Six day mosaic course in Greece, 2018

Join me for a six day mosaic course in Greece from July 6th to 13th, 2018. The traditional and contemporary mosaic course will take place at the Lagou Raxi Hotel, Pelion, Greece, and is suitable for beginners as well as more established mosaic artists.

Six day mosaic course in Greece, 2018.

Can I start by saying thank you? Thank you to my lovely students who came to my first ever residential mosaic course in Greece in September 2017 and who were a pleasure to work with and a joy to get to know. Thank you to Bern, Jonathan, June, Mary, Mike and Tracey who all worked with such gusto and enthusiasm and produced such impressive mosaics.

Two of the group had never made a mosaic before in their lives, one was a professional mosaic artist of many years standing and three had attended classes or started making mosaics at home but were still relatively new to the art. They came from Australia, Israel, Ireland and the UK,  from different worlds and diverse lives, and yet through all six ran the same vein of light hearted companionability, quiet determination, and impressive dedication to their work.

Mosaic course in Greece: what to expect.

The course, which caters for a maximum of eight students, includes six hours of tuition for four days and four hours for the other two days. Every day starts with a hearty breakfast on the hotel terrace.

It would have been entirely forgivable to have felt a niggle of temptation to carry on sitting gazing out over the Pagasetic Gulf or to slip under a sun umbrella next to the pool. But if the mosaic team were harbouring such rebellious thoughts, they kept them buttoned up and every morning at 9am they headed down to the studio and set to work chopping, nibbling, and laying their tesserae while chatting, sharing playlists and replenishing themselves with tea, coffee and biscuits. For lunch, we would reconvene and wander off down to the village square to try out one of the excellent family-run tavernas.

Later, we’d be back in the studio for another couple of hours of mosaicking before meeting up again on our beloved terrace for a well deserved G ‘n’ T or glass of wine followed by supper in the hotel. Over the course of the week I also gave three short talks on the history of Roman mosaics, an overview of contemporary mosaics and the use of andamento in mosaics. The short days gave us a chance to go down to the shore to swim, try out the fish tavernas and visit a nearby Byzantine monastery.

The course is primarily taught using the direct method on a marine plywood base but there is also a chance to make a mosaic on mesh. All of the materials used are .5cm-thick local stones and marbles which come in a range of beautiful colours. The thickness of the stone, which is custom ordered, means that there is no need to use the hammer and hardie thus saving time and allowing students to progress with their work.

As passionate (and, frankly, obsessed) I am about making mosaics, I have to concede that this mosaic course in Greece is not just about mosaics. It’s also about discovering one of the most unspoilt and beautiful parts of the country, of eating fresh, local food and making the most of the hotel’s great range of French, Italian and Greek wines. In antiquity, when the Gods of Mount Olympus needed a change of scene, they chose Mount Pelion as their summer residence. As soon as you arrive, you will see why.

If you’d like to join me you will find most of the  information about the course  here: Pelion_MOSAICS_2018 leaflet

For additional information, please contact Sue at Lagou Raxi Hotel: sue@lagouraxi.com. And don’t forget to read: Four Great Reasons to Join a Mosaic Course in Pelion to get a further insight into what the week will entail.