How to become a mosaic artist...

I was walking my daughter to school yesterday and she asked me about what work I was doing this week. I told her  I was preparing to do a mosaic project with some children and her ears pricked up. "How old are they mummy?" she asked. "Between 8 and 16 years old" I replied.

"But mummy, do you have to be 8 years old to make mosaics?"

"Well, you have been making mosaics since you were 2 1/2 Isabella" I replied. Her chest filled with pride and a big smile broke out on her face....

And its true, that since they were very little, both of my children have sat with me in my studio, merrily sticking tesserae (nuggets, tiles, sweets, beads) to substrate (in my case, a huge batch of plain white tiles). They are prolific and have produced quite a body of work!

The beauty of having started so young, is that you can see the evolution of their work. A couple of weeks ago, it was their daddy's birthday and they both secretly and excitedly worked away in the studio creating a mosaic each for him. I was quite amazed at how they have gone from just plonking any tile onto the base to now actually choosing how to place things in a very considered way. They are relaxed and at home with the medium of mosaic. Isabella even helped me to grout a commission I was finishing on Monday!

So, here we have the evolution of  mosaic artists in pictures, from age 2 1/2! If you want to have a go with your children, most of these masterpieces have been turned into tutorials (see top and left menu's).

Isabella's first mosaic age 2 1/2

Toby's present for daddy March 2011

Isabella's present for daddy March 2011