So it was with great excitement and anticipation that I set off again for the Piccadilly Line to Stoke Newington to collect my fused glass pieces I had made the previous week at my beginners’ lesson at Rainbow Glass Studios. This time we made it a family activity as Alan and I arranged to meet our nephew Tom who lives near there. We headed to the lovely Clissold Park again and had coffee and cake with Tom in the café before heading off down the High Street to the studio.
Eleanor (my brilliant teacher) handed over all my ‘treasures’ and was happy to answer the long list of questions I had thought of since my lesson. Tom came into the studio with me. He is the creative nephew in the family and does fantastic animation and illustrative drawings (you can find him on Instagram – Tom Henneberry). He was fascinated by all the lovely glass, cutting equipment and kilns. While I ‘oooh’d and aahhh’d’ over my pieces Tom and Eleanor were chatting and realised they were neighbours!
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- Glass selection
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- Rainbow Glass Studios
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- Eleanor, myself and kiln
We then went for a nice lunch in the garden at The Clarence pub before buying our supper at the butchers. We then parted company with Tom and set off home so I could play with all my lovely spoils.
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- Waves for seascape
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- Textured strips can be used as tree trunks
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- These fish will be used in my seascape mosaics
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- Leaves – didn’t come out too well so I added glass paint and I now think they look more leaf-like!
I can see great potential for using all sorts of fused glass shapes in my mosaics in future. I have a feeling it may become expensive!!!
We have now completed 7 stages of the Capital Ring and have crossed the river to north London. Combining stages 4 & 5 took us from Crystal Palace to Wimbledon Park via Streatham, Tooting and Wandsworth Commons. Stage 6 was probably one of our favourite routes starting at Wimbledon Park with its massive boating lake and overlooking the City skyline, passing the famous windmill on Wimbledon Common, lovely walking over Putney Heath which took us up into Richmond Park. Now we felt we were on ‘home territory’
On the day 10 children arrived and were immediately attracted to the beautiful glass tiles, shiny ceramic beads and glittery adornments. Working in pairs, they selected the sections they wanted to work on and then, armed with their handfuls of ‘coloured treasure’, started to design their section before placing and sticking them in the main piece. They were totally engrossed and were determined that the mosaic would be finished within the session, so all of them were working flat out. Each section is very individual – some of the children were incredibly neat, others were colour focused, many had an abstract slant. The end result is a fantastic ‘mix n match’ of different styles, all very distinctive but they all work in harmony as a whole.
This year I intend to continue offering Mosaic Lessons to people who are interested in learning the basic, first stages of mosaic making.
I usually find that people are a bit over optimistic about their ‘first piece’ and they come along with all sorts of stunning, complex images from the internet. One person even asked if she could make an interpretation of Van Goughs ‘Sunflowers’ in her beginners class. I thought ‘I hope not’ otherwise I will have major competition in the mosaic field!! But joking apart, I do try to meet expectations once people realise that mosaic is its own art form. If you bring a water colour painting to mosaic, the completed piece will look like a mosaic, not a watercolour painting.
So, if you think you would like to have a go at making your first mosaic, or if you think you would like to try and find your creative side, consider booking a mosaic lesson with me. They also make great gifts and you could have a joint session with a friend.
Here is a quote from Linda who made this lovely Beach Scene mosaic.
I’ve always known I’m artistic but had never found my medium. I can’t draw, paint or sew, I certainly can’t play a musical instrument or sing (well, not in public at any rate). Having a hectic job and a busy social lifestyle I was content to let my arty side manifest itself in my cooking and gardening. I love colour and had an office full of coloured pens, inks, pots of acyrilic paints – but what to do with them? I was content to look at them and add to the collection now and again. I did like ‘colouring in’ but there has never been any colouring potential for grown ups apart from ‘painting by numbers’ Hmmm, I certainly missed a gap in the market there didn’t I!!
Rosanna's Mosaics 