Creative learning

I have been doing an e-course run by the lovely Marisa at Creative Thursday, which came to an end as I sat in bed, convalescing and listening to the last week of pod casts.

Marisa's spirit has been just lovely:  enabling, empowering and full of integrity. Her words have propelled me to continue down the path of creating art from the heart (sorry about the cliché but it’s so true). Art that is connected to and sourced from a core part of me that seeks beauty and seeks to beautify. 

The course has also, fundamentally, helped me nail unhealthy comparison on the head and accept, rather gladly, that I am where I am in my journey with creating (which I cannot really separate from my journey as a spiritual and social person) and that there is enough time to do this journey with integrity and with respect to the process. Put bluntly, to stop comparing myself negatively when I look at others amazing work and where they are on their journey. The core of this has been a realisation that my art is an extension of me and only I can be "me" so really there is no point comparing! 

Another precious thing I take away from this course is connections to many wonderful women makers and artists all on a similar path. I value these connections very much and am looking forward to getting to know some of my classmates more as the months go by.

Thank you Marisa and thank you fishies!

Still in bed

I thought this morning would have me bouncing up out of bed and off to the British Mosaic Forum day. But, oh no, the shivers and aches have given way to a bounding headache that kept me awake half the night and has only just faded with a couple of tabs of the strong stuff. Ho hum.

I have managed to sort through lots of my digital photos whilst lolling in bed and I discovered some lovely pics of our dear cat, Millie. In honour of her (she died a year ago) and because its halloween, I thought it would be appropriate to post them here today. The mosaic was a doorsign I made for my brother and sister-in-law. Mmm, the pictures need captions - ideas?

 "Err, excuse me, I am trying to sleep here!"

"Huh, you think that's a good likeness do you?" 

Putting the brakes on

I am in bed, under the duvet with a themometer in my mouth, trying to convince myself that I don't have flu (and very grateful for lap tops and wifi!).   I am aching from top to toe and shivery for the last two days - no runny nose, sore throat or cough thank goodness, but what I have is enough to keep me in bed and, let me tell you, that takes some doing. Ok, ok, I confess. Yesterday, I was trying really hard to not be ill so I sorted through all the kids clothes, re-organised their cupboards, changed bedding from guests who had just left, loaded then hung out the washing. As soon as my burst of activity finished I felt just dreadful, and duly got a right old ticking off from my dear husband.

I know I am not alone in finding it hard to stop. It just feels like there is always so much to do, and fun stuff at that. I don't want to 'waste' a minute. My dear friend Jane and I often muse that we need at least 3 lives to do all the things we want to. But truly, does anyone have some good advice for a organiser / maker holic?

Here is a picture of  intense oranges and blues that I snapped on Tuesday before I was strucken  down. It's the beautiful rowanberry tree in our back garden which I planted as a tiny sapling 15 years ago. I'm so glad I did as it gives us shade, berries, blossom and a home for our dear birds visiting the seed restaurant we lay our for them.

Ho hum, my creating will just have to wait til next week as even I can't make mosaics in bed!

Tree glitter pictures

The colours of spring and autumn totally captivate me - I stare and stare at a tree in blossom or covered in golden red leaves trying to imprint the image on my soul so that I can access that beauty once it goes, which invariably it does. On one level I find this rather gutting - like creating lots of masterpieces and then putting them on the ground to decay. I know this is the cycle of life but something in me still wants to cling to and preserve what I see.

At the moment, we have our lovely grape vine outside our dining room window, covered in leaves of the most luscious red / green / orange colours. I picked a whole bunch of them the other day and they sat in a bowl on our dining table, looking pretty and awaiting some use. As the days passed, they started to dry. It was then I had an 'aha' moment - an idea of how to use this beautiful colour and preserve something of the memory of autumn into the winter months.

A few minutes later, Isabella and I sat with our hands in the bowl and started crunching. (The noise, feeling and smell of this is highly recommended!). After a few crunches we had our very own "leaf glitter".

