- 24/04/2025
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00:00The UK has long been a world leader in heritage crafts from stained glass design to wood carving
00:20from silversmithing to wheel writing these skills have been kept alive by a dedicated few
00:27championing both their historical significance and their enduring worth but with fewer students
00:34taking up these skills and a limited number of masters left who are going to pass on this
00:40knowledge there's a real risk that these crafts will be lost forever so in this series we've
00:46invited 12 dedicated junior crafters who are starting out on their crafting journeys hoping
00:53to specialize in letterpress printing blacksmithing stone carving and this week we enter the meticulous
01:03world of mosaics attention a lot of attention and they'll take part in a masterclass of a lifetime
01:10mentored by a world leader in their craft to maintain these traditions of crafting excellence
01:16and help keep these heritage crafts alive and tonight's masterclass is with virtuoso mosaicist
01:23Paul Siggins I love the fact that I'm doing something that's been done for hundreds and
01:30hundreds of years it is one of the oldest art forms and I also take eye-opening trips back in time
01:37through Britain's past witnessing how the masters of old created our rich cultural heritage so welcome
01:45to master crafters the next generation our three junior crafters are determined to keep the enduring
01:59techniques and artistry of mosaic making alive with a keen appreciation for organic forms and a love of
02:08the great outdoors Jessica Ridler with an exacting eye and passion for precision Jermaine McLeod I'm a junior
02:21mosaicist I'm learning from a master mosaicist I'm excited inspired by a love of vibrant color and
02:28exuberant design maverick mosaicist Danny Bellow I'm so new to mosaics for me to get to know a master
02:38crafter in an art that I love I'm so excited I feel so great for this opportunity welcome guys welcome to
02:49the barn how are you feeling about today excited to get going the mosaic master crafter you're gonna meet
02:55today has lived and breathed mosaic in his whole life he's a real guru of the tile if you will are
03:03you ready to meet our master crafter yeah okay let's go nestled in rural Cambridgeshire our master
03:11classes are being held in a grade two listed barn parts of which date back to the late 13th century
03:18hey Paul good to see you good to see you Paul hi Danny Jessie and Jermaine this is Paul Siggins
03:28mosaic master renowned British mosaicist Paul Siggins is known for his contemporary and innovative
03:35approach to the ancient art of mosaic making with over four decades of experience Paul has created a
03:44wide range of public and private artworks blending traditional techniques with modern designs a lot
03:52of my work tends to be very large-scale projects 40 and 50 square meter that is really my forte his work
04:02is celebrated for its vibrant colors intricate patterns and ability to transform spaces with striking visual
04:10impact with mosaics I've been doing them for years you're always learning although I'm always inspired
04:20by heritage and classical mosaics I've always tried to push the boundaries if we don't keep getting people
04:27excited about crafts and are in general it just won't be there any longer I feel it's really important
04:34to keep passing my craft on to the next generation Paul has had a studio here in Southend-on-Sea for
04:45over 35 years and in that time he's established himself as one of the UK's most acclaimed mosaicists
04:52from major public commissions to bespoke artistic creations it's the sheer breadth of Paul's portfolio
04:58that marks him out as a real mosaic master yes love it it's a nice studio spot it's also like a
05:11sweet shop you know that's amazing when you look at the colors you know that you can get it's sweet
05:17shop like but don't eat don't eat it this glass that's the first law of mosaic don't eat it yeah
05:23tell me about what you do here it's probably easier if I show you these absolutely brilliant
05:31just we've got all these different colors so this is a Venetian small tea so it's still made in the
05:37in in Venice in factories there about a hundred thousand colors they do in this material it's a
05:44gorgeous material the way that it attracts the light it's been made like this for hundreds of years
05:50Paul uses a traditional hammer and hardy to split the tiles or as they're known tesserae a trusty
05:58combo that's been around since the Roman and Byzantine days you're using the weight of it all right let
06:05the hammer do the work would you like to have a go Bill yeah go on then yeah all right okay and then
06:14you just sort of rest it on the top so the hammer you want to be sort of about midway on the hammer so
06:19you're pretty much hitting it over the hardy almost in line in line with it yes yes kind of
06:25you just sort of give it a little chat oh it's not doing it you probably just need a little bit
06:33extra bit more extra welly bit more welly there you go look at that that's it perfect yeah natural
06:41there you go but it just sort of split apart there was not really any effort no it's just
