A great weekend but sad too

As a past member of the New Zealand Mosaic Art (NZMA) group I had the opportunity to attend a two day workshop, run by Australian mosaic artist Deanna Kernick, on "Realism in Stained Glass". This was held at the Estuary Arts Centre in Orewa. It was great to go back there (it used to be my local arts centre when I lived in Millwater) and to meet up with some of the NZMA members. I joined this group when I attended their Symposium and Workshops, at this location, back in 2016.

Here is an 'in progress' photo of my stained glass mosaic. It is over 20 years since I have done this type of glass work but the skills came back quite easily. It did however remind me why I switched from using stained glass to making mosaics with polymer clay, which I much prefer.

This weekend was great in terms of re-connecting with NZMA members but also very sad, as the organisation will close down on 31 March 2025 due to lack of volunteers to replace those retiring from the committee. I was pleased to be a part of their last event but sorry that this National mosaic art group, with so many talented and passionate members, will cease to exist.

New Zealand Mosaic Art National Exhibition has been Cancelled

So disappointed, but not surprised due to Covid 19, to learn that the Zealand Mosaic Art National Exhibition to be held in Orewa (Auckland) this October/November has been cancelled. It will be re-arranged next year in Whanganui (not so easy for me to get to). Instead, there will be an online competition in November, so I will enter the piece I had created for the exhibition. I will post photographs once the competition has been judged.

Aotearoa - land of the long white cloud

This piece won 1st prize in the 3-Dimensional category in the New Zealand National Mosaic Art Exhibition 2018.

Aotearoa - land of the long white cloud (6 views)

As you look round this spherical sculpture, you will see

• The North and South Islands, with the main towns/cities in grey and the topography in shades of green.
• The Auckland city skyline, with Sky Tower, and some yachts indicated by the white sails. Auckland is often called the 'City of Sails'. Rangitoto Island in tucked in the background
• A sandy beach. There are so many beautiful beaches around New Zealand.
• Mt. Cook and part of the Southern Alps, with one of the many beautiful blue lakes.
• The top end of the 'long white cloud' forms into a spiral shape, reflecting the Maori 'koru' symbol. 

Aroha Nui (with afterglow)

Aroha Nui (with afterglow) - in daylight and darkness

This polymer mosaic is my first one to incorporate ‘glow-in-the-dark’ tiles. They outline the central heart shape when the lights go off, hence the reference to ‘afterglow’ in the title of the piece. Aroha Nui means ‘much love, with deep affection’ in Maori (the language spoken by the indigenous people of New Zealand).

New Zealand National Mosaic Art Exhibition - opening night and prize-giving

General view on the opening night

My two entries were Aroha Nui (with afterglow) and Aotearoa - land of the long white cloud. Now that the judging has taken place, I will post more details of each soon.

Aroha Nui (with afterglow)

Aotearoa - land of the long white cloud

So proud to have won an award, as this is the first time I have entered work in this exhibition.

New Zealand Mosaic Art Inc - New Website

The website for the New Zealand Mosaic Art Inc is now up and running: www.nzmosaicart.co.nz
You can see some of my polymer clay mosaics featured in the Member Gallery

A Review of 2016

This is when I usually review the past year but this year I do not feel like I have accomplished much. Moving home at the beginning of the year took a few months out of my creative time. Four polymer clay workshops at the Estuary Arts Centre were all cancelled due to lack of interest, I had to close the Auckland  Polymer Clay Guild due to lack of participating members, and a few ideas/experiments did not amount to anything. Also, I have tried very hard not to be obsessive and spending every spare minute creating. So all in all it has been a rather depressing year in terms of promoting polymer clay and creating with it.

However, on a more positive note, I have continued with my dot mosaics and received a lot of encouraging comments on the few pieces I have shown, winning the People's Choice award at the Puhoi Art Show and selling a couple of pieces at exhibitions. This year I joined the New Zealand Mosaic Art Organisation (as the APCG no longer exists) and definitely want to continue with the dot mosaics, even if only as a hobby due to the time they take to create.

I do have another 'pocket money' project in the pipeline (Swirl-StoNZ) that needs refining before trialing it in 2017. Maybe this could provide the balance with my dot mosaics, allowing me to create some small items that are profitable to sell, as well as creating the dot mosaic artwork that I am so proud of. 

I made one of my New Year's Resolutions for 2017 to 'be proud of my creative artwork', so I must not lose sight of this in the forthcoming year.

NZMA - a new way forward

Members of the New Zealand Mosaic Art organisation

This was all very last minute but earlier this week I become a member of the New Zealand Mosaic Art organisation, just in time to attend their Symposium and Workshops being held today at the Estuary Arts Centre in Orewa. I had attended the opening of the NZMA national exhibition last night and already met some of the members. Today turned out to be an interesting and exciting event, being present as this organisation (mainly on Facebook) voted to move forward and become a National organisation.

I have always been drawn to stained glass/mosaic work, particularly contemporary styles, but was not sure how my polymer clay mosaics would be received. From the members I spoke to, they were appreciative of anything mosaic, and several actually used polymer clay. I received many complimentary comments on the photos I showed of my dot mosaics. Unfortunately, as I only joined last week, it was too late for me to enter anything in this current exhibition. I will have to be patient, as the next national exhibition will not be until 2018, in Whangarei.

I now feel quite inspired to continue with my dot mosaics, and become involved with this group (as the Auckland Polymer Clay Guild is no longer running). There may even be future opportunities to demonstrate/teach how to incorporate polymer clay with more traditional mosaic materials. 

So many ideas, I just need to decide what to start next - but first my studio needs a thorough clean and tidy!