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Friday 14 March 2014

Mosaics. The therapeutic quality of smashing china with a big hammer.

For the past month and beyond I have been full of good intentions to mosaic my paving slabs.
Have I started?
Not a jot!
But I should.
Is there anything more satisfying and therapeutic than smashing crockery with a large hammer?
And teapot handles look amazing in the grout.

This paving slab - now finished, polished and grouted - was once a teapot,mug and a couple of bowls.
The outside rim was finished with a second smashed teapot- a teapot with sentimental roots in Jerusalem, but apparently not designed for holding boiling water!
I love mosaics,but not the kit form or regimented square tiles bought in neat cellophane bags.
For me it has to be freeform...smashed china and cement based grout.
Twice I have tried to make a uniform, perfectly flat mosaic, and twice it has remained unfinished, languishing in a neglected part of the garden till it finally fell apart.

Children also love mosaics. and the mosaic below was made by a group of primary school children at an
Art Club I used to run.
Lesson learned....never give a child a hammer and a metal tray on which to smash tiles -particularly in a draughty village hall with a high ceiling and metal window frames - the noise was deafening!!!
However, the results were impressive.

This dolphin was made by a group of children at my now defunct Art Club.

And staying on the mosaic theme, albeit loosely, I stumbled on a facebook page today called ''BlueButterflyArt''which is so beautiful.
The page owner paints on concrete tiles, which have a lovely whimsical quality to them - well worth a visit!

https://www.facebook.com/bluebutterflyart


Having had a week of Spring sunshine it was a shock to wake up this morning to a thick fog, so china smashing put on hold I have been sorting through cards and photographs.


This year it's urban, but last year was ducks,and I've just listed this set of three cards on Etsy.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/182650599/ducks-a-set-of-three-blank-cards-each?ref=shop_home_active_1


 There is something very appealing about ducks.
  They have a whimsical quality and oodles of charm


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3 comments:

  1. I love mosaics, and the concrete tiles are awesome too. I love to paint on things that can decorate my yard. Mosaics take a bit of time, but someday I will have more time to play around with them, when my kids are grown.

    http://www.melissasjewelryandgems.blogspot.com

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  2. Love the idea of the teapot lids in the mosaics, but have to wonder about the advisability of using them as pavers. Let us know how that works out...stopping by from All About Blogspot on Etsy.

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  3. HI, Annake!
    I'm with you on the safety aspect - the paving slabs are ones I've acquired and are purely decorative around the veggie borders.

    Sarah x

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