  • Workshop participants begin to press cement into the forms

  • The clay pieces are transferred into the fresh cement

  • The finished turtles are left to dry at the end of day three

  • The turtles are lifted from their forms and the clay is cleaned from the back of the turtles at the start of the fourth day

  • More clean up reveals the details in the turtles

  • The finished turtles are coming to life

  • The finished cement is washed with a mild acid and scrubbed clean

  • The cleaned turtles are ready for their bases

  • Clamshells from our daily lunches at a local restaurant are pressed into colored cement to form the sculpture bases at the end of the fourth day

  • On the fifth and final day the three turtles are placed in the rock garden for display