We then decided to do pictures of trees, using some twigs for the trunk and branches and a liberal sprinkling of our leaf glitter for the leaves - lo and behold we have captured something of the beauty of autumn for several more weeks at least!

 We will try doing it with different leaves soon - there are some beautiful yellows dropping from  a tree near our house at the moment. Oh, and the pinks from that bush near the park...

Crazy patchwork and mosaics

I stumbled on this lovely new place last Saturday. It is a shop dedicated to patchwork and quilting, called The Wandering Line in Purley, Surrey. For a while, I have been thinking how nice it would be to have a very cosy, gorgeous blanket on the couch for us all to snuggle under when we read or watch DVD's, but I have only ever made a 5 inch square of patchwork and that was when I was 12!

Well, in this shop I saw an example of crazy patchwork and was really drawn to it, so I acted on the moment and signed up for a course last Thursday. It was wonderful and I can see why I was attracted to it as there is a lot of similarity between crazy patchwork and the mosaic making process . It is very intuitive - you move materials around until it feels right so there is a lot of 'going with the flow' and letting the materials shape the design. It is very much about using scraps and re-purposing old materials, which is a strong theme in my mosaics. There are two stages to making the patchwork. Firstly is to sew the materials onto a backing fabric and secondly to embellish the squares you create. At this point I had to laugh as the teacher had all the magpie characteristics of a mosaic addict - scouting around for anything shiny and pretty to attach to the work - bells, buttons, beads, ribbons, knicker lace!! Nothing is wasted!

I love my finished square, it is just what I had in mind for our snuggle blanket - only 19 squares to go. Hopefully it will be ready by next winter!

Pine needle jewellery and pretty things

When I was a child my mother taught me how to make necklaces from pine needles. Our recent holiday in the forest bought this back to me (oh how I love the smell of pine forests) so Isabella, Jules and I sat for an hour making things with pine needles.

Here's how you do the necklaces:

1. Pull complete 'V' shaped needles off - you will probably need about 20 (allowing for some breaking!)

2. Carefully remove one of the needles from the V, without damaging the brown "cocoon" that it sits in. Bend round the remaining needle and tuck the pointy end into the cocoon. It should stay (some don't, just discard and use another).


3. Repeat this process but loop each new "link" into the previous to create your necklace! If you want it to last a bit longer, put a bit of PVA glue at the top of each link.

While we doing this, Isabella decided to put beads onto the pine needles, so we tucked the ends into the top bead to make a loop and hung them from the trees - so pretty! They probably won't last long but it is a nice way for the little ones to learn about threading!

Yay! Here it is! The new "Shed"

Walk with me...

Through the door...

See my new table where I will create...

Here are some of the pretty tiles...

And the table at the other end for the children,

workshop students, for sewing and for Neil!

Now, this beautiful space needs an improvement on the name "Shed", don't you think? Can anyone think of a better name? Please leave any inspiration in the comments!

Moontree and other things

I am a tired bunny. Tired by wonderful stuff but tired nonetheless. I was so encouraged this morning to flick onto the international Contemporary Mosaic Art website and find my Moontree mosaic showcased on the front page. Big smile!

I am too excited for words about the fact that my workshop is now finished and just exquisite. I have imagined this moment for so long and am happy happy happy that it has finally arrived. I have not yet had the space to just be in this peaceful and creative space and to sink into this wonderful moment (or to make any mosaics for that matter - its been over a month now since I nipped - oh my). Pictures next week!

We have had a stream of friends and family visiting for over 3 weeks now and it has been fantastic to be with people who we love and mean so much to us. The children have relished the company and Toby's little face was sad and thoughtful when we said that tomorrow our dear friends Nina and Benni Astrom are going. Benni returns to rural Finland and Nina goes on to a recording studio north of London to finish her 10th album.

I was listening to a song of Nina's a couple of weeks ago and it really speaks to the issue of comparison, so easy to fall into, especially as an artist. Here's the You Tube link to the song "The Best of Whoever You Are" - beautiful.

