I’ve been published!

I got some very unexpected exciting news a week or so ago...one of my mosaics has been published in a book!

When I first started this blog back in December 2008 mosaics were my number one crafty passion. Over the last year though the onset of arthritis has meant I have had to lay down my tile nippers temporarily in favour of crafts that are more gentle on the wrists. Not that I’m complaining, I love sewing and crochet and have been so enjoying learning how to work with fabrics and yarn. But I do miss mosaics a lot, I’ve never cleared away my jars of colourful tiles…

I've not stopped collecting broken china to incorporate into future mosaics…

Nor accepting donations from friends and family of accidentally smashed crockery and glass...

So you’re wondering how come I am a published mosaicist no? Well when I first got into mosaics and was trawling t’internet for inspiration and guidance I found a very talented community of mosaic artists on flickr. I joined the flickr Mosaic Challenge group to try and help me to stretch my skills a bit. Every month new challenges are announced and members create mosaics to a certain theme by a deadline, then vote for their favourite. One challenge was to create a mosaic that would be 6x6 inches with the theme of “swirls”. Here’s what I came up with…

(photo courtesy of Lin Schorr)

The wonderfully super-talented Lin Schorr (I am bowing down low here just mentioning her on my blog!) came up with the idea of everyone donating their swirly mosaics to be part of a large mosaic mural which could be donated to a hospital in the US. The response was quite amazing and Lin took delivery of individual mosaics from artists all over the world which she then set about piecing together to form two massive mosaic murals.

Want to see them?

Swirlendipity I

Swirlendipity II

(photos courtesy of Lin Schorr)

My mosaic, "pearly swirl", is part of Swirlendipity II (top row, third from left!) All that intricate mosaic work that surrounds the individual pieces was done by Lin…

(photo courtesy of Lin Schorr)

Isn’t it beautiful?

The two mosaics now adorn the walls of Providence Park Hospital in Michigan in the US, along with two further collaborative mosaics.  I am so proud to have been part of this I can't even tell you, not least because I have to spend so much bloomin' time in hospital myself, I know a mosaic or two on the walls would definitely brighten up my visits!

But the excitement doesn’t stop there. Brit Hammer's new book 'Breakout' features all these collaborative mosaic projects, and on page 131 the focus picture is…

*faint* MY mosaic. Well ok, my mosaic kind of centre and lots of other much better mosaics surrounding it, but still MY mosaic! In a book! Published!

This is sooo motivating for me. I suffer from such a lack of confidence about so much of the work I produce, so this is really an incredible boost. But most of all it really makes me want to take some tentative steps back into mosaics again. If anyone reading this is interested in trying mosaics I would highly recommend it as a satisfying and beautiful hobby, plus it’s really messy and involves playing with tools and glue, what could be better? Here’s some useful links for inspiration and advice:

To see more of Lin’s work:
http://linschorr.blogspot.com/
http://linschorr.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/linlee8

To find inspiration on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/mosaicchallenge
http://www.flickr.com/groups/51035710230@N01

To buy Brit Hammer’s book:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1180968
http://www.brithammer.com/

Live in the UK and want to learn? I can highly recommend Martin Cheek’s courses in beautiful coastal Kent:
http://www.martincheekmosaics.com/
Read about my experience

And also Nathalie Vin’s London workshops which I thoroughly enjoyed:
http://www.mosaicworlds.com/Workshops.htm

All you really need to get started is an old plate or two to smash up, a pair of tile nippers for shaping your pieces (they start at about a fiver in B&Q), some kind of sturdy wooden substrate, some strong PVA glue and a pot of grout. Oh and some plasters, you’ll definitely need those.

Enjoy!

Day 161 - Credit Crunched and hospitalised

The lack of creative activity in the snipsnaphappy world lately has been down to hubby being made redundant and then ending up in hospital in the same fortnight. It's not quite as dramtaic as it sounds - hubby has UC like me and he was called in for a few extra tests to check everything was ok as the stress of losing his job was taking its toll. Everything appears to be improving now though, touch wood, but the strain of redundancy has forced everything else into the back seat for the time-being.

I still managed a quick and fun Rockpool Mirror for the Flickr mosaic challenge group though, which just about saved my sanity.


The challenge is to create a mosaic out of mostly natural materials. I collected nearly all of my materials from my garden. When we moved in to our cottage two years ago the cottage and the garden were a total mess and we have been renovating and improving constantly. The pebbles were salvaged from the old flower beds, the starfish from an old wind-chime that used to hang in next door's garden. The shells are from my vast collection (I can't help myself!) and these particular ones are from Grande Motte in France. The little piece of white coral is from Southend in Essex.

I really enjoyed making this as it was quick and very absorbing, which made for a satisfying distraction from the stress of reality at the moment. I have already collected a bag full of white pebbles to do another pebble mirror.

I've been up to other bits as well: another mosaic, a couple of bags, and a dress for my little girl. But I will write about these another day. Right now, my bed is calling...

