Together

A new mosaic commission, made for a 40th wedding anniversary, has flown all the way to South Africa to its happy new owners.

Together

Made of iridescent stained glass, Van Gogh glass, nuggets, crystal beads, vitreous tiles and amethyst beads given to me by the person who commissioned the piece. I think its a bit of a beauty.

Mosaic a la gothic arabesque

The British Association for Modern Mosaic's next exhibition is fast approaching with a delicious theme  - all things 'Gothic'.  Now...for years I have wanted to experiment with using wooden fretwork as a 'pretend' grout and this was my chance - fretwork with the Gothic quatrefoil all over! (The Gothic quatrefoil is an architectural symbol seen in so many buildings here in London).

So I played with tiles and was drawn by these colours. They are so Moroccan in flavour don't you think? Many quatrefoil panels (in windows, stained glass etc...) have an image at the centre and here the beautiful millefiore glass came into its own.

And to finish it off, I went to one of the many beautiful Indian fabric shops here in Tooting and found just the perfect braid to go round the edge of the piece. And so, Gothic Arabesque was born!

The exhibition is in Lichfield Cathedral (just north of Birmingham) from Friday 29th April (day of the Royal Wedding and ehm! more importantly, my sweet boy's 4th birthday!) until 30th May. Details here.

Do you kiss your work goodbye? London hospital mosaic has flown...

I finished my 'Circles' mosaic for the London Hospitals mosaic project - mosaic artists from all round the world producing a 20 x 20 cm mosaic on the theme of circles which will all be mounted together into a public art installation for a busy London hospital waiting area.

Can't wait to see the finished installation. Check out some of the entries here. The project is also being done to raise money for the Esther Benjamin Trust that rescues Nepalese children who are trafficked and trains them with work skills (including mosaic making). Find out more here.

In the meantime I had only a couple of days to enjoy my piece. When I send work away (most often never to be seen again) I must confess to giving it a little affectionate stroke and kiss. These are my little mosaic babies, flying into the world. Am I the only one that does this?

A peek at some making action!

After the mosaic making frenzy that was the lead up to my solo exhibition in December, Christmas came (and went!) and January became the month of catching up on the neglected piles of life.

All of January I continued to run my mosaic classes and I must confess to a slight twinge of jealousy at watching my students making while I was knee deep in tax returns! 

At last...phew!...exhale...I am back making again. I have several pieces lined up to make for different exhibitions.

This piece plays with the theme 'abstract circles' and is for a public art project, the Mosaic Art Charity project.

Pieces by artists from all round the world will be combined into one large installation in a hospital in North London.

It never ceases to amaze me the vast variety of mosaic work based on the same theme - click on the link to see some great 'circle' mosaics! I love the iridescent 'oil slick' tiles in this piece and am looking forward to grouting it when its done. It was extra special this afternoon that my 5 year old daughter sat, with total concentration, and helped put some pieces in. She had the biggest grin on her face for being so grown up and like mummy!

The second piece is the start of a mosaic for the next group exhibition by the British Association for Modern Mosaics. The theme is 'gothic' and I am playing with the Gothic quatrefoil symbol in rather an arabesque way. Still not sure I have the colours alternating right so may do some un-sticking and re-sticking!

I would love to aspire to the 'make every day' school and in the last week have started to use 20 minute snatches rather than wait for a chunk of time. A good lesson. How long can you go without making before you start getting tetchy?

So many things to celebrate! And a round up of blog love...

Oh my, I don't know if my stars are lined up or what but the last couple of weeks have been worthy of some serious looking back and Celebrating!

Gosh, I really should do a winter version of my toes!

Before I share, I have to report back that several people have said to me  "Please don't stop the Celebrating Each Step forum." And tonight I just discovered a beautiful new photography and mosaic site with the Celebrating Each Step badge on and I felt a twinge as I know there is a fair sprinkling of badges for the Celebrating forum in the blogosphere.

