Mosaic & mindfulness nuggets (1)

Regular readers of this blog will be aware of my journey in bringing together art, mosaics and mindfulness as tools for well being and recovery… Read more here and here. Next week, I start my postgraduate studies at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at Kings College London – my next step in this […] Read more...

Therapuetic mosaics – an invitation to you…

I have mused for years about why mosaic making is so therapeutic an art form. Having recently undertaken the process of applying for a Masters in the Neuroscience of Mindfulness (with research on the role of creative making), I took some time to organise my thoughts on the subject. The reasons are likely to be […] Read more...

What is our work about?

(Some re-posts of my favourite past posts for new readers…life is busy – good, mosaic, creative busy – and the pics will come soon…) I am trying to understand why making  is so transformative. I am sitting in my studio, cutting and laying tiles, placing them, moving them a millimetre this way and that until […] Read more...

Nek Chand’s mosaic world in London!

I always tell people who come on my mosaic workshops about the wonderful work and world of Nek Chand. His work appeals to me for so many reasons. He is self taught. He just quietly got on with creating his mosaic village (now the most visited tourist site in India) for years before he was […] Read more...

Living from your heart? A gift for you…

  Look what landed in my inbox this morning!     This free e-book, put together by the lovely Louise Gale as part of the heART movement, it pulls together the wisdom of many creative souls (including yours truly), reflecting on how we can live from our hearts. Appropriate for this day of hearts don’t you […] Read more...

British Mosaic Forum in London

The annual day out for British Mosaic Art last weekend, held at the exquisite V&A in London proved to be a veritable feast for the mosaic artists soul. I am sure the British Association for Modern Mosaics (BAMM) who organises  the annual gathering will add detailed info on each talk to their website. I’ve been […] Read more...

Mosaic & that special something….an opportunity for you!

There is something special about making mosaic art. If you have already been captivated, you will know what I am talking about. If  you have not come under its spell, let me explain. Mosaic making has some (almost mystical) ability to take us beyond ourselves and into ourselves, both at the same time. In connecting […] Read more...

Call yourself an artist?

Picture this. I am exhibiting at the weekend. My mosaic art is on display as part of the annual “Artsists Open House”. The sun is pouring in, catching the edges of tiles and glass, making it gleam. My daughter, Isabella, comes for a visit. After a while of hanging around, she takes a piece of […] Read more...

Exploring the making process…silversmiths & mosaic artists speak

We often explore why we make. But what about how we make? I’m not talking about technique but about the process. How does that something, that did not previously exist, start its life in you? How does it evolve, develop,  become solid and tangible? Have you ever looked at your making process in detail? And […] Read more...

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

I have followed the ‘ what 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 / […] Read more...