Urban Grape Harvest

Our little grape harvest

At the weekend we took part in our local urban grape harvest. This is a fantastic community co-operative organised in our neighbourhood (a sub area of the town of Tooting called Furzedown). The project is called the Urban Wine Company and here is a little about it from the website:

The Urban Wine Company has grown from a simple idea that sprung up two seasons ago in a community called Furzedown in Tooting, South London. Grapes that were growing in Richard and his neighbours’ gardens were unfortunately going to waste. The only beneficiaries of the grape glut were the local birds!

Sitting under the vine, glasses in hand, Richard and Tim decided to team up and do something about it. After rounding up a group of local friends the first collection of garden grapes were pressed into London’s first urban wine. There was nervous excitement as the first bottle of “Chateau Tooting - Furzedown Blush” was uncorked.

We duly did our first little grape harvest on Saturday, Isabella helping to place the cut grapes in the bucket and Toby participating to the extent of wanting to go up and down on the tail gate of the lorry where all the grapes where loaded on Tooting Common!

It was quite reminiscent for me as my family used to own a large vineyard in Southern Italy so I have lots of memories of harvesting grapes and the amazing smell when they were all collected together (I jumped onto the van with all the cut grapes, sniffing and ahhhhing a few times as the memories flooded back!)

I am looking forward not only to our wine (which I am told will be ready to taste in March -in time for a celebratory drink for Neil's birthday and our 16th wedding anniversary!) but am also excited about the community aspects of this brilliant project. Neil and I are also hoping that promised local Community Supported Agriculture scheme will start up soon as we love the community elements of these initiatives.

When we got back from dropping off our little grape harvest, we found two bunches that we missed. So glad because we at them and they were oh so sweet. Thank you September sun, you did your job so well.

Motivation

I am currently part of an online creativity course called "In the Fishbowl" and in two weeks, I have been prompted to think (more than usual!) about what I do. Why do I create? Why do I love what I do? What does it say about me? What is success?

I have curled up with a good old fashion journal and pen to muse on these questions and will share some of my thoughts in the next few weeks when things quieten down (it's crazy round here at the moment - have spent ALL day sorting the contents of my workshop which, hopefully, will be ready to occupy on Thursday - hurray!)

One thing that I have been challenged about is the source of my creativity and art. Getting in touch with it, staying in touch with it.

This quote arrived in my inbox today from the "Inward, Outward" daily mailings and it rings very true:

Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. Source unknown

Have a beautiful Sunday.

Oh so quiet....

My workshop being insulated - looks a bit like a space ship at the moment!

Its been a quiet little bloggy here for the last week hasn't it?

We returned from hols on Monday to to a veritable mountain of laundry and unpacking AND the need to empty out my whole studio ready for the big insulation project. Oh, AND we have had guests staying. I guess you might understand the radio silence now?

The insulation project is now well underway and I have been so lucky that is hasn't rained because the entire contents of my studio is on the lawn! Our dear friends, Julie and Laci, have been working soooo hard on insulating my workspace so that it is all warm and toasty ready for winter (did I ever mention that during the big cold snap we had in February, I made a mosaic and when I went to grout it ALL the tiles fell off. Baffled, I soon realised that -10 celcius and adhesives are not the best of friends).

I just want to say a hello and wave to the other Fishies from the fishbowl popping in to say hello. I have been a little frustrated not to have dived in too much yet with getting to know you all and keeping up with all the comments but am really hoping that the chaos here calms down in the next week - and that I get the chance to visit your blogs and say hello :)

Foraging in the woods today

If you live somewhere rural, please excuse the indulgence of me going on and on about being in the trees. Us urbanites are tree deprived.

Off for a cycle ride in the woods today. Would you believe we found a woody glade, with a moss carpeted floor, to have our picnic, just as the sun came out?

