Featured Artist: Rachel Sager

“The future of mosaic depends on finding new ways in — new eyes, new hands, new tools.”

I am a passionate/regular Apoxie Sculpt, Apoxie Paste & Finishing Solution user for my online mosaic courses.

Rachel Sager, The Storytelling Mosaicist, has been making mosaic, writing about mosaic, speaking about mosaic, and teaching mosaic for over twenty years. Her signature forager and intuitive teaching styles have changed how mosaic is experienced and have helped build on the golden age that the art form is enjoying in these exciting decades.

Rachel Sager: Artist. Teacher. Speaker. Writer. Rachel works on the cutting edge of the contemporary mosaic fine art movement—her innovative work has been represented in cities throughout the US and internationally, and has been awarded multiple bests of show in juried exhibitions. Her Marcellus Shale Series stands as a true Pittsburgh success story, and her work is collected with passion by private clients and corporations all over the world. Rachel’s commitment to the classical language of mosaic paired with her intuitive andamento style has shaped a strong voice in the mosaic world. She brings these classical techniques home to the “here and now” of the present American mosaic movement. Rachel proudly hails from the foothills of Appalachia and passionately preserves her storytelling, hillbilly roots as she weaves the colorful tales of family, nature, self-reliance, humor, and the legacy of coal through the lens of mosaic. Whether she is digging into the earth of her native Pennsylvania or traveling the world as a teacher and speaker, her mission to “build the line” in mosaic continues to inspire new generations of mosaicists.

– Rachel Sager, Creator of The Ruins Project

http://www.rachelsagermosaics.com

Check out these incredibly unique classes from Rachel

YOU ARE HERE: https://mosaicartsonline.com/p/you-are-here-with-rachel-sager

QR CODE IN MOSAIC: https://mosaicartsonline.com/p/qr-code-in-mosaic-build-scan-connect-with-rachel-sager

In this first-of-its-kind mini course, Rachel Sager invites you to reimagine the ordinary QR code — that flat, black-and-white digital square — as a living mosaic artwork that connects the tactile world to the digital one.

Yes, it really works!!

You’ll create a fully functional, scannable QR code that’s also a stunning mosaic — transforming technology into a personal, artistic statement that can hang in your studio, travel with you, or even be installed permanently outdoors.

This is your chance to combine the ancient art of mosaic with the immediacy of the digital age — bridging handcraft and technology in a way that’s meaningful, relevant, and yes, a little magical.

Whether you’re an artist, educator, designer, or curious mosaic explorer, this course will show you how to transform cold digital code into something warm, tactile, and enduring — a handcrafted portal to your world.

More About Rachel

As the owner and creator of The Ruins Project and Sager Mosaics, Rachel lives and works as an Appalachian entrepreneur in the hills and hollows of her hometown just down the river from Pittsburgh in Fayette County. 

The easiest (and most engaging) way to keep up with what’s happening at The Ruins is by subscribing to The Ruins Substack which is also where you can find the growing episodes of The Ruins Podcast, a collection of conversations that Rachel hosts with all walks of creative people who interact with her cathedral to coal.

To read the stories go to https://rachelsager.substack.com

The Uncommon Canvas

Take her class, “The Uncommon Canvas“

Walk with me down another path less traveled, this time in the form of a new kind of canvas. Instead of hunting for the pieces of things that make up a mosaic, we’ll hunt for uncommon vessels in which to put pieces of things. This course is all about making mosaics in unexpected objects and places. This online course, which I like to call a “dessert course,” is crafted for the “nontraditional” micro mosaic in particular but can be adapted for any size of mosaic tesserae.

– Rachel Sager, “The Uncommon Canvas“

Try out these related products: Aves Finishing Solution, Aves Apoxie Paste, and Aves Apoxie Sculpt.

The Ruins Project, 2024

I am planning a group call to artists for a long-term mosaic installation at The Ruins, the launch will be in February. It is called “The Ruins Beehive” and will be a giant color study made up of hundreds of hexagonal frames. The participating artists will be purchasing their frame kits from Sager Mosaics Studio. After their mosaic color studies are complete, they will send them back to be installed on a specifically chosen wall at The Ruins. The end result will be a permanent mosaic beehive of color visited by thousands of people a year as a part of The Ruins Tours.

Knowing that Aves has a particular interest in bees and that the family even has their own hives, I thought you all might be interested in being a sponsor of the project. The Ruins has its own mosaic beehive coke oven with accompanying little bees already and is ripe for more bee metaphors. I’m working on the first few samples this week, made of micro mosaic and Apoxie Sculpt.

In addition to the launch itself, I will be hosting beehive cross pollinator meetings on Zoom for sharing and learning as we work in our separate studios. To learn more about The Ruins Project, “The Beehive Color Study”, and to read thoughtful essays each week on the creative process, you can subscribe for free to The Ruins Newsletter.

“I’m working on the first few samples this week, made of micro mosaic and Apoxie Sculpt.”