Hello happy creative little heartbeats ...
Another update for you - with events from the studio, ideas that are sprouting and hopefully some projects that you might like to get involved with.

So in this issue we have:

Up and coming workshops ...

Mosaic Madness weekend workshop
9th & 10th of October
6th & 7th of November
4th & 5th of December

Mosaic Madness Forever Class
Every Tuesday between 10:30 - 1:30 - Lots of fun in this class - we have table tops, murals, mirrors, 3D work in mixed media happening ... 6 sessions for $165 (but only if we have room!).

ASB Foundation 1
Tuesday night 2nd November for 5 consecutive Tuesdays
$375 plus materials

ASB Portraiture Class (foundation)
Starts September 29th for 4 sessions
$155.00

ASB Drawing the Nude
Six week course starting Wednesday night 6:30, 3rd November
$330 plus model fees

Get a NEW Life - a new book by Kaye Fallick ... where Nola appears on page 9! I asked Kaye to talk about her book and she said ... "The idea for Get a New Life came from my role as publisher/editor of Your Life, a life-planning magazine, which exposes me to people who have found new challenges, new vocations or moved to new locations. We read a lot about people who have "successfully" made such changes, but no one ever explains how to plan, afford or practically manage this. Normally the "success" stories are of high profile people with large bank balances - but what about the rest of us? How do you know how fed up you need to be before quitting your job? How do you get the courage to pursue a dream when you have a mortgage to pay? How do you explain to your family you want some time out to find yourself? You know there has to be "more to life", but what is it? To find the answers I interviewed thirty ordinary Australians who had taken the plunge - or who have had a major change thrust upon them. People who had been retrenched, suffered a serious medical setback, or relationship difficulties, as well as those who chose to jump out of the pressure cooker, and try something very different. Their profiles are featured in GANL, interwoven with an explanation of the change process, and how you can look at your own "big picture" and break your dreams down into manageable, achievable steps. Many self-development books encourage you to make a change - but don't supply the start up information - so GANL includes a 50-page resource section with worksheets, books, websites and organisations which might assist.

Interview with a creative person ...

Kiara turned age 5 last month. I changed some of the questions to be age appropriate and I have typed the answers as she said them word for word.

What inspires you?
Kiara= because I feel like it.

Do you believe you are creative?
Kiara= Yeees

What is your frame of mind when you are creative?
Kiara= I think in my mind I like to draw anything that makes me sometimes happy, sad and also angry.

What can hold you back from being creative?
Kiara= I get in trouble for making a mess and sometimes I get tired.

How do you know when to stop?
Kiara= When you write your name on it.

Can your recall a defining moment in your life that led to your current creative expression?
Kiara= When I broke a glass I was 3 years old, and when I help cook, when I paint at Puddle Ducks, um, when I draw rainbows, flowers and butterflies. I paint something in my vision that I see on TV.

Do other peoples opinions influence you and how?
Kiara= I tell them it doesn't matter; you can go and paint your own thing.

Have you needed to resource a process for your creativity?
Kiara= Yes, I need to learn.

Matters of Fact or Fiction 

Mosaic Madness & Art for Strictly Beginners in now introducing a guide sheet on various topics.  We have two ready to send you - one is on mosaicing a terracotta pot and the other is mosaicing an outdoor table.  If you would like one, or both, please email me requesting a Matters of Fact or Fiction guide sheets on the topic of your interest.  I will then email you a PDF file.

    

Martin Cheek Workshop

October 15, 16th & 17th Martin Cheek is back in town - as of the date of this newsletter we have only two places left - no time to dither!

Making a Cintronella Holder

What you we used for this project was

• a Hebel Block 600 x 200 x 200mm
• approx 5 sheets of glass tiles (there's 225 tiles on a sheet) in three different colours
• Primer to prime the Hebel block
• Membrane to waterproof the Hebel block
• Two part adhesive (that's waterproof adhesive)
• 1.5 kilos of grout
• grout additive (to make the grout less porous)
• a citronella holder taken from an old bamboo holder

What you will need to complete this project is

• mosaic glass cutters or regular nippers
• goggles
• disposable takeaway containers for mixing the glue
• 25mm syringes
• disposable gloves
• newspapers
• a sponge
• a grout spreader
• a drill attachment called hole borer to drill the hole in the Hebel Block
• a hammer
• a chisel

