blueBanksia

by Kari Scruby

It all started with a chat on Facebook, a friend just happened to mention that she had to go and finish the mosaic she was doing. Mosaic? I had made a mosaic table when I was 12 and remembered it very fondly as good fun.

As I'd been feeling a bit flat I thought I'd like to try my hand at mosaic again. I searched the internet and discovered there was a two day workshop that weekend which sounded great but it was already 4.30 pm on Friday afternoon. I quickly sent an email asking if I was too late.

Ten minutes later Nola rang me and told me I was not too late and I'd be more than welcome. Nola then told me I needed to bring a few things but not to panic if I couldn't get things because she had everything anyway and I could borrow if necessary. The list of things included protective goggles, scissors, felt pen, a visual diary, a towel and my pattern drawn on a 31cm square piece of paper.

The next day armed with my pattern and the other things I could muster I headed off to Rozelle to my mosaic workshop. I was very excited and all traces of feeling flat were gone.

nolastudio is a great space and the other three women doing the course were very friendly and we were all eager to start creating our masterpieces. Leonardo – Nola's kavoodle dog (King Charles Spaniel Poodle X) was friendly too.

Nola gave us a lesson on the basics of mosaic and the different cuts and the equipment we needed and then we were shown how to cut the tiles safely hence the safety goggles. We then taped our patterns to a piece of wood and topped it with contact paper, sticky side up, so the tiles could be moved around if necessary.

The time went very fast and Nola had to prise us away to have our lunch. After lunch we ploughed on with our mosaics and then at day’s end Nola helped us come to terms with our creativity with a very enjoyable chat. We were all rapt with our work and didn't want to go home and couldn't wait to return in the morning.

Sunday morning we all just got in there and worked on our projects with lots of laughter because we knew we were still novices but we all had our individual styles and our mosaics were taking shape and looking good.

After lunch Nola showed us some slides of different mosaics, different styles and techniques which inspired us all even more and the rest of the afternoon was spent finishing our pieces. Once finished Nola glued it on to another piece of wood and we were instructed to leave the contact paper on for 24 hours. We were then sent home with a bag of grout and instructions on how to finish off our masterpieces.

It was a great weekend and I enjoyed it immensely. I was, however, sad because it was over but luckily I discovered that Nola is overseeing a huge Community Project sponsored by Leichhardt Municipal Council and Railcorp and needs volunteers every Tuesday to help create a large-scale mosaic for the Hawthorne Canal Community Mosaic Mural.

Luckily I had the next Tuesday off work and so I went with a friend. There were 10 volunteers all very friendly and helpful people. The mural is an underwater scene and children from the local school have made all the fish and we volunteers are doing the background. It is all mapped out and the more experienced volunteers teach the newbies what to do.

It was so much fun and a real win-win situation. My friend and I learnt lots, met some really nice new friends, we were being artistic and we were helping the community. The project runs from 10am until 2pm but most people stayed until 5pm because it was so enjoyable. I highly recommend it.

Contact Nola by visiting her website or phone Nola on 02 9818-7471.