in a trough

Last summer, my brother experimented with making some concrete planters using old shoeboxes as moulds. One of them dried too fast in the heat and cracked, so he gave it to me. I decided to add my own finish, and used a variety of little pieces of tile to cover it. They were originally expensive, designer tiles, ex-display stock, which someone gave me. I'd cut them into pieces one dingy afternoon in the Spring (2008) when I din't know what else to do, or without knowing why I was chopping them up - they just looked better in small pieces! I took it out into the street to grout it and, as usual, got plenty of passers-by stopping to chat and admire. Great way to get to know your local community.

sun and moon

In late June 2008, I was ready to replace the temporary base for the woodburner with something more solid and raised. With the help of a friend, I mixed wheelbarrowsfull of concrete for the new base. Surprising how much is needed, and without a cement mixer it's hard work! I'd decided to pebble the base, and tile the wall behind with some tiles which had been left in the outbuildings to the house of some friends. The previous owners had left them there. For the middle of the base, I had an ex-manhole cover from the tip; it's round with a wave pattern on. In the middle of working on this project, a good friend and neighbour from here died in rather tragic circumstances - he was only 39. My woodburner base and back looked just like a tombstone, and I found it hard to continue with it. After a week of forcing myself to crack on, it was finished, but even with the woodburner back in situ, it still looked like a cemetary monument. A few days later, I hit on the idea of extending it, so that it was no longer so angular. I had the idea of using a Mexican sun tile someone once gave me, and building it up from there. I had a load of dark blue, and some red tiles in the cellar, which I'd found along with others, in an old barn the summer before. All I needed was something yellow, and a few days later I went to a car boot sale and came away with some 1960s yellow bathroom tiles, and a couple of mirror tiles, and that same afternoon, I spent in the sunshine in the garden cutting the yellow and red tiles into little rectangles, and the mirrors into random flame shapes. The next day the sun section was finished. That evening I decided that the following day I'd put a moon on the other side, using some grey tiles from the same barn stash. I was sorry I didn't have a face for the moon, which would match the one on the sun, so I used a bit of mirror. a few days later at another car boot sale, I found a little ceramic moon face, and as soon as I got home, I drilled out the mirror and replaced it with the little moon. It no longer looks like a tombstone!

30/04/09: Look at later postings to see the lovely woodburner which now replaces the trusty old temporary one

stepping up

In 2006, after knocking down the hallway walls and then moving the front door to be flush with the front wall instead of set back inside the house, all the front steps had to be built up the depth of a full step. There was a gap of about 2 inches left under the door, and I spent all winter with a draught excluder roll thing, trying to keep out the wind and dust. I couldn't work out the best solution to the problem, then one morning, in mid-June, it was obvious - tile it, then of course, tiling became mosaicing.....

I found some inspiring images of the stairways in San Francisco. http://mosaicartsource.wordpress.com/2006/12/28/mosaic-stairs-san-francisco-golden-gate-heights/

Because my flight of steps is not high, I decided to decorate the treads, not the face as on the SF ones, which climb right up the hillsides. Inspired by the Gaudi benches in Barcelona, my steps feature random broken tiles from the tip, slate pebbles and some not so random bits cut out of some expensive, ex-display tiles.

During the four days it took me to complete the work, the sun beat down and it was really hot. Sadly for me, but luckily for the tiling, I was working in the shade all day long. I had lots of people stop and comment, and my initial concerns that Ménéac was not ready for this, were soon dispelled. Four months later, people still stop and tell me how pretty they are.