Mosaic » Nebula Aqua http://www.mosaic-blog.com The world of Emma Biggs Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:15:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2 Very good women http://www.mosaic-blog.com/2009/12/very-good-women/ http://www.mosaic-blog.com/2009/12/very-good-women/#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:01:00 +0000 Emma Biggs http://www.mosaic-blog.com/?p=609 As a reward for hard work Sonia took me to Heath Ceramics yesterday – a factory producing tiles and ceramic tableware, founded fifty years ago by Edith Heath. Edith was a fascinating woman. She found a source of clay, developed glazes, and made forms so elegant and practical that many of her originals are still produced today. The material they use still comes from that first clay pit. Edith lived on a houseboat. Space was limited. She needed to hang her cups rather than put them on a shelf. It annoyed her that they hung at a variety of angles, so she decided to design a mug that hung straight. After our tour of the factory, I was sorely tempted by these elegant mugs. Our guide was Lisa Bookstein, HR manager, and by coincidence, a mosaicist, who has great success with her mosaics of marine creatures (‘I’m not sure how I feel about being known as “The Turtle Lady” ’ she told us). Lisa was generous with her time and knowledge, which seems to be part of the Heath sensibility. As we toured, Catherine Bailey, co-owner of Heath, was showing round master craftsman Edward Wohl. Ed’s cutting boards are stocked in the shop. With his white beard and wiry frame, he looked like a pioneer – a man born to understand wood. During the making of Made in England, I have visited many potteries. This one shares, along with Burslem’s wonderful Burgess, Dorling and Leigh, a particular sense of belief in their past and commitment to their future.

Sonia found the turquoise glazes very alluring. She has been using this colour in a wonderful series of mosaics titled ‘Nebula Aqua’ for a San Francisco home. Each ‘nebula’ is made from mineral specimens, glass fusions, beads, shell, smalti, stone, and a wealth of materials of similar hue. Sonia’s real interest is in texture, and the reflective properties of the tesserae. The mosaics sparkle and glint as you move. Having seen them at a number of different times of day, I noticed that as the light fades, the shine from the curved glass diminishes, and the light cast by the opalescent material increases. The effect is impressively mutable. Set into black mortar, they sit on a granular rendered wall. Setting these elements is technically very difficult. The edges of the nebulae alone are masterpieces.

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