06:47the weight of the the head of the hammer so I just sit here then for a bit yeah just finish those ones
06:52for okay then yeah all right cheers so now I'm going to show you the circular nippers yeah so if
07:02you if you're looking straight down so you can see the wheel is sort of directly in front of you
07:07yeah and then we're going to pick up one of these tiles right and we're just going to chop that in
07:12a half basically so you put it put it there right in the middle of that tile like that yeah and then
07:18simple snip oh oh look at that that's as good as mine there you go oh that's it you know I find
07:24this very therapeutic though Paul I gotta say and it's all go no slow as Paul takes me through the
07:31next stage of the process so here I've just got some cement based adhesive so we're sticking to a
07:38cement based board so I'm just going to paste this on here and it's just getting the right sort of
07:43depth so you don't want to do too much and then it's just this is just sort of like making your own
07:49jigsaw really isn't it you can just work with the pieces or if you ever done any crazy paving Bill
07:54do you know what I think I have yeah great yeah nice very nice yeah very pleasing very pleasing
08:08one of the things I pick up on from you is that you love teaching do you think it's important that
08:15you pass on your skills to the next generation I'm passionate about that to be honest and and even
08:22though when we're busy on commission work I always make time for my schools projects I've worked with
08:28probably thousands of school kids if just the tiniest small percentage of those people took it up
08:34as a craft or inspired them to take up another craft hmm that would be amazing yeah I'd feel like
08:40I'd really achieve something and it's Paul's passion for community projects which brings us to West Lee
08:47Junior School ah so here it is that's great every child in the school came and worked on it the school
08:56actually got photographer to take images of the children in the school doing their favorite subjects and
09:02then we use those to create the silhouettes every piece on there was put on by a child here it is
09:09you know you know a busy junior school kids coming in and out and it's just a permanent reminder a
09:16brilliant celebration of all of the kids who were in the school at the time well I bet those kids are
09:22now growing up a bit they'll go passes and they'll say yeah that's me and also they remember exactly what
09:28bits they've done yeah that's the beauty as well yeah yeah it's a lovely piece of wood today we're
09:38going to set you a challenge of creating a mosaic about your everyday life you're going to be using
09:44traditional sort of materials but we want you to sort of push the boundaries of mosaic expressions
09:50yeah we really want you to show us something special so we're going to be doing the reverse
09:55indirect method that's when you're creating something off-site yeah exactly that bill there's
10:00many forms of indirect but this this is called the reverse indirect but it's exactly that so you can
10:06create a mosaic in your studio it's a very good method to learn and to get to grips with what's the
10:13first stage first stage is to draw your design onto your brown paper you can be as detailed as you
10:19like these particular vitreous glass that we're going to be using obviously the flat side is what
10:25you're going to see when it's complete but we're going to be placing that face down into the glue which
10:30is a dissolvable water-based glue are you familiar with these yes you've all used circular cutters yeah
10:35that's good so we've we've a mosaic like this we're going to start in the center this is the
10:42washable PVA I might just paste that little section there mm-hmm in the indirect reverse
10:48method the tessera those little tiles get laid face down on a temporary backing this Roman era
10:56trick lets artists assemble their masterpieces off-site piece by piece before shipping them
11:01to their final destination perfect for those grand intricate projects where working in situ just isn't an
11:09option thing the interesting thing for me about this is that the fact that you are working in
11:14reverse that's going to be quite a bit of a sort of a new new territory for you isn't it what's your
11:20tips for the gaps that you're leaving leaving those gaps is very important so about two millimeters if
11:26you do the mosaic too close together it will expand when you apply the glue then you apply your pieces
11:30and then when it dries it will shrink again so if you don't leave those gaps when it shrinks it will
11:35become a very uneven surface well I've got another one now I could that's a little bit further on
11:41it's almost like you've really you've really thought about this Paul the term for the flow of the
11:50mosaic is is referred to as the opus and this is opus vermiculatum which is basically when you're
11:57creating a form with the flow of the pieces as well so you're using the flow so not not only to mix
12:03your blend your colors you're using it to create the form and we've created the form of this sphere
12:08now the little tip I'm going to show you next it's just doing a highlight and a low light now I've got