We went with the intention of finding stuff to craft with - cones, acorns, twigs...Isabella got stuck right in as you can see!

I probably won't post again 'til we are back in smoggy London. See you then.

Grateful in the forest

I am technologically challenged today. I have a most gorgeous picture of my two bunnies, cuddling up in a bike trailer as we cycle through the trees in Elveden Forest (Norfolk), but don't know how to do blue tooth on my friends (lovely) MacBook I am using, so can't upload the picture for you right now.

So just imagine if you will. So many varieties of deciduous and coniferous trees; pink, red and deep blue berries, squirrels, rabbits, finches, robins.... and us away from the London smog (gosh the fumes have been getting to me lately) and instead breathing in that lovely spicy, woodland smell (guess even a photo can't do that for you on a blog, so you will need your imagination in gear now).

So beautiful. I closed my eyes to go to sleep last night and went through all the things I am grateful for - the trees, the fresh air, the beautiful colours, for creativity and possibility and mostly for my precious children and loving husband and the friends who surround us. Grateful.

Dragonflies and fairies

Dragonflies are really rather special, don't you think? So delicate, so ethereal in their colouring and see-through wings. They do appeal to my inner child who likes the ideas of fairies a lot! Hee hee, and now I have two little ones to share my fairy glee with!

There is a large wall in our garden that is crying out for a mosaic mural...one day, soon. I know already it will be a forest glade with some magical goings on - think midsummer night's dream.

In the meantime, in homage to dragonflies and all things fairies, here's one of the recycled broken dragonfly lights now turned into a dragonfly garden ornament (see earlier post on how these were made). Oh, and having decided that autumn was here, cold nights having visited already, tonight is warm, close...summer is back again! Time to sit in the garden with some wine and see if I can spot anything twinkling...

Painting...toes

Yesterday morning, Isabella and daddy were in the bathroom getting ready for the day and (for some bizarre reason) a discussion about toenails ensued. It went something like this:

Daddy: "Isabella, what do you think toenails are for?"
Isabella: (in matter of fact tone) "For painting, daddy!" (duh! don't you know!).


I can explain. Not long ago, Isabella, having watched me change my toenail colour on many occasions, asked if I could paint hers. Of course I happily agreed and we sat on the grass in the warm garden. She chose her nail colour and on it went. Toby followed suit and then insisted that daddy have his toenails painted too. So, half an hour later, there we all were, all painted in the toe nail department. Since then, her love affair with toenail varnish has unfolded and she has changed from purple to pink to blue (hey maybe we should try all three colours at once...) but I didn't realise it had gone so far! Don't you just love how kids minds work?

Mosaic Memory Garden

There is a beautiful place, two minutes from Waterloo station, perfect for relaxing, enjoying beauty and being in touch with the broken reality of life.

It is the garden of St. John's church, in whose crypt live many creative projects including the wonderful Southbank Mosaics.

We spend a lot of time on the South Bank - it is one of our favourite places to go as a family - and so we make the garden of St. John's one of our pitstops on the way. The kids love it and I think it is extra special for its meaning. The garden is a favoured spot for some of London's homeless. South Bank mosaics worked with some of those who use the garden and together a beautiful mosaic bench was created, to remember fellow homeless friends who had died. Special leaf tiles were created and the names of these friends written onto them and embedded in the bench. Beautiful.Isabella and Toby love climbing up on the bench and Isabella decided she would balance on it and practice her ballet! She also took a photo of the owl next to it - here it is!

What a great saying

"It's ok to remove a fly from a friend's forehead, but don't use a hatchet".

Chinese proverb, source unknown.

Love it.

Object graveyards

I am clearing out the 'shed' part of my workshop so it is no shed and all workshop! Amazingly, almost everything that was in the shed (not part of my mosaic life) has found a home elsewhere. There is nothing like decluttering and sorting stuff so that things have a proper home rather than being shoved out of the way. It was soooo satifying. We are now nearly ready to insulate and paint and put in new work benches. Very exciting.

