There is a connection between art making and the development of our capacity to be aware, awake to detail and present in our everyday lives. This capacity for ‘awakeness’ is one way of understanding mindfulness. For me, mindfulness and the benefits that can flow from adopting a mindful stance in daily life are pretty much […] Read more...
Returning to study…what about you?
August is in full swing and soon… …the new academic term will be with us. This threshold was always one I savoured as a child and I relished getting my new stationary and books together, their clean pages a symbol of the possibility that a fresh school year held. Right now I find myself rather […] Read more...
A new mosaic and some thoughts about the web…
Hi friends, Here is one of my latest mosaics – a small one of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, where I ran some mosaic workshops a couple of years ago. I feel rather attached to it, having had the privilege of going right into that dome to see the mosaics close up. This mosaic was […] Read more...
My mosaic studio…
For the last 7 years, this has been my creative haven, my workplace, a learning space for hundreds of students, a refuge of relaxation away from daily stresses and demands, and a wonderful room where the children and I craft together. It has gone through so many changes, adapting this small space to make it […] Read more...
Looking forward…
Its been such a rich time, friends. One of those periods where you put everything you are doing on the table, examine and ponder. It feels so healthy to take nothing for granted, to question where my energy is going, what matters most to me… It is so easy to keep on the same tracks…because […] 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...
New Mosaic Drop-in classes start February!
Do you want to get started on a new mosaic – be that your first or your 50th? Want some support on a mosaic you have already begun? Feel stuck and want help to get started again? Need some challenge and inspiration? The weekly Mosaic Drop-ins that I have been running for nearly 4 years […] Read more...
Do you want to experiment with art…?
Firstly, a big thanks to all of you who commented on the blog and on FB with feedback on the Topps Tree. It is always such an encouragement to get feedback – its really appreciated. I will do a blog post on the process of making this tree in the next couple of weeks… …but […] Read more...
How to spot a mosaic artist…
You know you are a mosaic artist when you find bits of broken tile in your clothes at night… You know you are a mosaic artist when, on an evening out, you realise that you still have cement under your finger nails… You know you are a mosaic artist when you buy a plate with […] 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...