So here's the deal. I will continue to post my celebrations and acknowledgments of the steps I take, when I need to, because...well... I need to (and want to). Read all about it by clicking the "I'm Celebrating..." tab at the top right of the blog where I have also put the blog badge for you to grab.  If you are a regular reader or just happen upon a 'Celebrating' post, please join me in celebrating your own recent accomplishments, big and small (either in the comments or on your own blog for you to link to). One dear friend has told me that looking back every day and acknowledging our big and small steps with gratitude is a key tenet of Ignatian spirituality. It is good to remind ourselves that when we engage in this practice of reflection, we are in good company, stretching back through ages and traditions ;)

And so...here's me celebrating...

Sold! Great story behind this piece here

• selling two pieces of mosaic art this week - yay!

• 

  Sold!

• a new commission to make some gorgeous mosaic dragonflies for a garden
• a commission to do a 2 day workshop and a piece of public art with children in care. This is rather wonderful as I was a social worker and advocate with children in care until recently, so it brings two parts of my life together  :)
• a really successful pilot of mosaic workshops at the Artyard.  People really got the mosaic bug and were so complementary about the course that we have now booked another month's worth of workshops!
• announcement that one of my students, Silvia, won the local round of the Topps Tiles Award for Achievement in Mosaics for her first mosaic 'Starling'. She now goes through to the national round. Well done Silvia!



Silvia's award winning first mosaic

• I have been approached by a wonderful looking gallery and art education centre who are interested in my work. Exciting...!
• I have been nominated for a Stylish Blog award by the lovely Creating Trouble! Thank you so much...feel honoured.  Head on over there to see some lovely art, cards, mosaics and quilting. Lovely to find another mosaic-lovin' blogger in London too!

As part of receiving the Award, I have to tell you 7 things about myself, pass the Award onto 15 other blogs that I love and then let them know!   Here goes:


7 things about me...
1. I love artichokes (mmmm....), and fish and rice and watermelon (my desert island foods)
2. I can say the alphabet backwards very fast (good party trick)
3. I wrote a book on the rights of children who are locked-up, which was widely distributed to young people in prison several years ago
4. I am a bit of a crooner...love singing and miss miss miss the choir I was part of BC (before children)
5. I spent part of my childhood in Southern Italy, in a beautiful seaside town called Marina di Ginosa, with the loveliest white sandy beaches and acres of vineyard
6. Van Morrison is my all time favourite musical artist - Irish mystic and musical genius
7. Yup, my hair is naturally curly.

And I award the Stylish Blog Award to the following blogs:

1. Dana Barbieri Art
2. Mosaic is Art
3. Sy's Prints
4. Elemental
5. The Prairie Girl
6. 101 Birdtales
7. Ordinary Courage
8. Beauty That Moves
9. A Little Hut
10. The Crafty Crow
11. Blue Sky Butterfly Studio
12. Marmalade Moon
13. Mousy Brown's House
14. Kelly Rae Roberts
15. Makiko Hastings

So much I could say about each one - some newly discovered, others have been regular pit stops in my blog journeying - but safe to say that I have chosen these as they represent  some of the  wonderful 'blog-homes' of some amazing, inspiring women, each following their hearts, creating beautiful things in various mediums and struggling to balance  creativity, daily life and -in many cases- parenthood. Thank you blog sisters.  The Stylish Blog Awards, as I see it, are a sweet way of acknowledging each others goodness and giving others a chance to discover this goodness - so head on over as there's a lot of goodness going on!

Handing over to you...to pause and breathe...and wonder... What  steps have you taken that you haven't properly acknowledged because of life's busyness and the pull of the 'to do' list?

Is it art and are you an artist? A new way of looking at things...

I have followed the ' is is art?' debates for several years, often with bemusement from a non fine-art trained person such as myself.

Cerulean Rendevous by Carole Choucair Oueijan (mosaic)

My gut response  is to reject the authoritarian, 'closed-shop' spirit that would bring about categorisations such as 'this is and isn't art / fine art / good art' and to question the interests of the authorities that are behind such exclusivity.