The sorting included making "keep", "give" and "chuck" piles. We are regular users of freecycle so the 'give' pile will be distributed there and to charity shops.

Then comes the "chuck" pile. Granted, things have come some way - at our local dump, we were able to put old batteries, wood, cardboard and old electrical items in seperate piles, trusting they will be properly recycled. Yet, what I saw was upsetting. A mountain of TV's. I am sure half of them (if not more) were perfectly fine, just not 'flat' enough. I mean, even if you get a flat screen telly, what do you actually do with the half a metre of extra space that you gain behind your TV cabinet?

Then I saw this mirror, full length , beautifully framed and pristine. Left there to be dumped. I so wanted to rescue it. So much you can do with a mirror if you are a mosaic artist. But no, I had to leave it because it is the property of the dump. Oh my. It reminded me of the Object Graveyard webiste - the afterlife of everyday things. Check this out http://webecoist.com/2009/03/15/object-graveyards-the-afterlife-of-everyday-things/

I think Freecycle should have people working at dumps to re-house perfectly good objects to loving homes.

Honestly....

It was a 'mama melts down' day. My resources low, a child who whined soooo much and protested at any attempts by me not to do what he wanted (yes he's in his toddler two's) and a little girl struggling with asserting her top dog status with the little boy and then whining when it all went wrong. Oh, and that thing that toddlers do (guess with two of then only 15 months apart, there is less respite) of asking / demanding something on average every 20 second AND asking the same thing repeatedly (even though you have answered several times) like a rapid gunfire of the same question. It was too much, tipped over the edge by one of them hanging onto my clothes (anyone else find that exceptionally irritating?)

It went on all morning. I wanted to cry. I managed to turn the ship around by grabbing the whining boy, turning the telly on and cuddling him.

Tonight, take away curry, red wine, first two episodes of House and early night - I need it.

That was the week that was

Nearly bedtime, nearly Friday...and I am looking forward to some downtime with my two sweet bunnies tomorrow.

I have had a week of a topsy turvy house due to major plumbing work that disrupted several rooms in the house, including the kitchen - arghh! At last, all is back to normal and my nerves are being stroked to calmness. I don't really fare well when everything is out of place and I think I did quite OK in coping - spontaneous weeding of my neighbour's garden calmed me down at the worst point of the chaos on Monday!

Then, yesterday, our little Toby fell and got a nasty cut next to his eye - he was very brave for a 2 and a bit year old and entertained us all during the long stretch we spent at Accident & Emergency. "Hello ladies" he said to two nurses, who smiled and thanked him, saying they hadn't been called lady for a long time! "Where's my Mr Bump bandage?" was his other refrain for over 2 hours (toddler way of asking "how loooong am I going to have to wait here?"). Ho hum, he looks kind of cool with his war wound.

Today was my first day invigilating at the gallery. Another beautiful, sunny day - the gallery is so full of light (and a little bit like a greenhouse after a few hours!). Despite feeling a bit under the weather, I enjoyed the space and made six of my mosaic stones. Here's a picture (excuse the background).
The stress of the week has been eased by looking at and smelling the gorgeous lilies my kind husband gave me as a 'well done' for the opening of the exhibition last week (alongside scrambled egg and smoked salmon breakfast last Saturday). Bliss.

Launched!

The evening sun shone, catching the glass and making it shine. People came, lots of them. The sangria flowed. Then the moon came out, full and brilliant. It was a special night and the 'room of mosaics' was launched into the sea of September, for all to see (88 visitors yesterday - our first day of opening!)

When asked what she thought of the exhibition (bearing in mind not many people have been to an exhibition of mosaic art before) one lady replied "I feel like I am in heaven". Oh yes...

Ooooh, ahhhhh, wow!

There was a lot of oohing, ahhing and wowing today!

At the gallery, 7 of the band of 10 mosaic maniacs gathered.

We unwrapped our contributions to the exhibition, so now hopefully you understand...


