Mosaic is an ancient artform with reported origins stretching back further than the Roman Empire and Ancient Greece. The artform has never disappeared, but it wouldn’t be unfair to say that mosaic oftens sits in the shade of its more lyrical cousins – paint and sculpture. But due to its own deep kinetic feel, mosaic is finding its way back into the light, this time in the hands of Grasmere-based artist, Una Aynsley.
‘It connects you through the years, through the generations’ Una tells me, whilst going through a vast collection of rocks, shells and fossils spreading over the mantel piece of her studio and onto the workbench, which is framed by big Georgian windows looking across the valley of Grasmere over to Heron Pike. ‘In Mesopotamia, they first started doing it before the Greeks and Romans, you know, using shells and rocks, and now it is having a bit of a resurgence!’
Una has been based in Grasmere for the last 11 years, but her life has been lived all over the world. She spent the early years of her life in Hong Kong, before coming back to boarding school in the UK, but during the school holidays, she would return to Hong Kong to help paint the classrooms and murals of the kindergarten her mother managed. From there the artist within her was born, as she started to paint hospital murals and then illustrate a series of educational phonetic children’s books, before going on to study art history at university. Moving around the world, living in Malaysia, New York, LA and Dubai, Una kept painting, working in art galleries, experimenting with sculpture, and delving into aspects of architectural heritage. It wasn’t until she found herself living in London and a restaurant near St Paul’s commissioned her to do a mosaic mural for their interior that she first got a feel for the ancient, ancestral artform.
‘I’m not quite sure how I got the job, but I did. I did this huge mosaic of a monk holding the chalice and it was put behind the bar. I was a mural painter and I was winging it. I didn’t even know how to attach it to the wall!’ Una recollects, but after years of painting dog portraits and flower fairy bedrooms, the introduction to Mosaic had been made, finally connecting her love of geological rock forms, shells and nature, to art and creation. ‘I’ve always collected shells, pebbles, and rocks. Every time I moved house, I would have this box of shells and pebbles and that was the first thing I would unpack. There was something about that history of yourself walking on those beaches. I’ve got fossils, shells, rocks… and I could probably name every beach they’ve come from. That’s the great thing with the style of mosaic I’m doing now; I can use them’ Una says, referring to previously working with the smalti glass she had originally used from the London restaurant installation and had carried with her until she was on an art course in Ravenna, Italy and discovered using natural materials.
‘I was doing an advanced portrait course (in Mosaic) and it was the tutor there who, when I was doing some eyebrows on a formal portrait of my daughter, pointed to some mussel shells and said ‘oh, use those, that purple.’ I just had never thought about using that sort of material’ Una explains. It was when she looked over to the lady next to her and, seeing that she was working on a mosaic of an owl, the first piece of her inspiration was laid.
‘When I got back from Italy, I immediately started making animals with rocks.’ She smiles, gesturing behind her to the hallway wall outside the studio that is filled with many depictions of all animal species: squirrels, otters, hawks, bears, lemurs, foxes and even the ever-faithful Herdwick sheep are all brought to life through a mixture of stone, fossil, metal and more.
‘David Attenborough inspires me’ Una continues. ‘Being a kid in Hong Kong, we didn’t get much TV but we did get David Attenborough. I just love him and everything he’s done, I’ve watched so many wildlife documentaries, whether it’s painting or mosaicking, I am always drawn to animals. David Attenborough has had more of an influence on me than any specific artist.’
Whilst I am chatting with Una and looking at her work, the feeling I get is a sense of connection to the area and the landscape that surrounds us. When I ask her about this, she explains that is because the majority her materials are foraged and found locally.
‘At St Bees, there is a little beach just off the corner at low tide. Its full of little, tiny jaspers and they’re a beautiful colour. There are occasionally agates there as well and the sandstone at St Bees is lovely and easy to cut. Around Derwent, I occasionally get some but every river, lake and even aggregates are all slightly different shapes. Once you start paying attention, in Grasmere, we’ve got beautiful pink rock that is pinkish/purplish in colour – you see it all around Helm Crag and Easdale. Then Keswick has greener slate and each area has a slightly different colour.’ Una shows me and I see the geological colour spectrum of the Lakes open in front of me. Out of what is essentially the same slate, is a palette that would be the envy of any artist, each piece emanating its own unique hue.
Una is keen to point out how accessible and sustainable mosaicking is, encouraging people to just get out there and give it a go. ‘You just need some quite basic tools to get started’ Una explains. ‘I use a tile backer board, which is what they use for the back of a shower. Its relatively cheap and light, so you can make something and hang it on a wall. You don’t have to invest that much if you want to get started in mosaic, tile adhesive is pretty affordable and just experiment with it and learn as you go.’
But if you need that extra helping hand to support you as you find your way in mosaic or just fancy giving it a try, Una is there to help, as she starts to run her own series of workshops and exhibitions from local galleries and spaces. ‘I’m excited to do workshops as well; I love the teaching aspect of it. Just to help people learn about the process and how you can make up anything. Toothpicks, earrings, jam jar lids. Anything can be your material to make up a picture.’
‘It is relatively easy to master but the best thing about it is that is so meditative and calming because its takes time. You’re chipping away, making your own material and then you are planning it, designing it and the time just passes. Its lovely’ Una tells me, highlighting the mindfulness element that mosaic possesses.
The first of these workshops ran at Abbott Hall, Kendal, in October, where the focus was to make botanical flowers from found materials. More workshops will appear on the Lakeland Mosaics website: lakelandmosaics.com and Instagram: @lakelandmosaics when new dates become available. It is also where you can access Una’s work as well as learn more about the process and the artform. In addition, Una exhibits with Green Door Artists: greendoor.org.uk