Pict9339 by Lubosz Dobroslaw Kerway (mosaic)

Today I read an interesting article in A-N Magazine (Artists Newsletter which is a UK organisation for artists) by Dr Jon Bowen, an artist and psychologist. He introduces a liberating proposal (drawn from anthropological studies on ritual) to stop categorising something as 'art' or 'not art' and use instead a response based on a continuum:  'its very art, its quite art, its hardly art at all'. He also suggests a democratisation of how we  define art - in simple terms, taking away the power of categorisation (how 'arty' something is) from the 'authorities' and handing it back to 'ordinary people'. The role of  'experts', argues Dr Bowen, is to take the gut reactions to art of ordinary people and grapple with  why? And so a new way of looking at art and artists emerges  -  with the definition of art being less categorical and more continuum, less establishment and more community-owned.

Wet Nude by Mehmen Hakan Demirok (mosaic)

That sits much more happily with little 'ole me and rings true to the conversations I have with people in my everyday life.  When talking to friends and family, there is  invariably a huge divide between the response of Joe Bloggs to 'art' and that of the elite in the art establishments and academia. During my exhibition in December, I had three amazing, unprompted conversations (with different people at different times) all of which had been to Art School (and even lectured in Fine Art) and had come away bruised by the experience of elitism,  authoritarianism and disconnection from ordinary people. What interested (and encouraged) me about these conversations was that they all came about because these kind souls walked into my exhibition and were touched by what they saw - they responded to the art on the walls and said to me (to paraphrase) "What you are doing is great, it is art, we can see your journey in it, it is unfettered by constraints to the establishment" and they urged me to carry on making heart-full art without concern about how people may see or define my work. Those conversations were more valuable to me than the sales I made.

You Catch My Teas by Concetta Perot (mosaic)

For me, the most striking challenge  in Dr Bowen's article was a sentence in response to the ritualistic power of the Turner Prize, 'which says that "It's art because the money says it's art. It's good because the money says it's good".  Surely we have to challenge the power that we give to these monetized  processes that tell us what is and isn't art / good art? And that challenge starts at home. Do I see myself only as an artists when I am selling? Do I define how well I am doing by how much I am selling?  I am not talking about the need to make a living (for that is an entirely different thing), but how we see our very selves and the work of our hands and hearts. It is a continual challenge and it makes me question why so many of us, until we are earning a certain arbitrary amount from our work, find it hard to say "I am an artist". Why should this be so?

Permafrost by Sonia King (mosaic)

Closer to home for a mosaic artist like myself is the perpetual 'is it a mosaic, is it mosaic art or craft, is it fine art mosaic?' debate  where we encounter yet another layer of elitism at work. Did you know that there was a petition a few years ago to challenge the Tate Modern's (the premier UK modern art gallery) refusal to  allow contemporary mosaic art to be displayed in its hallowed walls? Because apparently mosaics were craft not art. Ehm!  I don't know if they have since changed their policy (if anyone does, please enlighten us). But the fact that such an institution would sanction this simple confusion of medium with process and outcome is astounding. Do we reject the medium of painting because we also use paint for DIY and decorating jewelery boxes and picture frames?

Mosaic is the medium, tiles are the paint of the mosaic artist and our hands - lovingly shaping and handling each piece - are our paintbrush. We are all journeying - our process becoming more skilled, instinctive and complex as we deepen our interaction between the medium and our inner and outer worlds.

What are these exclusive edicts really about?  Could it be that mosaic art, so accessible (for even those who 'can't draw'), lending itself so readily to outsider-art and  self-teaching, is a touch threatening? Does the making (and selling) of art really have to be kept out of the hands of the masses?

This post began as a simple desire to display the image below of a wonderful and challenging installation I experienced last summer and to pose the questions of where it fits within definition of genres (is it mosaic or not?).  But, as often happens, my neural tap-tapping of fingers on plastic keys took me elsewhere! Glad if you would add your thoughts to mine.  

Mirror by Shaeron Caton-Rose (very mosaic or a little bit mosaic??)

More art from recycled stuff...

A few months back I did a post on a mosaic made almost entirely from recycled materials - a little bit of a passion of mine as I love the satisfaction of creating something beautiful from things that would otherwise be thrown away. (I was so pleased when the blog post was  published as an article in the last copy of Grout magazine, published by the British Association for Modern Mosaics!)