The variety, the beauty, the uniqueness, the feeling and colour and texture of each of these beauties. Mosaic exhibitions have to be experienced to be believed and understood. I'm not kidding you - they are so unlike 'ordinary' art exhibitions. If you have a chance ...go, go, steep yourself in some beauty.

Opening night is this Friday 6-9pm. Then every Thurs to Sunday until 27th Sept. Jeanie Avent gallery, London, SE22. Go, go, go!

Colour colour colour

The long weekend is over and all the little tasks of preparation for tomorrow's hanging of the exhibition are underway. Grouting, cleaning up, naming and signing pieces, putting hooks on, painting frames, taking photos, grinding away sharp edges and doing a small repair on fellow artist, Mireille's, piece that has come from France.

Snatching a bit of lunch before I keep going, reflecting on how amazing colour is. I just painted the frame to my latest piece (the one I started at 'Mosaic School' - its finished!) and it never fails to amaze me how much difference colour makes. The frame went from pine to silver and it has transformed the piece. Just think, if colour can make such a difference to the look and feel of a mosaic, what difference it can and does make in our lives. It is transforming, its potential limitless. It reminds me of the book of Revelation in the bible, which describes the stones and colours in the 'eternal city' - jasper, gold pure like transparent glass, sapphire, emerald. Wow!

Eco-dying your own fabric in 5 minutes!

One of the famous Liberty Print fabrics

Last Sunday we went to one of our local 'beauty spots' that we go to lots. Merton Abbey Mills is a lovely permanent market near the river Wandle, based on the site of an old (now buried) ancient abbey and also the place where William Morris (founder of the Arts and Crafts movement) made his famous Liberty fabrics. So much history all in one place.

An organisation called River and Cloth is running projects to re-discover how the fabrics were dyed. It was here that I discovered this very simple and quick way of dying your own fabrics to make gorgeous patterns - and also an ideal craft activity for even young children. If you visit the River and Cloth website there are loads of factsheets on this and other eco-dying methods.

Hapa-zome eco-dying method

Here's what you do:

Get a piece of plain calico (or similar).

Gather leaves and flowers - you will need to experiment as some work better than others. Check out the River and Cloth website factsheets.

Place pieces of leaves, flowers, stalks etc... on one half of the calico.

Fold the other half of the fabric over the flowers and leaves

Using a rubber mallet (or something similar, guess a stone will do!), bash the flowers and leaves so that the colour seeps into the fabric. You will need to experiment with the amount of pressure.



Open up your material and admire your work!


When it is totally dry, iron the material (removing any remaining bits of plant). This will fix the plant dye.

The results are beautiful. I am told it will fade a bit with washing but I am intending to turn mine into a cushion cover so won't wash very much. I have to add that I have never made a cushion cover before and sewing is not a huge strength of mine! I am eagerly awaiting Amanda Soule's 'Handmade Home' - her new book, which Amazon tells me will arrive on Tuesday. Hurray! Maybe there will be simple instructions on cushion making there...if not, if anyone has a link, I'd be glad to know.

Have fun printing your own fabrics!

Making Mosaics with Children Part Six - suncatchers

This is a lovely toddler mosaic method we have tried out that has produced a beautiful suncatcher. Like the other mosaics in this series, it easy for little toddlers as well as slightly older children to do.

You will need:

a picture frame
glass nuggets
PVA (white children's) glue
Two small hooks
String for hanging

Take the back out of the frame so that it is clear glass / perspex and the light can shine through

Spread glue quite thickly on the glass.

Place your glass nuggets on the glass. When the glue dries (a few days) it will go clear.




Isabella couldn't resist and added pieces to the frame too!

When it is dry, attach the small hooks on the side of the frame and attach hanging string (we used see through thread).

If you have a rock tumbler you can also tumble small pieces of stained glass to take away the sharp edges and use these for this suncatcher mosaic project. That is what we are going to try next with my new rock tumbler I have bought for £10!

