Interview with mosaic artist, Christina Macaulay continued.

Image provided with permission of artist

What would be your favourite part in the process of creating a piece?
There is a point where I kind of merge with the work, the work kind of gets its own energy and I am just an extension of the creation. I know it is going to be a great piece when I am in that space and that is a very favourite place for me, when I know the piece is taking on a life of its own.

Why would you suggest mosaic to someone looking for a new hobby?
In some respects, It is a forgiving art and the scope is enormous, there are no boundaries to what you can mosaic and the materials that are available to you

What advice would you give someone who is considering it?
Have a dedicated work space! Be prepared to be consumed by it and limit your materials purchase budget and what my Italian teacher taught me, have great respect for clean lines in your work!

Are you a member of any mosaic groups or organisations? And if so what benefits do you think there are in being involved with them?
I belong to the Mosaic Association of Australia and I belong to two international organizations as well AIMC and SAMA. It is such a small industry here in Australia (although growing rapidly) and I see major advantages through being connected internationally. I also take tours with a focus on mosaic art in Italy and Spain, so it is important to be connected internationally in that context as well

What do you enjoy about teaching your art to others?
That I am able. to open up the possibilities of a creative life to people. Teaching came to me really; I never set out to do it. But I just had so many people asking me if I taught when I was selling my work at Paddington Market and when I displayed at a couple garden shows, so I decided to collect some names and when I had enough people, I ran a workshop. That was four years ago now and it has grown from there. I now run workshops monthly at my Newtown Studio, I teach at Mosman Community College and run summer and winter intensive classes at the McGregor School of Creative Arts at the University of Southern Queensland. I have to say, the teaching brings me a lot of joy. I think I do have a way of building peoples confidence in their abilities, people respond so well to it. I love to share my skills and my craft with others and I find it very rewarding. I am often stunned at the beautiful works people produce in the workshops, the weekend workshop in particular. I think I can say that people leave the studio with a great sense of satisfaction and with a different perception about their creative capacity. I have had students throw their arms around me and hug me at the end of a workshop, they are so grateful for having someone nurture that frailty around their creative being. It is a lovely gift to give to others, and clearly, the students have had a truly satisfying experience, I love it that I have played a part in that for a person. No one is more surprised than me at how much I love the teaching.

A workshop- Images provided with permission of artist

What can someone expect to have learnt coming away from a weekend workshop in your studio?
The weekend workshop aims to develop skills that students can take away with them and go on to create other works. The course is quite comprehensive and everyone creates a 30cm square mosaic. I start with a potted version of history as there is so much to be learnt by understanding how ancient mosaics were constructed. People then go on to develop some skills with cutting glass. Design concepts are worked up with each student individually, but I ask people to give some thought to a design before they arrive. I give very specific advice to each student on their design and they will gain an understanding of the laying styles that will respond best to their design ideas. The theory I run through at the outset of the workshop truly starts to make a lot of sense to people by the time they are halfway through constructing their work.

Would you say mosaic is easy to learn as far as techniques go?
I think it is different for everyone and there is a great deal more involved than people generally expect. Good cutting skills come with practice and it doesn’t necessarily happen overnight. It is like anything – practice practice practice! But there are some basic and well tested rules about laying technique, and in general if people understand those, it is possible to achieve mastery quite quickly. Once you have the skills, there are no limits, and that is what I love.

Images provided with permission of artist

Is there something that you do differently to other mosaicists you know of?
I think everybody works a bit differently, I think I am quite inventive with the way I work with materials. I look at the possibilities of a wide range of materials and although my preference is glass, I have experimented with ceramics, fused glass, metals, natural materials and found objects and am always finding new bits to include in my mosaic works. I have my favourites which keep showing up in my work and I am hankering to work more on three dimensional works.

Can you describe your studio?
Oh yes, it is like Aladdins Cave, it is a FABULOUS space and I feel very very privileged to have it. It is the quarter of the old assembly hall as the studio is in an old school building in Newtown. It is completely self contained and is quite a substantial space. I have a little kitchen kind of area as well where I have a kettle and microwave and running water so I can be very self sufficient in there for what are often very long days. Students love coming into environment to learn the craft, they say they find it very inspiring and I love to welcome people into my space. I have a whole wall that I call my inspiration wall, it is a massive collage of favourite images, many of which have been collected on my vast travels over many many years and just small bits of things that please me visually, pictures of special people, things I have collected from all over. The space can get rather chaotic but that is just a part of my process I think. I usually have some current works displayed on the walls. There are lots of materials on display. I have a rather large workbench, which serves the dual purpose of letting me work on a couple of projects at once, or a large project and also can comfortably seat 8 to 10 for workshops. The artist who occupied the space before me worked in oils and it seemed that most of them ended up on the timber floors, so the floor itself is an artwork. I have a large table with all the tubs of tile that are available for students in workshops, so it just kind of looks like a lolly shop. Then I have my own shelves of materials, where I keep my special materials that are for my exclusive use in my own works, those shelves are a real treasure trove! I even get surprised sometimes when I start fossicking on those shelves.

How much of your week do you think you spend creating, as opposed to tending to business and teaching?
I wouldn’t have a clue, every week is different and I like to go where the day takes me, if I can get away with it! I am more likely to have a couple of weeks of being absorbed in creating and everything else will be forgotten, and then I will step back from that space and deal with some of the practical things when I have to! But it changes all the time and that’s the way I like it.

Mosaicist interview continued on next page
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