Day 49: Butterfly mirror and the flickr cool/warm challenge

There's only a few days left until the deadline for the flickr cool/warm challenge. I had started on my cool mirror:



I ran out of tiles so I need to somehow get to the mosaic shop in Central London to buy a new supply before my time runs out. However I also have my butterfly mirror:



For this I have all the necessary materials to hand so I will probably enter this one to the challenge.

It's been a tough week, the weather has made it difficult to get out and about with munchkin, so she's a little cabin-feverish. Hubby and I are both trying to throw of infections too, so we're tired and snippy. I just feel like I need some time off from work to concentrate on organising the home and finishing some of my creative projects. It's difficult to be so stuck in such a soulless, creativity-void job in a city that is grumpy and cynical, it's no wonder I sometimes struggle to be inspired! But by making the time, even during periods like this, it is having an effect. When the job gets to me, I have a quick browse on the internet and look at mosaics, or on Etsy, or look at the pictures I have of hubby and munchkin giving it a go, and I am reminded I have more important things waiting for me at home.

Day thirty-nine: throat infections and genie bottles

Thanks to a nasty throat infection I haven't been able to go to work for the last three days. I'm not being a total wimp; the drugs I take make me more susceptible to infection, taking them also means it's hard for me to fight infection, so I need to rest up if I get one. I need to shake it before my next dose, else no dose, and that would be no fun at all. Pffft. I digress. The point is that because I have been at home I have had something I don't normally have: time.

Therefore I managed to finish my genie bottle for the flickr mosaic challenge. I never had a particular plan for the design of my bottle - actually I did, but I completely ignored it and did something entirely different! I am still trying to work out if I prefer the "freestyle" method of working or a more planned method. I guess it depends on what I am doing, but on the whole I prefer an organic* approach.
For the bottle I used one of two I got on ebay for a couple of quid. I covered the main body of the bottle in vitreous glass tiles (green with gold flecks), grouted in black. Then I beaded some 'ribbons' to tie around the bottle, and clasped it with a garish pendant prised off a necklace I rescued from Petticoat Lane market. I covered the stopper with fimo, then baked it and covered it with pre-mixed grout, which I molded into a genie-like wispy shape, then covered in a little more beady bling.

I also baked some lemon cookies because I fancied something sweet, then ate one and felt sicker than ever.



So no more cookies for a while. Well a little while...

Thirty-nine days a go I promised myself to do at least a little bit of creative work each day, and I have stuck to that. It has opened up a side of me I haven't seen since I was about 17 years old - I am getting a little braver. Remember when you thought you were indestructible? Well it's like a tiny dose of that feeling: Does that tile look exactly right there? Who the hell cares, stick it down!



* making it up as I go along!

Days nine to twenty five: At last!

Well that was a good start to the new year and my new blog: I completely forgot my blog password. Easy enough to solve if you don't then find you registered with the incorrect email address - I used the wrong ".xx" extension or something. So for two weeks I have been racking my brains to remember, then this morning it came to me in a flash! I won't say what it is of course but lets just say my inspiration came from my daughter's favourite episode of Dora the Explorer, which we discussing at length this morning (when we should have been putting our coats and scarves on, my daughter is an expert in the distraction technique.)

All is sorted now - email and password are corrected and duly noted. So there should be no more yawning gaps in service (save for holidays and general laziness.)

So what creativity has the last...um...seventeen days seen? Well surprisingly quite a lot - I have got lots done on the flickr cool/warm challenge mosaic. Unfortunately I don't have pics to upload today.

I have also managed to paint my bathroom at last. So it is now a rather fetching shade of delicate almond.

I have started on the flickr genie bottle challenge as well, though I mainly just stare at my chosen bottles and wonder what on earth I am going to do with them. I did buy silicone glue I suppose, so that counts towards actually doing something on this one right?

It can be challenging trying to fit in my creations with working full-time as well as being a full-time* mum and look after an very old house that is in need of many repairs. But I find that by making it part of my,even our, way of life it's easier. I leave my half finished mosaic on the table so I can play about with it if I am passing and get an idea, or my daughter picks up the beads, and embellishements and unbroken tiles and sorts them into pots and colours, my husband makes sure he wears slippers when I am cutting, I read books on colour and compostion whilst I am hooked up to the IV every 6-8 weeks, and we have a new addition to the family - a handheld cordless hoover for clearing up mosaic fragments at the end of each day.

I still struggle to get back to artistic freedom I used to when I was younger, before I was a "grown-up", a wife, a mother and a homeowner. I am too careful these days, and I care too much about what others will think of the finished product before I have even stuck on one piece of tess. I know I need to loosen up and trust my instincts again, but that will come.

* I work full-time, well four days a week. Like other working mothers, motherhood is my number one job and my work takes a seat waaaaaaay behind. Full-time mummy, part-time worker.