12:12that sphere I want to give it just a little extra something so I'm going to cut these white as thin
12:20as I can possibly get them so we're just going to do a little line around there but it gives it more
12:27energy yeah it definitely does and it will really make it stand out from its background have you guys
12:33done this sort of thing before no never I haven't either I've done it a few times before yeah right
12:39okay so you had some experience so what's your experience in of this kind of so I've I've done
12:45my sex for about two three years I started during Covid yeah I go to a weekly class with my mum
12:51design engineer Jessie is a bona fide craft connoisseur with a passion for all things
12:58handmade I do calligraphy I mosaic I crochet but mosaics have been a constant since 2020 I first
13:09became aware of mosaics when my mum started going to a weekly class and then during Covid the classes
13:16stopped she asked if I wanted to do a mosaic at home with her so me and her did one together
13:20of a coronavirus using bits of old jewelry and mirrors and slate that had fallen off the roof
13:25of the house I think to learn from somebody that's a master in the craft would be amazing and to know
13:31how to do it properly would be great now I'm going to show you a technique which is is something that's
13:38sort of dying out technique really so it's an opus that's not used very much it's called insertum it's
13:44one where you don't actually get obvious flow lines and this is going to blend across the
13:50background through three colors is a great way of covering a space quite quickly is we've gone
13:56through this dark blue into the mid blue and now we're going into the light I feel like we should
14:01all be cutting glass for you Paul yeah we should have a team of us we have a little cottage industry
14:07of just you know providing you with pieces right so I'm just going to move that over there and then
14:13I'm going to show you we've got it's amazing what I love about this I love the gradation of the color as
14:25it goes across you do it so instinctively but that would be a that's going to be a real challenge and
14:30it getting that bit right it's a perfect little still life is this achievable in the five hours
14:35that we have oh this definitely is yes do the detail first in the middle then work it out you got
14:40more time add to it make it evolve as you work in this sort of time restraint would be a good way so
14:45if you you've got all that have you all that's gone in I'll be asking lots of questions that's
14:57what it's all about good luck well would you like to make your way to your desks and get started thank
15:02you there's always challenges with every project but obviously the time is a difficult one new
15:08techniques the whole indirect reverse method actually laying the pieces upside down so you're
15:14not actually seeing your finished surface and that's a very difficult technique to just pick
15:18up if you've never done that before okay junior crafters you have five hours to complete this
15:24challenge our junior crafters have five hours to complete the challenge set by master mosaicist
15:47Paul Siggins to create a mosaic inspired by their everyday life using the indirect
15:54reverse tiling method and they start by sketching out their designs I feel like I want it to look
16:09amazing and I feel like I'm struggling because it's quite simple simple's fine simple works well
16:15and although I did something very small fiddly you can still take some of those ideas of using a light
16:21and a dark side okay would I go like that in into dark that's where you can sort of explore the
16:27colors that we've got yeah we've got such a beautiful range of colors 29 year old Danny is an art therapist
16:35working with young people and adults to help them explore their trauma through the use of art making
16:40I love being able to see people engage in different types of art and develop their own sense of confidence
16:47the work that I do when I'm helping young vulnerable people with their mental health is all about transitioning into their own sense of freedom
16:53being a person with ADHD I really struggle to have a calm mind I found art making a way of just making sense of who I am with mosaics and it was literally the only art form that just stopped my mind from thinking so many busy things
17:08literally just the process of making it's not what it looks like for me it's how it feels when I'm
17:12actually making something I am creating a image of a butterfly for me butterflies symbolize the idea of
17:21freedom the colors are gonna save my back I feel I've got some really nice tiles here I feel like it's
17:27gonna make it come alive hey how's it going I think so far so good so what have you decided to go for with
17:42your design so I decided to do something quite simple so the sketch took probably a minute or two to do
17:48the aim is to think about where the lights coming from but also the same method that Paul used for the
17:54background is what I'm going to use time for me is always the enemy so hopefully I finish so is this
18:02going to be a sunrise or a sunset I don't know yet hmm it's interesting I don't know 44 year old
18:11Jermaine is the most experienced of our three juniors currently studying for a diploma in the mosaic arts his
