This weekend, Alison Scourti and I are teaching mosaics for the first time at Candili (shown left) on the island of Evvia, Greece.
Three families have signed up and two extra adults but I am not sure whether all of them are going to be mosaicking. Given that the house is set in acres of glorious grounds, that the pool (decorated by Martin Cheek, no less) is full, the beach not far away and the sun is always shining, I suspect that there might be a few deserters.
Preparing for Candili teaching
Still, preparations are underway. Boards have been bought. Designs thought of. Marble ordered and collected from the most amazing marble supplier on earth. Plus numerous lists written, checked and counter checked to make sure we don’t miss a thing. Planning seems so simple when you are sitting at home surrounded by jars of tesserae and drawers full of tools. However, it suddenly seems immensely complicated when you have to ship the whole operation to a temporary new space.
We decided to give everyone the choice of either following a preprepared, relatively simple design, for example: a crab, bird or snail. Alternatively, they can do a bit of experimenting with abstract designs which is Alison’s forte.
This is her current work in progress. As you can see, she makes stunning pieces with natural stone and marble using the indirect method. She’s planning to rustle up a few extra designs too, just in case people prefer to follow her ideas rather than have to dream up something on the spur of the moment for themselves.
We will have two, three-hour sessions and we’ve done a dry run and timed how long it will take to cover the 20cm by 20cm boards. However, I am sure the timing might go a bit hay wire, and we’ll run over time. But just in case our students zoom along (especially the children) we’ll be bringing along plenty of extra boards and marble.
Whatever happens, Candili is one of the places where it’s just nice to be, so I am looking forward to it.