We start in May with our fond favourite, “Mosaic Masterpieces” weekend course at the gorgeous Norton Priory Museum & Gardens. This is the same course that we ran last year so if you missed it then, here’s another chance to join us for a week-end that is both relaxing and stimulating and hugely enjoyable.

Mosaic Masterpieces Weekend, July 2011

Also in May, there will be a one day workshop at Hulme Community Garden Centre where you can make your own mosaic stepping stone for the garden.

Mosaic Garden Stepping Stones being cast

There is a series of mosaic stepping stones in the path leading into HCGC that were made a good many years ago. Our stepping stones will be circular and will be made with frost resistant ceramic tiles, just like the ones in my stepping stone kits. We will be using the new straw bail classroom for the day, which I hear is the only one of its kind in Manchester!!

Vicky's Mosaic Pot, 2011

In June we’re back in the straw bail classroom at HCGC again to design and make mosaic plant pots. Its another one day workshop and the places for both of these days will be limited to a maximum of 12 participants. For the “Potty Mosaics”, you will be provided with a large terracotta plant pot and there will be a good choice of mosaic materials to choose from. Your finished pot will be perfect for the garden and should survive the frost for many years to come!!!

There will be another opportunity to take part in the second “Mosaic Masterpieces” at Norton Priory again on the week-end of 23rd/24th June and then back in Chorlton, South Manchester, there will be an opportunity to make a mosaic garden table over two consecutive Saturdays. The “Mosaic Garden Tables” course has been planned for Saturday 30th June & Saturday 8th July but is currently awaiting confirmation. You can either provide your own table – it must be sanded back and ready to work on – or we can provide one for you. (More details coming soon)

Stained Glass Window at Victoria Baths

The final course for this summer will be at prestigious Victoria Baths, where I will be hosting “Inspired by Our Ancestors”. During this week-end mosaic course in July you will get to see the amazing mosaics that are integral to the building and use these images or references from elsewhere in the building to inform your own mosaic wall panel. Its all sooooooo exciting!!

For details and prices for all the above, please click through to the Workshops, Classes and Courses page. If you’d like a chat first, call me on 0161 860 0387 or e-mail me at info@traceycartledge.co.uk. You can book for most courses and workshops directly via the website.

In March, I will be submitting our class’s entry into the Topps Tiles Award for Achievement in Mosaic 2011/2012. We’ll sort out a date in February to photograph all the work. The regional winners receive £100  prize and the national winner receives a £500 commission from Topps Tiles (this is either the piece submitted or a specially produced duplicate)

Hopefully this year we will take part in the Chorlton Arts Festival in May and then in April we’ll be visiting  Victoria Baths to take inspiration for an exhibition of our mosaic work there in June.  The historic baths, which many of you would have seen winning BBC 2′s Restoration programme back in 2003, is home to some beautiful architecture that includes magnificent stained glass windows and marble floor mosaics. You can see some of these in my photos in an earlier post.

This year I have taken up the joint role of BAMM Regional Co-ordinator for the North West with Patricia Lee, who is based in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire. The two of us will be working together to provide a programme of mosaic related events and activities throughout the year and encouraging all students and mosaic enthusiasts to sign up for membership. Details of all these activities will be posted up on the blog right here.

Finally, you might be interested to see the the line up of workshops that I’ve planned for 2012. This time, we’re venturing into new territory at venues such as Hulme Community Garden Centre and Victoria Baths as well as our old favourite Norton Priory Museum & Gardens. Check out the dates on the workshops page.

Conveniently located in Chorlton shopping precinct, the Arts Festival Hub shop is hosting a mini Christmas Craft Market for 12 days leading up to Christmas…………every day there will different local makers selling their wares. I’m there on Tuesday and Wednesday - 13th & 14th DECEMBER - and it would be great to see some friendly faces and have a chat. I’ll have details of upcoming mosaic courses for 2012, items to see and bits and pieces on sale, including kits – of course!!

The Hub opens at 9.30am each morning and closes at 5.30pm each evening.

SEE YOU THERE!!

What d’you think?

We’ve been making mosaic baubles at class – quite fiddly but it will be good to see it on the Christmas tree and know its all your own work! Not sure about the white grout – I generally avoid white but thought it would be the best colour for this project. Now I can’t help thinking it might look better with black……..what do you think?

The mosaic designs reflect and celebrate local wildlife, including the owl and the hedgehog, and the area’s mining heritage.

Following this, we’ve just finished making a wonderful set of  ’STORY-TELLING’ Mosaic Stepping Stones for a path between two playgrounds at Chorlton C of E Primary…..more on that very soon!!

I’m afraid nobody commented in with the correct answer to win the prize…………what a shame!!

the Marsh Fritillary:

The plan is to create a separate ‘sub page’ for each project – it will definitely take a lot of time to complete – so I’m hoping to add at least one project each week……..

The first project in the Gallery is ANDERTON – check it out!!

There was a table and wall space above in the reception area where members were invited to place small mosaics to show or photos of their work to share, creating an instant display and helping us all to find out who was who.

We were entertained throughout the morning with lively reports from the treasurer and other BAMM officers about progress and balance sheets, increased membership and other such matters of concern to the AGM. This was more interesting than it might sound, as there were plenty of questions, exchanges and witty remarks and the atmosphere was very light-hearted.

Lunchtime gave us the opportunity to shop for mosaic supplies and books and to network and in the afternoon we enjoyed some inspiring presentations. Gary Drostle talked us through his fantastic project to create ‘River of Life’ (above), a large floor mosaic feature commissioned for an Iowa university sports centre. It’s well worth taking a closer look: http://www.drostle.com/WORKS/iowariveroflife.html# It was fascinating to hear in detail about how the design evolved, the highs and lows of realising the work and the installation process.

The highlight of the afternoon (for me) was listening to the endearing Charles Lutyens talk about his ‘Angels’ mosaic commission for St. Paul’s Church, Bow Common that he worked on for five years in the 1960′s. See more images here. Charles completely captivated us with his story, speaking openly and honestly about his experience in a most personal way. I felt like  a child again, listening to my Grandad in his front room. Acknowledging that a three year apprenticeship prior to starting this commission would have been beneficial, Charles described the mixed feelings of anxiety and enthusiasm that accompanied this first venture in mosaic. However his natural flair and keen eye for colour and composition were in evidence and he clearly mastered the mosaic medium with relative ease.

Next year’s British Association for Modern Mosaic Annual Forum might be moving to a new and more prestigious location. The idea of hosting the event at a large national gallery or museum was discussed briefly during the morning and this would, as Norma Vondee pointed out, provide an opportunity for more mosaic enthusiasts to join us for another round of inspiring and motivating presentations. Maybe you’ll come along next October too?

The most popular projects that I have worked on in schools have been:

• Mosaic Stepping Stones for paths, patios and flower beds (as in the image above)
• Roman Mosaic Plaques (see previous post for more details)
• Large format wall mosaics that involve lots, if not all, the school pupils

I had a quick look around yesterday before meeting with Gill Wright to talk about the work we might be doing together next summer. Here’s some of what I saw:

STAINED GLASS

MOSAIC:

ARCHITECTURE: