Community Projects
All Saints C of E
Maira was invited back to All Saint's Church of England School Wellingborough to create a Mosaic with the whole school as a parting gift from the Head Mistress Mrs Hall. Mrs Hall requested that the mosaic depicted all the wonderful aspects she had brought into the school during her time there. Music and singing therefore became predominant in the design along with the church and school. The mosaic was created over a six week period and now highlights the playground with it's happy and playful scene.
Salmestone Primary School's
Salmestone Primary School in Margate Kent requested mosaics depicting their school logo and team emblems. Members of staff designed the pictures and every child in the school participated in both the cutting and laying of the tiles. Older children assisted younger ones and everyone took pride and ownership of the areas they worked on.The children were brilliant and so enthusiastic about the whole project. It was a hectic, fun and rewarding week. Thank-you for inviting me Salmestone!
YMCA St Jude's
Now that they've completed two mosaics, members of YMCA St Jude’s in Kettering are looking for a place to display their work. They want to show the mosaics in Kettering town centre but, long term, the group are hoping they will be displayed in museums across the county. Pauline Woodhouse, who runs the centre says "We are looking for potential places including shop fronts." The project started in December 2008 with the help of Kettering Borough Council and other partners. They wanted to find new ways to engage some of the people who use the drop-in centre. The group met three times a week to learn about alcohol abuse. They also went on days out to continue their education including visiting the bodyworks centre in London. It was during a meeting with some of the group that they came up with the idea of designing a poster that was more relevant to them. Local artist Maira Swanson then helped the group create the mosaics using their designs.
Duston Eldeans Primary School
During Duston Eldeans Primary School Art week, I was invited to work with a selection of classes to produce a school logo Mosaic surrounded by individual pictures of birds, fish and flowers. The children had tremendous fun, working together in small teams to create their individual panels and main section. The Mosaic is sited on the main entrance wall to be admired by all.
Park Infant School
Park Infant School requested a large mosaic mural for their quiet area within the playground. The design had to be suitable for 4-7 year olds, so we opted for a simplistic picture of a park which was to incorporate only 5 colours. Because of the age group involved the vitreous glass tiles were precut into manageable pieces and the design colour coded. We had weeks of fun! With the spare tiles 100 children each created an individual tile which was later sited on the remaining walls surrounding the main mosaic to make a mosaic gallery.
Kingsley School
Over two days I met and worked with the children of Kingsley School in Kettering Northamptonshire. The design was based on the children's drawings of what was important to them within their school. With help from the dedicated staff we managed to cut the tiles quick enough for the children to place them!
Finedon School
"Mini Beasts" was the theme for the Finedon School Mosaic. 6 x 6inch panels of insects and small animals were created by children and parents to surround the main panel. The apple tree was designed and produced by two parents, who spent many enjoyable hours putting it all together.
A strong team of parents dedicated over 22 hours to create this large Mosaic. The Head wanted to embrace the multi cultural aspect of their school, the local church, the symbol of peace and the school. The parents designed the mosaic based on the main requirements and set to work. The mosaic now greets everyone that visits the school with it's strong message.
Wooton school discussed the importance of Friendship, learning and the need to respect one another. The results are shown within their mosaics as they had to work as a team, whilst learning a new skill and respecting each other during the process.
The Rothwell Mosaic was created by the children in year 6 of 2007 to depict the historic buildings and annual Rowel Fair. It now stands proudly on an external wall overlooking the school playground.
As part of the 'Art Sweep' week, Ise Brook Community School in Kettering involved 35 students to design and create a A4 mosaic. Each completed mosaic was placed together to create 2 amazing panels. One is situated at the entrance of the school, the other in the main hall.
As a parting gift to their school, the year 6 children of 2007 created this colourful religious mosaic designed by Byron Mcleish over a period of 7 intensive weeks. At present it is sited in their main hall, but the intention is to incorporate the mural into the new school build.
A class of year 3 children from All Saint’s Primary School in Wellingborough won the funding to create a Mosaic for their entrance hall. The children were passionate about their mosaic and worked extremely hard. The team work was incredible. On route from their classroom to the workspace they organised amongst themselves who was to paste and who was to place the mosaic tiles. On the days when members of the class had to concentrate on school work the children always popped in to check the progress of their Mosaic.
14 dedicated women attend the Corby Women's Centre to create mosaic items for their home or garden. In 2007 their completed pieces were entered for the annual Topps Tiles Competition. One of the ladies won the regional division and a handsome 100 pound plus an automatic entry into the finals. The group are now in the process of creating a Welcome Sign for the entrance hall of the centre.
From the competition entries, small sections from the winning pictures were used to compile the final design. Set dates and times were advertised in the village gazette and locals of all ages attended the sessions to make their village mosaic. Initially the mosaic will be sited at Oundle and King's Cliffe School before being transferred to other prominent areas in the village.
Gretton Homes are dedicated to adults who suffer from the complex PRADER WILLI SYNDROME. Since september 2007 they have all demonstrated exceptional skills in this art form. Two of the residence are at present working on a sign for their Nature Trail at the main Gretton House.
A committed team of parents got together over six, two hourly sessions to produced a 'Welcome' for their school. The whole concept from beginning to end came from a collection of suggestions from the team. The group then split into two, one focused on the border pictures the other on the central part of the mosaic.
The parents of avondale worked together to create a mosaic of their children's school emblem. While some parents had a 'SMASHING TIME' breaking up the ceramic tiles, the others pieced together the broken bits to make the finished product. The children meanwhile each made A5 mosaics which were put together as a panel.
Children worked with their parents to create functional mosaic items for their Christmas Fayre. Mirrors, coasters, picture frames and wall plaques were sold and the money made was donated to the school funds. The adults involved learnt a new skill which they also shared with other family members and made unusual, unique gifts from home for christmas.
COMMOTION IN THE OCEAN, was the theme behind this delightful Mosaic. Every child from the reception year ( 2008) designed an under water creature and with the help of a family member transferred their drawings into mosaic. The individual sections were then put together by a group of parents from Avondale Junior School to produce this wonderful, bright and colourful wall mural.
Every child within Woodford C.E. Primary School, Woodford Northamptonshire was involved in the transformation of the entrance and playground of their school. This was achieved each child creating their own personalised 'OWLBERT' who is a predominate character throughout the whole school.
Abigail's Memorial Garden was created by St Edward's school in Kettering. Every class member submitted their ideas based on a specific theme and then one was chosen. Over a period of 6 weeks the children within the school were taught how to cut and place the vitreous glass tiles, and each class in turn produced their individual panels. The main panel was created with a core group of year 5 and 6. The results say it all!