A look at what is possible...

...with a little time,

Julia's first mosaic

 patience,

Kevin's first mosaic

some tiles 

Johnny's first mosaic

 and nippers,

Rah's first mosaic

glue 

Nicolle's second mosaic

and grout

Kirsteen's first mosaic

and some passionate teaching

Judith's first mosaic

and inspiration...

Rachel's mosaic

people who have never done mosaic art

Kate's first mosaic

make things

Lucy's first mosaic

like this.

Alex's first mosaic

And many go on 

Kathy's first mosaic

to become mosaic addicts...

Joe's umpteenth mosaic!

 ...who just can't stop.

Caroline's fourth mosaic

Have I ever mentioned that I love teaching mosaics?(!)  If you are in or around London and want to dip your toe into mosaic making, I am doing two taster sessions in July, in the glorious setting of a lovely London pub (The Tooting Tram and Social).

The first taster is on the afternoon of July 2nd, and is part of the wonderful Crafty Pint series, organised by creative sisters Gillian (Fabric Nation) and Louise (Lou Lou Workshop). Details and booking here.

The second taster is on the afternoon of July 24th, also at the Tooting Tram and Social. This will be a art & craft pop-up (with loads of free stalls of different makers showing you how to do stuff...and cup cakes!). It is organised by the SW Craft Club. All details here.

Emerging art...

New to the planet...emerged and emerging mosaic art for you to peek at!

 Lorna's seascape coming to life

Caroline's 2nd mosaic! (yup, only her second!)

Fiona's penguin (he has a proper, 3d belly...too cute!)

My butterfly stepping stone...

 ...which will have to wait as I am working on a commission

A triptych moonscape...

Ooooooh....I love mosaics (had you guessed?!)

I have some new work brewing in my head and heart too. Do you ever have that feeling when you can 'see' something in your head (art, writing, music) but have no idea if you can actually externalise it so that it comes to life? That's me at the mo...

Back here on Sunday to do some more celebrating of our creative steps...  Come and join us and do grab a badge from the column on the left for your blog if you like!

Pebble mosaics, guerilla art and flying lessons...all in one weekend!

Phew...there is so much going on. All good stuff I hasten to add.

Not sure if I've mentioned, but I am taking the beautiful Kelly Rae's Flying Lessons of the creative kind ....an intensive 5 week e-course on growing your creative business. Thanks to my lovely class mates who have been popping by. I am seriously trying to visit others blogs but there's about 350 of us so it may take a while! I will do a round up of my key nuggets from the course so far later in the week so watch this space!

In the midst of all the reading, thinking about dreams, goals, fears, blog development etc... my work on the large mosaic commission continues (fingers crossed, it will be finished this week ready for installation in a week's time). I have been putting my heart and soul into this mosaic (as I always do!) but not least because of the special nature and meaning attached to this huge piece (1.6metres by 60cm) which will be installed on a grave. You can read more about it here.

My new mosaic workshop students have just started - yay! Another lovely group with a couple of returning students who have got the bug and are trying out more advanced techniques. Have I mentioned how much I love teaching mosaics? (yes, I know, I know!). It is enthralling seeing people tap their creativity and watching the mosaic art emerge. I am hoping to organise an exhibition of my students work in the winter - its just toooo good! Here's a finished piece by Caroline who has returned for more...her first mosaic!

Then on Saturday, along with other local artists, crafters and community builders, I was involved in a special afternoon of making in our local neighbourhood. People descended on a bit of the neighbourhood (Moyser Road for those of you nearby!) and got involved in making street decorations from scrap fabric, plastic bags and the like.

Some guerrilla knitting had been going on secretly and the streets were adorned with various yarn creations. Plastic bags were turned into art, the beginnings of a gown and headdresses for the soon to be Tooting Trashcatchers Carnival - a local celebration on 4th July to promote recycling.

 The carnival is organised  by Transition Town Tooting, part of the Transition Town movement to help us move to a carbon neutral future.

As part of the fun on Saturday, neighbours brought pebbles and broken pots from their gardens which I and a group of about 15 children used to make a mosaic of a kite (they symbol of our local community, called Furzedown Community Network). It left me full of contentment - all the elements I love so much were all there in 3 glorious hours - community, connection, fun, mosaics, crafts, recycling, (oh and the sun shone!). The kids who got involved were just so absorbed in the mosaic making (they always are...it is addictive you know!) and it is just so cool that this piece of work has literally risen from the soil (with the help of a few broken pots). The mosaic will be displayed at our big Furzedown Fun Day on 19th June when the community descends on our little park for music, dance, food, crafts, sport and the like.

I am so very very grateful to live in a neighbourhood where there is so much intentional community. It really wouldn't happen if people didn't have that intent and turn that into small actions. The community feel around here has been years in the making - the actions of many small groups and individuals, seen and unseen. This is what is possible in one of the biggest urban conurbations in the world. London does not have to be a lonely, isolating place. I have believed and lived that for years in this neighbourhood and I will continue to do so 'til I stop breathing as it is my deep conviction that the connections (however small) of daily community are the air to our lungs, expanding us, feeding us, helping us to live rather than just exist. Funny, my very first blog post, back in November 2004 was all about building community in London and when I clicked on the community category on the left sidebar, I realise quite how many blog posts I write in this vein. I guess it's a deep part of me and - as I am being reminded in Kelly Rae's e-course -  blogging is a window to the soul, like letting people peek into the conversations that take place round your kitchen table! Cup of tea anyone?

