by Suzann Thompson | Mar 7, 2006 | Life, Retro Blog Post, TextileFusion
Gold tesserae have a thin layer of 24-carat gold sandwiched between one thick and one thin layer of glass. Ancient mosaicists used gold to symbolize the light of God and to actually reflect light from those lofty mosaics down to the church-goer at floor level....
by Suzann Thompson | Mar 6, 2006 | Life, Retro Blog Post, TextileFusion
Ravenna’s Byzantine and Roman mosaics are famous and beautiful and mostly very difficult to photograph, because they are so high or so large. You can find good pictures of Ravenna’s ancient mosaics and their fascinating history online and in books. Better yet, go...
by Suzann Thompson | Mar 5, 2006 | Crochet, Knitting, Life, Retro Blog Post, TextileFusion
The Winter Olympic flame has flared and faded, and with it my Olympic dream has come and gone (until next time, anyway). I knew that my trip to Italy and the mosaic workshop would cut seriously into my knitting time. How could I know that my classmates would be so...
by Suzann Thompson | Mar 4, 2006 | Life, Retro Blog Post, TextileFusion
Luciana Notturni is the master mosaicist and founder of the Mosaic Art School that I’ve been writing about these last couple of weeks. She teaches workshops like the one I took, about three times a month. She teaches at the Academy of Fine Arts and the School”...
by Suzann Thompson | Mar 3, 2006 | Crochet, Knitting, Quilting and Crafting, Retro Blog Post, TextileFusion
Chunky knits abounded in the streets of Ravenna and Venice last week. Girls wore mufflers and hats knitted at about 2-1/2 sts per inch. Trim sweaters were done in multicolor yarns at no more than 3 sts per inch. Mostly it was a little too cold for sweaters alone, so I...
by Suzann Thompson | Mar 2, 2006 | Crochet, Knitting, Life, Retro Blog Post, TextileFusion
When you go to Ravenna, which you will surely want to after reading about it here, just remember that most shops are closed on Thursday afternoon. That was when I made my first trek to the yarn store, just across from one of Ravenna’s famous baptisteries. I stood...
