Pay it forward - Vintage Mosaics

Hi I'm Amber from Vintage Mosaics. I have been dabbling in the vast expanse of mosaic art for fifteen years now, and have worked with every different type of mixed media available and have fallen in love with china. I work the direct mosaic method and I have a collection of vintage china mirrors available. 

After the earthquakes I was able to offer an alternative to throwing away the broken bits - offering to make something from them. This is how my workshops were born. 

For the month of September purchase any workshop and bring a friend for free as part of the 'Pay It Forward' designer of the month promotion.

You are actively involved with Pay It Forward, what do you enjoy most about being involved with this project? I have been a part of Pay It Forward for six months, I have met some really lovely creative people and I enjoy being part of this project evolving into something amazing for our community.  It isn't until you immerse yourself into something like this that you realise how many truly talented people there are.

What does an average day look like to you? My average day begins early with the school run, then back home to tie up any lose ends so I can start with a blank slate.

If I have orders I will always be working on these but any new designs are always ticking away as I work. I don't pre-draw or anything, the work just flows and develops as I go and sometimes the end result can be totally different to when you started.  

What does your creative look like? Do you keep sketch/recipe books? Have an online journal? I keep a photo record of pieces I have made in case a customer has seen a particular piece and wants it matched as close as possible. Other than the co-op I sell on-line and have pieces for sale in cafes & galleries in Central Otago where I come from.

My workshops are held at home usually during the day but generally worked around the student, the best part seems to be the smashing of china, they love it!

I enjoy passing on my knowledge and watching the students create their own masterpiece and everyone's personality comes out in their work, then they go home and they have the mosaic bug, it's great to see.

My goal is to continue to teach  & grow my workshops so others can create, it's a lot of fun and I am meeting some very interesting people along the way.  Christchurch has a very intertwined artistic community, and with our city becoming a very unique landscape this community has a great launch pad.