Here's what you do

Prepare the Hole for the Citronella Holder in the Hebel Block
1. Find the centre of the Hebel block by drawing two diagonal lines across the top surface.
2. Attached the hole borer to your drill and drill to the depth that the  hole borer allows
3. Chisel out the loose Hebel
4. Take the hole borer back into the hole and drill deeper
5. Again use the hammer and chisel to remove the excess Hebel
6. If needed drill again to the required depth to house the citronella holder

Preparing the Hebel Block

1. Prime the Hebel Block .  We used Ardex Primer
The Hebel Block is very porous and if you use the membrane on it without  the primer you will end up using a whole lot more of membrane because  the Hebel will keep sucking it in.
2. Once the sealer is dry - then paint on two coats of membrane - again we used an Ardex product.
3. Allow a few days to dry

Preparing the Design

1. We started by cutting out different size circles using plates and bases of jars and anything circular.
2. We cut out the circle shapes on brown craft paper and then we began moving them around the surface of the Hebel block.
3. Then we had to decide what shape to cut the 2cm x 2cm. Here are the basic shapes to consider.
a full size tile
a half size tile = rectangle
a quarter size
an oblique - very handy for going around circle shapes and curvilinear movement

Laying In the Design

Having decided on the design and transferring it onto the Hebel Block and also having decided on the shapes and the size of the glass tiles to use, its now time to mix the two part adhesive.

• Use a round takeaway container  preferable one that has a flat base (you can still use the ones that have a rim in the base  its just that the powder may not fully mix into the liquid)
• Fill about a 1/3rd of the container with the powder of the two part and then slowly add the liquid. Mix it to a creamy consistency  if you have added too much liquid simply add more powder.
• Transfer the mixture into a 25mm syringe. Make sure that you fully clean the syringe before starting your work because any glue left at the top of the syringe where you have transferred the glue  will set then you wont be able to pull it apart to clean.  If you have left over glue in your syringe, use blu tack as a stopper - it really stops the air from getting in (thank you Claire for this tip).
• Squiggle the glue only on that part of the surface that yo are ready to lay in the tiles and then glue them down.
• Oh - make sure that you have covered the unused glue that's in your takeaway container  it will remain workable for you for the remainder of the day.
• Once you have finished leave the glue to dry for at least 24 hours and then you can turn the Hebel block to its side and continue creating, cutting and gluing.

Ready For Grout

Have you made up grout sample boards???  No? Then you are not ready for grout. We made up 9 grout sample boards before deciding which colour grout to use for this project. It's important that you do not skip this phase. The wrong colour grout will disappoint you.

Really Ready For Grout

When you have totally finished gluing down your tiles and the glue has dried (24 hours at least must have passed), and you have decided on the colour of grout to use, you are now ready to grout.
Here's the thing with grouting. At this stage we are really eager to see the results of all our creative effort and in our eagerness sometimes this stage is rushed. Clue  don't rush. Grouting takes a bit of time. This project took 1.5 hours to grout and clean.

Here's what you do ... I had ready had a bucket of clean water and sponge and rags handy.

To grout three sides and the top of the citronella holder, 1 kilo of grout was used. Again this fitted nicely into a round takeaway container. I mixed it with water and alternated with the additive called grout booster (approx 50/50 water and grout booster). I let it rest for about 5 mins  stirred it once more and began applying it to the surface. By the time I had finished the third surface it was time to wipe off the excess grout with a damp (not wet) sponge  always turning the sponge to ensure that I was using a clean surface to wipe the excess grout off with. In between wipes you will need to clean your sponge in a bucket of water and squeeze out the excess water  and wipe again.

I only wipe my mosaic surface 2 - 3 times max. then I get a clean rag and begin polishing. This I repeat many times. The effort is worth the result.

Totally Finished

Okay - pop in the citronella holder-  make sure you have some oil in it to burn and that's it. Well kind of. We have some variations for you to play with too.

Idea Variations

Variation 1 - Use glazed ceramic tiles instead of glass ones and create colourful bold flower designs

Variation 2 - Mix your media. Use glass tiles and unglazed tiles  work your design so that it contrasts between the shiny surface of glass and the matt surface of the unglazed tile.

Variation 3 - Use mirror mosaic tiles. It will reflect what's already in your garden.

Nola's Exhibition News

Recently I entered two paintings in the Portia Geach Memorial Award for portraiture, however I was not selected.  My good friend, Lea Kannar, also an exhibiting artist said "it took me 73 attempts before I was selected to be part of an art award".  I immediately felt happy because I realised that I have only 72 more to go!

keep inspired ... Nola