Here is another way that I use recycling in art making which, happily, also involves a trip to Ikea :) Have a look at this mosaic - Four Seasons - which I made in November (and sold in December).

The base and frame are actually the fronts of kitchen draws. The inner panel is a recess which makes a natural place to mosaic and the rest of the draw frames the finished work beautifully.

In this case, the inner panel is frosted glass which  added an extra special effect to the pieces, as it picks up light and reflects it through the gaps in the tiles. It looked so good I decided to leave the pieces ungrouted.

The back of the draw

These bases cost around £1.25 from Ikea's bargain basement - the stuff that is destined for the rubbish heap. You can also get end of line kitchen doors as well as draws and use them to make larger pieces.

I have a couple lined up which are clear glass doors with a frame - using stained glass as the mosaic material, there are some lovely effects to be had, particularly if they are hung as large sun catchers in windows. And as with all bright ideas, before you all think I am an original genius (which sometimes I am!), the maxim on originality that I hold to needs to be stated here "There is nothing new under the sun" by which I give credit to Brooks Tower, awesome mosaic artist (and king of Opus Sectile for you mosaic officionados).  His mosaic, Busy Signal, (which I am proud owner of) inspired this clever use of old kitchen draws as I swear, when I inspect it, that it is made on an old draw front, though hard to tell for sure as its a pretty solid bit of wood!

And if you are not up for mosaic making with old kitchen doors and draws, you can use them as frames for collage or stained glass painting too.  Let me know if you have any other ideas...

Art and recycling - such a wonderful combination.

Online mosaic exhibition...just for you!

Photo's can never do mosaics justice...its all about texture, touch and reflectivity and its hard to capture these elements in pictures. Nonetheless, here's a snapshot (pardon the pun!) into my first solo exhibition which ran for two weeks and finished on December 11th.

My 'real' visitors book is full of wonderful comments, a testament to the fact that contemporary mosaic art has the tendency to 'wow' people. Now, I know that you can't touch the pieces, move past them and see the light dance off the tiles...but do feel free treat the comments section of this post as a virtual visitors book!

So...please come in...its warm inside and you are welcome :)

Looking in through the windows...

 Lots of mosaic balls twirling round and casting light on the surrounding walls...

 Moontree (a commission) on an easel in front of a display of mosaic tiles - sweetie shop style!

 Some new pieces, made with soft glass and iridescent nuggets...

 My student wall - all first mosaics (yup, truly!) made this year by people on my evening course.

 Silvia's starling...

 Colleen's 'Fire and Ice' mirror

 Caroline's tulip (spot the real gold tiles)

 Andy's 'Escape the Whirl'.

 One of my new pieces, 'Baby, I love you' (now sold)

Another new one - 'Four Seasons' (now sold )

New piece, 'Foxy Footwear Fascination Strikes Again'.
There is a story behind this piece that was displayed below during the exhibition. Read on and then wait for an added twist!

Have you ever seen an odd shoe strewn on a pavement or doorstep and wondered  why?
Have you left your shoes by the back door and returned to find one or both missing?
Have you found leather items buried in your garden?
Then you have been struck by  Foxy Footwear Fascination!

Foxes in Furzedown have been stealing leather shoes and other items for some time (we have actually caught them red-pawed!).Last year, this international news story hit the media and made me smile. This piece is a humorous portrayal of this foxy phenomenon.

BERLIN | Fri Jun 12, 2009 11:58am EDT
BERLIN (Reuters) - A fox has been unmasked as the mystery thief of more than 100 shoes in the small western German town of Foehren, authorities said Friday.
A forest worker stumbled upon shoes strewn near the fox's den and found a trove of footwear down the hole which had recently been stolen overnight from outside locals' front doors.
"There was everything from ladies' shoes to trainers," said a local police spokesman. "We've found between 110 and 120 so far. It seems a vixen stole them for her cubs to play with."
Although many were missing laces, the shoes were in good condition and their owners were delighted to reclaim them, he said, adding that no reprisals were planned against the culprit.

