Istanbul Weekend

I was lucky enough to spend the weekend in Istanbul to celebrate my birthday (if it is worth celebrating these days). We had a wonderful few days although sightseeing in 90 degrees of humid heat is a bit challenging to say the least. Will add more tomorrow but saw some fabulous mosaics and the Aya Sophia church. Highlights included sitting in the main square after midnight watching a fushion of traditional eastern and western music complete with a whirling dirvish.

Dodo's are not Extinct

Hooray I've finally finished my Dodo mosaic. You know how it is, a couple of days of intensive mosaicing and then several months of deliberation on how the tackle the background. So when people say how long did that take you, the truthful answer is nearly a year although all in all about four days work. Very pleased with him and good to find a use for the terracotta feather tiles I made some years ago. I have just spent a couple of days down with Oliver Budd making a mad hare, here's hoping it doesn't take another year to finish!

He is quite large being 3 ft x 2 ft ish in size and I have used a mixture of Vitmos, Smalti and handmade tiles. He is sitting on a board of MDF and I'm having a wide black frame made for him. I was hoping he would look like an illustration from a book.

I will post a picture of the hare in progress, I've just worked out how to do some leaves I was dithering over so onwards and upwards.

Some of my Mosaics

I have been making mosaics for quite a few years now. I went on a course with Martin Cheek in Broadstairs many years ago and really caught the bug. Since then, I have made and sold many mosaics all based on natural themes. When solitary mosaicing becomes too lonely, I visit Oliver Budd in his studio near Bodium Castle for a couple of days company. Olly's classes are always inspiring and its great to use the wide variety of materials to be found in his workshops.

I am very fond of this beetroot which I made at Olivers studio. The leaves are broken tile which helps gives texture to the leaves, the ribs and body are a mixture of Smalti and glass tile. The background spirals rounds from the shadow with the tiles graduating out in size from the centre.

This running hare was commissioned by a friend as a present for her husband. the materials used are vitreous glass and ceramic tiles. The ceramic gives a flatter colour giving a contrast in texture as well as colour. They are also less likely to shatter when cutting small strips of tile - have a look at the hare's furry chest and tummy. The ivy was included to introduce some movement as a counterpoint to the direction the hare is running.

The larger you make your mosaic, the easier it is to get fine detail using a general tile size of 1cms square. The hare is about 35 cms square and it was easy to get a good flow to the lines.

Here is an angel fish which I made as I had some sea glass I wanted to incorporate in the watery background. Found on the beach on the north Kent coast its a lovely material, I wish I could find more of it. Mirror tiles also work well as in water. The materials used are mostly glass tiles, with the yellow and orange fins in smalti and the outer edges of the background in seaglass.

I find the easiest way to make the mosaics is on an mdf board which is sealed with watered down pva glue. The finished pictures are easy to handle and can be hung on the wall with mirror plates or just propped up on a mantlepiece. Tiles are stuck down with pva and when completely dry, grouted. Don't use ready mixed grout unless the surface of your mosaic is very flat as it is quite gloopy and difficult to get into crevices. Grey or sandy coloured grout gives a much more pleasing finish especially when using natural subjects.

I am currently working on a large Dodo which has turned out pleasingly quirky. I have incorporated some ceramic tiles I made to resemble feathers using terracotta and tin glaze stamped with an old printing block - I'll put up some photos soon.

Warning: making mosaics is a seriously addictive past-time.