Our Future – mosaic artwork is now complete

Here is the finished piece.

“Our Future” by Claire Fairweather

30.5cm x 30.5cm, polymer clay tiles on canvas

Designed for the NZ Art Guild Annual Members Exhibition 2011

This mosaic tile artwork has been designed to show the different phases of love during the course of a lifelong relationship – the future for a couple in love

Key to the meaning behind each tile – start at the bottom left hand corner and work round in a clockwise spiral to the centre

5	6	7	8	9
4	19	20	21	10
3	18	25	22	11
2	17	24	23	12
1	16	15	14	13

1	The heart is a universal symbol of love, which is something most people want to experience during their life-time
2	The script style writing reminds me of old fashioned hand-written diaries, where young women often write about their thoughts and feelings for the future
3	The butterflies represent that feeling you get when you first fall in love, along with the dreams, hopes and wishes of how you would like the future to be
4	Is Cupid really responsible for the initial attraction to that special person in your life?
5	Flowers are often given as a gift of love
6	Romance – the word can be written with a flourish and it certainly brings happiness and excitement to everyday life
7	Your heart seems to be bursting with joy when you are in love
8	The blooming rose symbolises a growing relationship
9	The lace texture is evocative of lingerie, worn when a relationship becomes more intimate
10	Passion – this phase in a relationship can be very intense
11	The lips symbolise a kiss, which is often given with great passion
12	The tying of two ribbon ends into a bow, symbolises the joining of two beings as one
13	This tile bears my signature seal, which is incorporated into a pattern of hearts, hugs and kisses
14	Love – the word is impressed into the tile with strength like the emotion it conveys
15	An engagement ring symbolises the beginning of a lifelong committed relationship
16	Commitment – as defined in a marital relationship
17	Wedding bells ring out the joy of marriage
18	The linked hands represent the joining together of two people in holy matrimony
19	A loving background forms the basis of a stable, long-term relationship
20	Shelter and protection are symbolised by the house
21	The different layers within the heart reflect the different types of love
22	The tiny hand and foot prints represent a new arrival
23	Having children makes a family
24	Caring for your partner and family never ceases
25	Into grey, old-age two hearts should still be entwined as one