Mosaic Making Workshops

I started running mosaic workshops in my small studio last summer. The current course (they last for 6 weeks - one evening a week) is nearly at an end and I am just having a ball with yet another wonderful group of students.

I have  a professional training background, so facilitating learning is not new to me, but I am surprised just how much I am enjoying running these courses. Actually, its more than enjoyment. It actually makes me happy.

Here's what is causing my glee.

• seeing work that didn't exist come into being, at the hand of people who did not know they could do it and have suddenly discovered they can
• the sheer beauty and variety of the work that emerges
• watching people who have not made something with their hands for a while suddenly start breathing with their creative selves again
• creating new mosaic addicts (key symptoms - hoarding of shiny things; looking with great interest at at kitchen and bathroom tiling;  saying "oh, I wonder if I can use that in a mosaic?" before throwing something away!)
• sharing the sheer love of materials - the colour, the reflection, the shiny, the matt, smooth and bumpy - and the feeling of possibility at what these broken pieces of tile and glass can become
• seeing that each student, right from the start, has their own style, their own unique creative hand - and watching that emerge.

I really feel privileged to be facilitating both the love and skill of mosaic and the amazing process of discovering creativity that these classes bring.

My next course starts on 1st June for 6 weeks and there are a couple of places left. If you live in or near South West London and think you might want to join in, contact me or visit my web site for more info - I'd love to have you join us!

The world is becoming more beautiful...

I know I go one about this a lot, but beautifying our surroundings (homes, public places, workplaces) is a big motivation for me in my art. Well, the world just got more beautiful. My lovely mosaic workshop students are doing a fantastic job of becoming mosaic addicts and creating beauty. They are at various levels of completion as all chose to jump straight into mixed media, experimental, go-with-the-flow and slightly more complex end of the mosaic spectrum - and boy have they got it! They really have. I watched all three of them, at different stages, stop thinking too hard and just start flowing with the materials and you can almost tell from looking at their pieces when they "got it".

 

Its very exciting for me as a teacher to know that my approach of not just teaching "mosaic tiling by numbers" but teaching the heart of this art has really paid off. The love of the materials.The attention to the flow and the eye. The importance of paying attention to inner instinct that guides your creative hand. The willingness to try wacky combinations or ideas, just because you can. Sure, its taking them slightly longer, but one of the reasons for that is that they have all been ok with unsticking what just didn't feel right. My next mosaic course starts on April 13th. Click here for more info.

See the difference in Jane's sail when she listened to her instinct, unpicked and re-did.

I know that in my mosaic career I have really struggled with needing to unpick work that I had laboured over, seeing it as a failure of sorts. At times I have not listened to that instinct and my art has been the less for it. When I did the lovely Sonia King's Advanced Mosaic course last summer, my ears pricked up when she talked about having to unstick big areas of her work. Something clicked in me and I guess I stopped putting myself down as not quite good enough, the subtle premise being "If it's good enough for Sonia, its good enough for me!".  The other thing I stopped sweating over was not being too sure about how I am going to make my mosaic. You know, that bit before you start, when you have a design, some idea about tesserae (tiles) and....now what? Sonia said (I am told there are a limited edition of WWSS? - What Would Sonia Say? - badges in circulation!) "don't begrudge the time you spend playing around with your materials. It was another one of those "click" moments and since then I have enjoyed this stage so much. It's full of discovery, play and excitement of what emerges as you go with the other side of your brain. Thank you to the lovely Sonia who is an awesome mosaic artist and lovely teacher. Find her here.

 

Here's me at play with the rooster commission - nothing is stuck, still just experimenting. I have discovered that rather than do his body all in black (as originally intended), a mix of these lovely brown / black undulating tiles (discovered by one of my students!) and the black is so cool. The glass fusions and eye / beak are just glorious aren't they? They are made by the very talented mosaic artist Martin Cheek and he can make them to order to fit your piece. You can even go on one of his courses and learn to do it yourself!


If you didn't read my last post, do scroll down to learn about how you can give to my sponsored run in aid of Sri Lankan street children. I have just come back from my training run (did it in 1 minute less time!) and my legs are achy achy achy! But, I did see the first leaves budding on a hedgerow which - spring is coming, yipeeeee!

Caught in the act of making!

Here are some works currently being made by me and three of my students - two more students are just getting going so will post them soon.

 

My current work - just for fun!

  

Julia's

 Freddie's

Jane's

They are all beginners in mosic - aren't people's creative minds and hands so amazing?

Passing it on

Friends kept asking me to run a workshop to teach them how to mosaic - this is something I have thought about doing and the request focused my mind and helped me turn the thought into action!

Two weeks into the workshops (nice small class due to size of my workshop)and I am watching, quite amazed, at how my 'students' are getting the mosaic bug and in many ways jumping straight into thinking about mosaics in quite an advanced way. They have really got the thing that the materials make their design evolve and all three are spending time playing with, tilting and manoeuvring a range of materials to see what effects they can create. I am seriously impressed. They have been off to buy materials from rock shops and tile shops (we are lucky to be in the same town as Udny's) and are considering a range of materials from vitreous and ceramic tiles, to beads, china, van gogh glass, slate, stained glass, mirror and bits of dolls! Two of them are also going for ungrouted mosaics with cement so that they can create texture and 3d effects. Wow!