The twist? The day I opened the exhibition, laying by the wall right outside the gallery was this:

I promise, I did not plant it! A clear example of art imitating life and life imitating art...

As well as wall art (more below) I had lots of smaller things for sale...stones...

... and a range of mosaic jewelry with special meaning...

 In the middle of the heart brooch display, a poem...

My Heart is a Mosaic

My heart is a mosaic
It is made of many parts, some hidden (even from myself).

My heart is a mosaic
In it I carry the community of the people who have touched my life

My heart is a mosaic
It has been broken and though I try, I cannot get it back to how it used to be. So I am slowly putting the broken pieces together...imagine my  surprise when I see that my re-shaped broken heart is  more  beautiful than before.

My heart is a mosaic
Many passions and parts of my being unfolding, as I dare to live connected to my centre.

My heart is a mosaic
It is made by all my experiences.  I can add new pieces all the time to make up who I am and how I live.

My heart is a mosaic...

And here is another look at the beautiful "Patchwork of Hope" made by children, young people, parents and volunteers from the Klevis Kola Foundation (KKF). Over the period of the exhibition we raised over £100 for the work of KKF and many people learned about the wonderful work they do.

 Some more new pieces that were on display...

Magical Tree (now sold)

 Flower Fields (now sold)

 Sally Dunnet's beautiful glass fused decorations in the windows...

And another new piece, 'Dance of the Dragonflies'

Curly Tree (still for sale)

Wall of Bark (lots sold, some still left)

Each piece of bark had mosaic gold mirror on it (some teeny tiny pieces) along the bark textures. Beside the pieces,  a bit of prose about the meaning and process...

The Meaning of Bark

“I look at the bark running up the tree in front of me - and it is art.”
25th September 2009, Elvedene Forest, from my diary

Many years ago, a wise, old friend told me a story about bark. He said that if you cut a thin circle of bark around the whole circumference of a living tree trunk, you will kill the tree because the life and sap of the tree is carried in the bark - in the outermost edge of the tree trunk - not in the centre.

We are often sold the message, said my friend, that  we need to get ourselves to the centre of things - the inner circle, the in-crowd, the epicentre of power, influence and decision making. We panic if we are not, feeling that we will miss out. But in fact, many (most?) of us live ‘on the edge’ in different ways, at difference times of our lives. And even if we don’t, there is a reality that life on the margins (socially, psychologically, physically, financially) has deep, rich veins of life and creativity.

Since then, bark has held both symbolic and artistic fascination. Recently, mosaic teacher and mentor, Sonia King, has started a ‘bark’ project, gathering amazing pictures of bark from Facebook friends around the world - see it here.  This work is my exploration of the art, texture and beauty of bark through the mosaic medium.

I sold lots of beautiful mosaic spheres in lots of colours...these ones looking rather a lot like the snowballs that were being thrown outside the gallery in the first week!

 'Bubbles' mirror which I could have sold 10 times over!

 'Shimmering Sun' (a favourite, and still available!)

'Loving You' (which evoked several 'what is it?' discussions!)

I ran a small mosaic taster session in the gallery on the last day - great fun and wonderful pieces made in 2 1/2 hours.

 Everyone left with a bag of grout after a grouting demo..!

My beautiful six foot peacock, who wowed many...

 

As did Mr Owl with his halogen light bulb eyes (no, they eyes don't light up -but one day...!)

And lastly, the star of the show, my newest large piece, 'You Catch My Tears'. The writing that was displayed underneath will be familiar to regular readers of this blog, but I will finish this online exhibition with a re-post of the poem.  Before I do that, I want to say thank you to all who helped, came along (over 300 visitors!), offered support and encouragement in real-time or long distance. I can't quite believe I have done it - but I have and it exceeded all my expectations. I am exhausted but happy!

You Catch My Tears and Keep Them in  a Bottle

Again she cries alone
Tears fall like diamonds
Into the nothingness
Her heart lost, unknown

She cannot see
The veil that surrounds her
Tears of others also bent over, sobbing
Connecting the broken-ones in their alone-ness

And the great Other...

Catching
every
precious
drop 

Nothing is lost or forgotten.