Having retired from the construction industry, student Susan decided to use her spare time to develop a new hobby where she could also acquire some new creative skills. 

At this time Susan had also inherited several pieces of Chinaware from her mother and decided that she could put them to good use by repurposing them, which is when she signed up for the part-time mosaics class at Greenwich Park Centre.

Once engaged with the class, Susan was quickly hooked on creating imaginative art for the garden, concentrating on exotic birds and flamingos, incorporating lots of vibrant colours.

Susan says:

“Most of the subject matter is determined by the Chinaware or tile available and not on any set criteria.

“The dragons were influenced by the purchases of plates from charity shops – anything with a gold rim!

It wasn’t long before Susan’s confidence grew, and she started experimenting with other, more complex and unusual materials:

Susan’s previous work was more based around abstract art. She then went on to experiment with producing horses, foxes and even a Barbie doll.

Working with glass was another adventure. After initially trying to create a small fox, I progressed onto the horse’s head and then onto the Barbie Dolls,” says Susan.

Inspired by the beautiful orient, Susan recently created a large Chinese dragon – a piece of work which features three Koi carp fish and a beautiful dancing Geisha girl.

Susan’s current subject matter is heavily influenced by Japanese and Chinese based artwork which she has drawn freehand using her vivid imagination.

Feel inspired to develop your creative skills? Apply here to start one of our many courses at Greenwich Adult and Community Learning today.