Autumn at t'mill

Well hello my lovelies!

It has been an AGE since I last blogged.  Nearly a year!

I promise to get my act into gear now I have updated my blog page theme.  Prettier, methinks.

It has been a SUPER busy year; settling into the new, bigger studio, holding lots of workshops in and out of the studio. Here are some images of recent projects:

A lovely workshop with lovely ladies who all produced a mosaic table top.

A little girl's 5th Birthday Party with foam mosaic frames.

My new Husband and I! Our honeymoon patio. 

Yes - I finally got married in April. Told you it was a busy year!

Mosaic ducks and butterflies at a BUPA nursing home.

A3 mosaic for a local church.

Mosaic making at Barnaby Craft Cafe 2013

90 mini mosaics created and installed in the new gardens at Bexton Primary School.

Community mosaic in sheltered housing in Macclesfield.

Well dressing at local nursing home.

Well dressing designs and support at St John's Primary school, Bollington

Creative therapy at a mental health centre in Manchester

Creative therapy mosaic plant pots (and planting!) at nursing home

1m2 mosaic at Bushbury Hill Primary school in Wolverhampton

Mosaic workshops at the studio

Launch of new 'White Nancy Giftware' range. This image shows my Shamballa bead wine glass charm in a hand made origami box.

Pre-grouted White Nancy mosaic

Well, as you can see, I really have been busy. There are lots of other things going on too such as our Autumn programme for adults and children's workshops in half term.

If you would like to see how you can come and learn a new skill or even expand on existing ones, please get in touch, I would love to hear from you.

kindest regards

Debbie (Mrs!)

xx

Life Drawing in Bollington

Phew - I think our life model was the only person in the room at the right temperature tonight!  Not complaining, though - we don't get enough of the sun.

Thank goodness I got a fresh bottle of water in for the cooler - we ran out half way through the class (as I thought we might!) and our model very kindly lifted it on as it was very heavy!

A nice easy, relaxed session, we started with four 'north, south, west, east' poses and then we decided on which medium to use before a 15 minute then a 40 minute pose.

It is great to see beginners get to grips with different materials, experimenting to find which suits them best.

As I always say - there are only two rules in art to consider and that is 'is it safe?' and 'is it legal?' apart from that, try anything new.

We do have places left on our course but only one or two.  

I run small groups for beginners only and we have some sessions with a model (alternating between male and female) and then without so we can look more in depth at what you want to learn.

Just £15 a session plus £5 to the model when we have one.

I run relaxed, friendly yet informative classes where you go at your speed without having to do an exam.  

There are progression routes to move onto.

Lentil and Red Pepper Wednesday!

Last night was a wonderful session with our new life model.  Very pleasant manner and settled right into the group!

We had a couple of students off last night which meant I got time to do some drawing myself without detriment to the remaining students.  Such bliss! Forgot how gorgeous working with oil pastels are!

Well, in this morning, soup on, easels put away and table out for mosaic ladies.

Some 5 to 20 minute sketches from last couple of weeks:

Have been really looking forward to this dragonfly being grouted - this picture is just before it was cleaned up. It is gorgeous but I messed up the completed photograph!

Looking good!

Hive of industry!

 You can see the beautiful dragonfly in the background and Georgina's beautiful fairyland mosaic coming on a treat.

Tip of the day! Do not throw out left over grout - fashion it into a shape (like I did with this heart) and mosaic over it!

The benefit of coming to class is being able to bounce ideas off each other - and we did plenty of that today!

Love the change in colour Sue decided on and the extra depth of tesserae is going to make the number really stand out!

And of course, the soup! Recipe at the bottom.  I would like to say a HUGE thank you to Georgina who made some drop-dead gorgeous wholemeal and poppyseed bread to dip in today.  I love Soup Wednesdays!

Lentil and Red Pepper Soup:

1 bag of red lentils - cook as per packet instructions, rinse and drain.

1/2 x courgette, washed and finely chopped

2 x sticks celery, washed and finely chopped

1 x large red pepper, washed and finely chopped

1 x stock cube

salt and pepper to taste

chili and garlic flakes to taste

mixed herbs

3 x tablespoon tomato puree

 small cup of semi skimmed milk

Put the milk aside to add before serving.

Put everything in the slow cooker and cook on high for 2 hours - reduce to low for final hour.  Blitz with a hand blender until semi smooth then add milk.

Serve with homemade bread and laughter!

Mosaic Madness!

I'm getting a bit giddy with the amount of broken tiles and beautiliscious mosaics happening, here at the studio!

If you look carefully, you can see the slow cooker (well away from danger of glass contamination!) which had this morning's soup bubbling away.

Janet - your dragonfly is gorgeous, cannot wait to see it finished and I can see you have another on the go too! Mosaic bug has bitten hard! 