18:19passion for piecing together pictures began from a place close to his heart I first got into mosaics
18:27when my father passed away I designed his graveside in the shape of the Grenada flag which is where my
18:34father was from I think the amazing thing about mosaics is that they're designed to stand the test of
18:39time I would love to create a mosaic that could be run for like 2,000 3,000 years that would be an
18:45amazing achievement no they're looking really good yeah I think I'm gonna do a vase with some flowers in
18:57I think what I'm gonna do is start with the flowers in the center and then if I've got more time do the
19:03ones on yeah good idea good idea so you could do what I think of is like a random broken background if
19:11timing's tight it might be that you do a simpler background as well but you're on the right track
19:15okay in the heart of London and within a venerated feature of the capital's horizon lies an homage to
19:25the mosaic craft a testament to the enduring appeal of this ancient art form first brought to the UK in
19:33the Roman conquest 2,000 years ago St Paul's is a majestic iconic presence on the London skyline but
19:42for me it's the crafted beauty within that makes this a master crafters dream although the central
19:50nave here at St Paul's is structurally impressive it lacks any vivid decoration which is not unusual for
19:58cathedrals of this period however during the Victorian era it was decided that the cathedral needed a bit
20:05of a mosaic makeover taking me through the history of this heritage behemoth is Rebecca Thompson director
20:13of property at St Paul's who's responsible for looking after the maintenance and repair of Sir
20:19Christopher Wren's baroque masterpiece so we're stood in the west end we're stood in the nave of
20:24the cathedral and you can see the elegant white carved structure and that's how Wren expected it to
20:31be that's how he left the building you imagine during the industrial revolution the pollution caused the
20:38stonework to go black so you can imagine Queen Victoria coming in and seeing this really black space it
20:44wouldn't have felt like it feels now with that bright elegant beauty that we can see she thought it was a
20:51bit dowdy and needed some livening up livening up yeah yeah absolutely and so the introduction of mosaics
20:58I mean who's going to say no to the Queen absolutely
21:07the man who can reveal the secrets of the stones is expert guide and St Paul's enthusiast Chris Allen
21:21inspired by early Byzantine techniques from the fourth and eighth centuries mosaicist William Blake
21:36Richmond's epic ceiling features thousands of closely placed pieces of colored glass set at jagged and
21:43irregular angles to catch the light the mosaics started in 1891 commemorate various stories and
21:52figures from the Bible with gold and silver tesserae bringing the sacred scenes to life with shimmering
21:58effect it's absolutely spectacular what William Blake Richmond this is his ceiling what he was doing was
22:11reinventing the Byzantine technique of individual pieces of glass set into the internaco the cement yeah and
22:20they become the building he was a boy when he first came to the cathedral which was in a pretty filthy state
22:27we're talking about the 1860s and he had looked up into the ceiling and said to his mother I would love
22:34to be able to decorate St Paul's Cathedral and here he was in 1891 on a platform doing that very thing
22:42what we are seeing here is a Byzantine technique but with an almost art nouveau image so these aren't the
22:50flat faces that you'll see the Saints expressionless Saints these are real living people look at Mary she's
22:58receiving the news this is the Annunciation right good news of the Bible yeah and she's receiving the
23:05news from the angel who sent the dove but she's got a real expression on her face they just leap off the
23:12wall now do one of the things that he really enjoyed about the Byzantine technique because these little bits of
23:18glass being separated from each other create a glint wherever you are yeah whereas the the Roman style of
23:26flat larger pieces butted together like a jigsaw puzzle very pretty but they don't have the same
23:34magic in terms of the luster and and the reflection what's amazing to me just being this close to it you
23:41can see the raised nature of it the texture of it the fact that it's it really comes out into relief
23:48and the the incredible amount of detail William Blake Richmond's mosaics sparked considerable controversy
23:58at the time many critics argued that they clashed with the ethereal elegance of Wren's original designs
24:04as a result funding was halted in 1904 and Richmond was prevented from finishing his grand masterpiece what
24:13he's left us with is this wonderful perhaps the finest example of Byzantine mosaic work outside of Italy and we
24:23now have as a result of the premature ending a half and half cathedral this is the mosaic and decorated
24:30end and at the other end the unadorned and now clean stonework and a wonderful contrast between the two
24:38halves I mean it's an amazing kind of testament to that craft our junior crafters are halfway through
