a maltese floor

I'm recently looking a lot at the floor, and trying to fall over people of things. the reason is I've got a project coming up which is work influenced by the old Maltese floor tiles.
now this is 'nt hard for me as I've all ways loved the old floor tiles, so warm and worn, wonderful colour pallet and so many beautiful designs.
so ii thought i would share with you some of my research



a school floor



a door way

a bedroom floor

tick tock, its a mosaic clock

I've been thinking, like i always do,how can i mosaic on something else, something useful, so its a piece of art but has a function.
some times i feel so concouis that people don't always want to buy a piece of art, or might not have the money to do so, so i like to come up with fresh ideas and ways to incorporate art and function.
so this weeks plans was a mosaic clock!!!!
tick tock
i went to my local lira shop and bought a collection of cheap clocks and just played around with different ways to up style them, I've left the faces of all the clocks the same as i bought them, but i might go back and alter them.

something a bit diffrent

i really enjoy working with new textures, different colour ways and most of all making new styles of work, the process of making a more contemporary style of work has been an exciting process, and the results i produced i was super pleased with what came out of the work room!!!



crack




vein



encompass

pillar

great stuff in the uk

recently i had a family holiday in the UK, it was totally amazing!!!!
showing the children all kinds of English things, fish and chips on the beach, 99 with a flake, sitting on grass, animals at the zoo, London for the day, ice buns, hula hoop crisps you name we tryed to cram it in to 2 weeks.
but on all are trips and adventures i took lots of photos that inspired me, thought i would share them with you too!!!

a tile on an old grave in hastings

same as above, love the simple shape

old flooring from battle abbey

funky mosaics brighton

in brighton again

forgot how much i love these old windows

amazzzzziing

nice to see mosaics in the community

cafe tiles, really loved the colour, so calm

for love

i love to make special gifts for special occasions, and what better reason than a wedding. when i received the wedding invite i was so taken by the words and the colour, that i actually used the invite in the work it's self and then carried on the colour scheme all the way thought.
i love to use bold colours, but the subtle shades are just amazing, and i used the date and other personal things to make it unique to the day

love is all you need

the people we love

our betty

we love all sorts of people for many reasons, family, Friends, husbands, wives, children, aunties, uncles cousins, Nana's, grandpa's, mums, dads, the list just goes on.
but people make an in print on out souls, minds and lives, and some times we want to honour them in some way.
so this week i just wanted to make something to remember my Nana, some one who left a big sense of style on me, something to say thank you for being who you where, and that i will always remember you, and thank you you for giving me wonderful memories

rizzi also known as the sea urchin

I'm always busy looking at on line craft projects and ideas, its amazing to see how many cleaver projects people come up with, i don't make even half of the things that i look at, but i enjoy the inspiration that comes from them, new colour combinations, textures, patterns, new materials a new way to look at things.

that's when i came across these images!!!! i can't knit or crochet but with i could now

her name is margaret oomen, and i just love these, check out more of her work on purl bee site.
http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/category/margaret-oomen

these are some more sea inspired crochet work by rachel, have a look at some of her other work on her site

http://cornflowerbluestudio.blogspot.com

 and then i was so loving the crochet theme, i found this by helle jorgensen

http://beautyineverything.com/

all so stunning and clear and simple love them all.

open house

well sometimes you just have to get out there and do things for your self...

and do you know what, that's what I've done. i have been a bit fed up of being in art collectives and going to the opening of the event and being totally disappointed by the lack of depth, fun and intrigue, not to mention the lack of posters. and this is after i have paid money to take part, and then they take a percentage of everything i sell.
so i deiced to break out and create something that really portrays me, something fun, different, friendly, inviting, just offering people to see art in a different way.
so my open house exhibition opens up in one weeks time ekkkkk

getting fishy

a very talented and good friend of mine is an armature diver and under water photographer, but let me tell you there is nothing armature about his work.
i love looking at his images, as i don't dive, and to be totally honest don't think i ever would, it amazes me the world under the surface of the sea.

here is a very small selection of his images, these are ones i personal love and inspire me. all taken in the seas around gozo/ malta

 so after seeing all these amazing images, i deiced to make some fishy inspired mosaics, and here they are

why?????

 i was asked recently why i used so much religious imagery in my work, and why i liked it so much..... and the thing is i do use alot of icon's and religious related items in my work, and i always have.
so my answer to her was... i don't know, i love the look of them, and enjoy using them.

well ever since she asked me i have been really thinking about this answer, as i wasn't happy, and i have never really expoled in my own mind, why i am drawn to these types of items.

i love the colours of niches, and i like cheap tacky looking religious ornament's, i love rosary's so much, Mary statues and Jesus figures and interesting to me, baby Jesus plaster moulds are cute, crosses are so iconic, flowers bring a soft touch and are all full of meaning.

so i have been exploring in my mind the answer, and since moving to gozo 7 years ago, the religious influence has sightly gone over the top (but i love it) , being surrounded by catholic rich and sumptuous churches, and having so many religious items on hand, it was like a dream come true. as in England i never had so many gaudy over the top items, the Christan faith presents saints, Jesus and Mary in a very different way.

so here is a collection o f my work that is religious based

st claire

merciful Mary

worship

flutter

mary in her night garden

7.35 pm

number 13

golden rose

my bed side cabinet, found in a skip, then mosaiced

another cabinet, from a house clearance, then a bit of magic added

homage

luminous

santa rita

got to say a bit shocked how many works of mine have a religious theme, and that's not all of them too!!!!

but to get to the point, i now have the answer, as to why  like to use these types of imagery. i love the feelings they evoke, and that even if they are cheap and tacky looking, badly painted, people still look up to these objects, and worship them. i like to create feelings with in my work and  using collections of objects with such deep meaningful connections really intrigues me,  i find them inspiring, and i like to make small niches full of intrigue.

so all the while there are car boot sales full of cheap religious tut, i will be still making my small ode to religion.