Georgina - I adore your fairy and toadstools! 

I forgot to take a picture of your fish! It was gorgeous - please email me a photo or bring it back.

A lovely quick pique assiete saucer waiting to be grouted - on a mission to make many mosaics for Maker's day in Macclesfield, this Saturday at the Heritage Centre.

Mosaics from £15!

Join our lovely mosaic course - just £15 a session plus materials - lunch is included! What value!

Nearly forgot, here's this weeks soup recipe:

You will need:

1 x bag of ready washed and chopped casserole veg

1 x tin tomato soup

1 x tin butter beans

1 x handful small pasta shapes

1 x teaspoon herbs de provence

1 x cup of water

salt to taste

garlic and chilli flakes

dash of milk

You can tell I was on the hoof this morning! 

Yes - just put it all in the slow cooker (pasta shapes in the last hour and milk just before serving) and stir occasionally.

I 'whizzed' some of it with the hand blender so it was a thick, wholesome soup.

Yum!

Life Drawing at Adelphi Mill

Whereas it is nice to have a break, I do love it when my students return.  I have been so busy in the studio that I have not had time to blog!


Last night was a lovely session with my beginners' group.  I am so proud of the way they are coming along! 


We had the wonderful 'Fleet Foxes' in the background which set a lovely tone for the session. 

I am only sorry I did not take photographs of the fabulous poses Hannah produced for our 1 minute sketches but this was a great pose for our half hour study.

Although tiny, the studio can comfortably accommodate 5 students during a life drawing class.

We are having a break from the model next week as we will be looking more at colour mixing and experimenting with different paints.

Last night

Jackie - The Album and Broken Glass

It has been a wonderful morning! 

Janet, you were missed but we do wish you a lovely holiday.

Congratulations Georgina and thank you for the VERY naughty (but oh my goodness - they were gorgeous!) cream cakes to celebrate the safe arrival of your new granddaughter.

Despite the rain and grey of the morning, it seemed extremely sunny in the studio today.  We had a lot of laughs.

Our music of the day was 'Jackie, The Album' which set off a stream of reminiscence - Donny or David Cassidy, putting singles on repeat, over and over again...they were the days!

I am LOVING Georgina's latest idea for her children's cupboard in the bathroom.  

Sue's number plate for her house is gorgeous - the photo does not do it justice! 

Really looking forward to seeing this grouted next week.

 Well, it is a different soup every week and I was a little unsure of this one.  I enjoyed it and think it was one of my best - I just hope I can remember everything I put in it...

RED CABBAGE & AUBERGINE SOUP

Serves 4

1/8th x red cabbage
1/2 x aubergine (slice and layer with salt to remove bitterness, for 10 minutes, then wash before use)

1/4 x onion

1/4 x medium sweet potato

1 x celery stick

1/4 x sweet red pepper

1/2 x tin butter beans, drained.

2 L x Hot vegetable or chicken stock (I used chicken AND vegetable stock)

1/2 x teaspoon garlic and chili flakes

1 x mug of passata
1 x teaspoon Herbs de Provence


Wash and chop finely all the vegetables. Place ALL ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on HIGH for  3 hours, partially liquidise then reduce to MEDIUM for 1 hour. 
Optional, add splash of semi skimmed milk.


Do let me know if you use my soup recipes and if you like them.

Treacle and Soup

I really enjoyed Sunday at the Treacle Market, setting up a table outside Mike's new shop, mosaicing with my gorgeous SMALTI.

I do not know where this week has got to!  It has been a wonderfully creative week, making coasters with children on Sunday, water colour beach scenes at Mount Hall and Mosaic Club on Monday, shifting 360 kilos glass yesterday and my mosaic group this morning.

I DO love Wednesdays.  I got a little excited today as my new slow cooker arrived so I could do a bigger batch of soup! Recipe at the end.

Janet and Georgina's mosaics are coming on so well - really proud of you girls! 

Well, the slow cooker worked.

I do not think I could EVER be able to run a cafe serving soup, I would not be able to make the same soup twice!

Here is what we had this week:

3 x small potatoes 

4 x small carrots 

2 x celery sticks

1/2 x white onion

1 x vegetable stock cube

1 x chicken stock cube

2 x fresh cloves garlic

1 x bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1 x tablespoon cous cous

garlic and chili flakes to taste

1.5 litres water

splash of semi skimmed milk

Do not peel the vegetables - just the onion and garlic. 

Chop everything up small.

Place everything except the milk in the slow cooker on 'high' for 3 hours. Stir occasionally.

Optional - whizz half the soup with a hand blender and add the milk before serving.

I would actually have liked pearl barley in this but it was tasty nevertheless.