24:52their challenge to create an intricate mosaic from hundreds of fragments of colored glass using
24:58traditional methods of tessellation and with help and guidance from master crafter Paul Siggins
25:04when I stand back and squint at that these colors are working nice yeah I don't know what to do down
25:13here now I'm lost why don't you maybe try recreating that here as well what looks nice see that way that
25:21band yeah it's no the darker between the two light that works really nice yeah then you could do a blue
25:27one yeah bring it down oh it's gorgeous so now you've got that shape there and yeah that's going
25:34on instead of thinking of the whole thing just like I think one bite-sized bits get a bit done move on to
25:39the next right that's good it's a good way yes carry on don't let me stop you know exactly you've got your
26:03main design in yeah I've got all these gaps now I'm gonna have to fill it with that ground so yes
26:08you're sticking as you're going I'm sticking as I'm going I'm cutting a few and then I'm sticking as I'm
26:26going so I'm trying to I'm mindful about time as well how do you think they're doing is such an
26:45unusual thing for a mosaic to be produced to a time frame you know having to do something quickly in a
26:53short period of time you know that aside they're doing really well and um how do you think they're
26:57getting on with the practicalities of it not bad I think Danny and Jessie probably haven't used this
27:04these cutters and techniques that much picking that up from scratch never used it before they're doing
27:10very well and Jermaine's doing well and he's trying the insert and background it's great to see that
27:15they've incorporated those tips that you've been teaching them crafters just a bit of a time check you
27:27have two hours left but bear in mind in that time you're going to have to flip it and grout so
27:35realistically I'd say you have about another 45 minutes on your design okay okay so no pressure
27:43of the many different styles of mosaic the exquisite art form of Pietra Dura where precious and semi-precious
27:58stones are inlaid into marble or stone is becoming a rarity we sent our juniors off to rural Northamptonshire
28:06to be taught the lengthy and intricate skills of this Renaissance discipline from one of the only
28:12artisans in the UK who is still practicing this craft I'm Thomas Greenaway and I study the very rare
28:21art form of Pietra Dura it requires selecting colorful stones hard stones and rare marbles and cutting them
28:29and fitting them precisely together to create what amounts to be a painting and stone Thomas's commissions
28:36and restoration work has included high-profile projects like the tombstone of Richard III at Leicester
28:43Cathedral a fitting memorial for the last Plantagenet King so I'm always on the lookout for
28:50really interesting stones it's really like my palette of paints I'm very keen and enthusiastic
28:56to try and pass these skills down I think learning from Thomas is very exciting because he's had proper
29:02training in Italy and there's not many people in the UK that can do this craft it just looks really
29:07difficult and very precise Pietra Dura is literally from the Italian word Pietra Dura means hard stones
29:18today you're going to be making a vibrant parrot using the intarsia technique which is in laying stones it's the
29:26traditional way of how Pietra Dura panels were made is an extraordinary art form it takes Thomas a week to
29:36create a panel of this size and complexity today our budding crafters only have a few hours to get a flavor
29:42of this elaborate process first up they will carefully cut out the elements of the design to create a stencil
29:50and mask template will be used as a guide to cut the stone for the finished mosaic so it's very important
30:00to be precise with the cutting of the paper templates okay that's perfect well done that's really good
30:17for the next step our crafters choose the minerals and stones for their mosaic from Thomas's extensive
30:27collection you're now going to go and select the stone which is really the fun part as these slices
30:35are not yet polished it's quite difficult to see what the outcome would be this is a small block of onyx
30:43you wet the stones you can see the beautiful colors and the gorgeous colors it reveals the true
30:50beauty exactly exactly I love this stone which is called Tigratu Tigratu Tigratu you know it's amazing
30:58look it looks like trees in the stone and this is completely natural wow that's really cool so it
31:07could be a sort of background landscape Thomas uses the templates to help isolate the natural textures
31:14of the stones that will bring the design to life this is a piece of lapis lazuli and you can see the
31:21beauty of the blue coming through for the wing the parrot's wing I might select not just a plain bit of blue
31:31but there's a bit of white here that's got interesting texture so the next step is to mark out your piece
31:39of stone just roughly and then you know where to stick your template the skills and tools that Thomas uses
31:46today are the same as those developed in the Florentine workshops of the 16th century when Pietra Dura
31:53flourished under the patronage of the powerful Medici family so the first step is drilling a hole through
