I love working with children and young people to encourage their creativity. Making mosaics is a wonderful way to support children to build skills and confidence. It helps with problem solving and fine motor skills, as children need to choose small pieces and put these into place. There is now a vast body of evidence to show that engaging in creative visual activities is good for growing minds and bodies. 

In this article, I included my reflections on working with children and spoke to other experienced mosaic artists and teachers about their ideas and approaches. 
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Remote, arid Australia is full of delightful surprises. It is harsh yes, but there is a light and vastness that opens the heart and mind and can spur creativity. When I lived on the Ngaanyatjarra Lands, Western Australia in 2025, I got a taste of what life can be like on 'The Lands'. The photos explain it better than any words can. I quite a few works  but most importantly have been experimenting with all kinds of materials that have been discarded. Old car bits, petrified plastic, dried orange peel, tin cans, rubber, wire, dried paint from the Art Centre. The air is so dry, materials have a hardness that means they can be used in assemblage.  The geology of the area is also amazing. There is  quartz, agate and my all-time favourite chrysoprase.  I have explained the background to the desert life in my new Substack blog. I am now living here and the plan is to do weekly-fortnightly posts on Substack. If you haven't found this platform yet I strongly recommend you do.

Another well known mosaic artist Rachel Sager has a strong following on Substack too and there are many other excellent writers, artists and thinkers. 

I respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which I work, travel & live, the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation and the  Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Lands of Central Australia. I pay my respects to the spirits, ancestors, elders and community members, and recognise their continuing connection and contribution to the land and waters. 



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