Recently, Piece by Piece welcomed visiting artist and educator Carol Shelkin for a deep dive into the art of self-portraiture. Over two days, twenty-five enthusiastic participants gathered in our studio to explore the building blocks of a compelling portrait: plane, color, value, and composition.
Carol began by sharing her personal journey, from painting and sculpting with clay to her current passion for mosaic portraiture. She showed us stunning examples of how tiny pieces of glass and stone can come together to capture not just a likeness, but the very essence of expression. To get everyone warmed up, she handed out black-and-white photocopies of each artist’s face; with pencil in hand, we traced every subtle shift in light and shadow, creating a “roadmap” of values. What started as a tangle of lines soon revealed cheekbones, lips, and eyes—and cemented the idea that light versus dark is the foundation of any great portrait.
Next came transferring those value maps onto 6×9″ wood panels and selecting glass tiles. Trusting Carol’s guidance, we chose a stained-glass palette of blues, purples, and browns in a range of values. As we placed each tile, following our pencil lines, random blobs of color magically began to resolve into features. By the end of day one, every artist had defined their eyes and nearby areas, bringing each face to life under Carol’s patient direction.
On the second day, Carol treated participants to a behind-the-scenes look at the Vatican’s mosaic fabrication room. She shared both historic and contemporary examples—with modern andamento (the flow of tesserae)—and highlighted techniques we could adapt to our own portraits. It was inspiring to see how centuries-old craftsmanship continues to evolve in today’s work.
Portraiture is famously one of the hardest subjects in any medium, yet everyone rose to the challenge. Before we wrapped up, Carol met individually with each artist to review progress and offer hands-on tips for finishing their pieces during open studio hours. Watching these mosaics take shape was a true testament to patience, creativity, and Carol’s guidance.
These self-portraits are an act of self-discovery and creative problem-solving.