32:01your stone I do this using a traditional jeweler's bow drill you just drill just a few millimeters away
32:09from your piece of paper it's very delicate on the material so it doesn't fracture such like that
32:23the delicate pieces of stone backed onto slate to prevent shattering are then cut with a traditional
32:31archetto saw a bent stick of chestnut with a taut iron wire that resembles an archer's bow testing their
32:41coordination our junior crafters are required to constantly apply carborundum a traditional mixture
32:48of silicon carbide and water which provides the necessary friction to cut the stone all the while
32:54keeping a steady cutting rhythm the other tip is trying to use the length of the wire I think you're
33:05putting a little bit too much pressure it's actually just a very light touch so you're letting the car
33:13carborundum do the work really it takes some time to get used to it the movement to saw and to add
33:21the carber carborundum yeah the carborundum yeah you're looking very focused you've got your
33:28concentration face on it's looking really good very well yeah really really good for your first time
33:34yes so I can see why it takes so long to do after cutting the stones each of the individual pieces is
33:44filed by hand so they perfectly fit together and then they're inserted into a marble background to
33:51create a seamless hole the jigsaw of pieces are assembled together using a natural glue made in the
34:00studio from beeswax and pine resin a bit too much no no it's fine that's very good we've missed quite a
34:12few steps but here we are at the polishing stage using a previously finished work by Thomas the juniors
34:19learned the painstaking process of polishing the stone by hand with a hard agate and gradually finer grades of
34:26carborundum oh wow it really brings the picture alive yeah no it really does doesn't it but the colors
34:34suddenly pop out you could probably spend about a day just polishing this small panel it's a time
34:41consuming process but at this point it's hugely satisfying seeing the parrot come alive the finished
34:47panel is finally waxed and buffed to reveal the beauty of the image what have you taken from today the
34:54moment when you finally put a piece in that you've been working on for so long yeah and you drop it
34:59in it fits it's very satisfying isn't it yeah that end result is is such a good feeling today went really
35:08well I was really impressed actually how enthusiastic the crafters were from the languid world of Pietra Dura
35:18into the accelerated action of the barn our junior crafters are beginning to feel the time pressure okay
35:25crafters you have one hour to go gosh I must have been faffing for the last couple of hours so we're just
35:32going to fill as many of these spaces as we can right okay with a with a dark and then there every
35:40way you look there seems to be a gap and it's like oh my gosh I'm mindful about time as well speed mosaicking
35:51it's a new thing
35:58in rural Cambridgeshire the rain drums on the roof of our medieval barn as the junior crafters enter the final throes of
36:06their challenge they're crafting a mosaic inspired by their daily life using time-honored tessellation
36:17techniques anything cutting for you feel alright all under the watchful eye of Paul Siggins a true
36:30authority on the mosaic arts they have three more stages of the craft to master before the final reveal
36:36okay crafters if you'd like to come over because we're all at the stage now where we're going to
36:42put our mosaics onto our board so I'm just going to do a little demo here to show you that process and
36:48then you're all going to be having to go so we're going to slide that on there the next important thing
36:54is applying of the adhesive so this is a very small notch trowel so this is just our mixed cement
37:02based adhesive you start from the edge bring it across and you want those ridges to be nice and
37:10perfect like that and once I've got enough on the board I'll then go across till it's all covered would
37:20you like to try that yeah Danny so you're listening that noise is what you want and then would you just
37:26pop something like that yeah go down again go down again so I'll do what I'll turn it like that yeah
37:33you hold that side it's like this yeah and we're gonna have to place it but don't put it down yet line
37:38it up over your mosaic that's a bit further so you want to be somewhere like that there and then
37:45put it down and then put it down bam then put a lot of pressure on it yeah so now yeah it's a matter
37:52of flipping it so we can do two if you want I'll hold one end you hold the other right let's go and
37:59then turn it round turn it round oh oh is it sitting oh no it's all right oh this is our grout float but
38:11you can now use this just to tamp that down oh wow yeah so do all the way across yep and then now we're
38:24going to once you've done that you'll be using your sponge yep that's it so you're moistening the
38:30paper and the paper's normally ready to come off when you can see the design coming through it once
38:35it's been soaked for a little bit we'll be starting to peel it back like this right so now it's your