The finished sunchatcher looks so effective and has very different effects at different times of day - a lovely addition to our kitchen. Isabella beamed from ear to ear when she came home yesterday and saw it hanging there! Lovely, lovely.

Sun catcher at night!

Making Mosaics with Children Part Five

I have been working extremely hard trying to finish a piece for the exhibition - the pieces will be hung next Wednesday. In the spaces in between, Isabella and I have worked on her mosaic projects too (she jumps up and down with excitement when I suggest that we do some mosaics together!) and she has made three lovely pieces of her own. We have experimented with three new methods of these that I will present on this blog over the next few days.

This project involves replicating the idea of cement adhesive to push mosaic pieces (tesserae) into. Instead of using cement, we used air drying clay ('das').

You will need some air drying clay and 'tesserae' of your choice. Isabella used shells and beads, but you can use a wide range of things - for a list of the things you can use to make children's mosaics see my previous post (titled 'Making Mosaics with Children Part Two').

Roll out the clay. Make sure it is thick enough so that pieces can be pushed in sufficiently to hold (say half an inch).

Cut the clay into the shape you want - we made a rectangle. Use a piece of straw to make a hole for hanging the finished piece.


The tesserae can now be pushed into the clay to make the mosaic picture. The beauty of using the clay is that you can create lovely effects by putting pieces in at different angles and heights - you can see how Isabella chose to put some of her shells in vertically which looks lovely and creates shadows as you walk past it.

We will definitely be trying this method again with different types of tiles - it has worked really well and is very easy for even young children to do.

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!

Getting ready for the exhibition

The group show I am organising with a group of other south London mosaic artists is fast approaching and there has been a lot of frenetic preparation going on. Our lovely publicity has arrived - above is a picture of the front of the card!

I have been finishing off pieces - grouting, framing, painting the backs of pieces. It's all very exciting. Here is a sculptural piece going in the exhibition, called "skygazer".

For any of you in or near London during September, the exhibition is from 5- 27th Sept (open Thursdays to Sundays) at the Jeannie Avent gallery in East Dulwich. I have created a web site where you can get more details and see the profile of all the other artists participating. It is at www.southlondonmosaics.moonfruit.com. Hope to see you there!

Creative Evenings

For the last few months, several local mums and I have met in my workshop to sit and 'make' together. Everyone just brings something that they want to work with - paints, paper, canvases, needlework, beads, mosaic... we have done all of these.

Vicky, our neighbour and friend, has re-discovered her creative talents and has painted these beautiful watercolours which she is rightly, very proud of.

As a mum, I know how important creativity and making is for me - as an outlet for my talents that can easily get buried in the busyness of parenting, as self-expression and to create space for 'me'. Vicky has also found a real satisfaction in showing her talents to her daughter, who is discovering that there is more to mummy than she may have previously noticed! I know that this form of modelling is also a hugely important thing to me - I want my children to grow up in an environment that is full of creativity and the satisfaction that comes from making more than buying.

Sunday thoughts

I thought this was very beautiful. It comes from the inward/outward daily mailings that you can subscribe to at inward/outward.
Wage Peace

Judyth Hill

Wage peace with your breath.
Breathe in firemen and rubble,
breathe out whole buildings
and flocks of redwing blackbirds.
Breathe in terrorists and breathe out sleeping children
and freshly mown fields.
Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees.
Breathe in the fallen
and breathe out lifelong friendships intact.
Wage peace with your listening:
hearing sirens, pray loud.
Remember your tools:
flower seeds, clothes pins, clean rivers.
Make soup.
Play music, learn the word for thank you in three languages.
Learn to knit, and make a hat.
Think of chaos as dancing raspberries,
imagine grief as the outbreath of beauty
or the gesture of fish.
Swim for the other side.
Wage peace.
Never has the world seemed so fresh and precious.
Have a cup of tea and rejoice.
Act as if armistice has already arrived.
Don't wait another minute.

Source: Written in response to September 11, 2001

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