38:43turn next Jesse and Jermaine try their hand at this tricky part of the process setting their mosaics
38:50into wet cement before gingerly flipping them over that's it lots of pressure don't be frightened of
38:58the pressure so Danny this is it moment of truth the magic reveal yes nice and slow just fold it
39:16back on itself and then just roll it gently across the piece the tension that is there's a lot of
39:24tension oh I can feel it I feel like I'm holding my breath here trying to keep that so this will be
39:31the first time you've seen it reversed it is the first time I've seen it reverse but that's good
39:35though it's coming out yes it's emerging wow there we go there we go I love it so much oh it looks
39:45really good under normal circumstances the drying stage can take hours our junior crafters speed up
39:56this process so they can move to the final stage of their make grouting all right here we go ready
40:03go for it okay you can put a lot on to begin with and then the idea is to use the flow on the edge so
40:11you're then using it like a squeegee to actually get the grout to come back off the surface right I
40:16see that's it can see how you're taking it off the surface yeah that's it one more there fantastic
40:23now you can take some more off I've been I have grouted a bathroom a whole bathroom that's quite
40:33ambitious wasn't a very big bathroom right right but you know I have been familiar with the grout it
40:38is exactly the same process yeah and it's weird because when you speak to most people about their
40:42tiling it's always the thing that they really hate is the grouting yeah yeah for me personally
40:48it's the finishing of a piece of work so it's a joy it's like it finally comes to life when the grout
40:55goes on yes okay crafters you have 10 minutes left to clean up and get ready for presentation
41:12all right crafters as the British summer rain thunders on the roof your time is up that's it
41:28step away from your benches
41:30our junior crafters were given five hours to design draw cut shape grout clean and polish their mosaics
41:42using the challenging reverse indirect tiling method they also incorporated new skills including
41:49ancient techniques such as opus vermiculatum to add a three-dimensional element to their creations I
41:55like that the variation of different colors and I thought about my sort of color theory what color
42:02colors complement each other the background stand out for me because I just think the way he's brought
42:06that fade in where you've done the Sun and the wedge cutting around this in vermiculatum as well
42:12again really really nicely done I mean it's so precise as well it looks great hmm yeah technically
42:18you've done a fantastic job there the variation in the color in the sky it suggests clouds you know
42:26scudding across the sky hmm it conjures up an image of summer yeah well done
42:31I love the color contrast this rich red background and then against those sort of gem like blues and
42:42greens I think the contrast between the two is really fabulous she's done the vermiculatum in
42:47these little circular areas here it's really fun it just makes you smile doesn't it it's a really fun
42:52lovely piece how do you feel about it I feel like I now understand the science behind mosaics and I
42:58love my piece I'm so proud of it I really am should we call it something a midnight owl fritillary
43:04how about that so Jessie here's the finished article yeah what do you think Paul really
43:16like it I like all of the elements that Jessie's put in there so she's put the highlights and low
43:22lights on the vase I like the choice of colors with this dark background and then she's done the
43:26insert and method using this black through these dark rich backgrounds which really just then make
43:33the flowers pop how about the process because you haven't done that process before yeah I found it
43:37difficult not being able to see what the finished product would be because it was upside down so I
43:43found that quite challenging and I kept sticking them the wrong way up so I constantly had to keep
43:49taking them up but do you think it's a process you'll use again I think if I were to do a commission
43:54on a wall or something like that then definitely and it's got a sort of what you were saying it
43:59looks a bit like a nightshade doesn't it mmm it's got it's got it's got a sort of dark side to it as
44:04yeah I wouldn't say deadly though no I'd like to call it friendly nightshade friendly nightshade yeah
44:09that's perfect well done thank you very much yeah to have the opportunity to learn from somebody who's
44:15been doing it for 40 years such an incredible opportunity mosaic normally takes days and days
44:20and days so amazing what they've done in in such a short space today I feel like I've made a piece
44:27that has progressed so much more than any work that I've made before you can read as many books as you
44:32like you can do a lot of classes with big groups and things but you're never gonna pick those tips
44:37up as as much as you are as when you're working one-to-one with someone I'm just so excited that I
44:42met Paul overall it was a really great master class today
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