peacock mosaics
Joss Hughes is a self-taught mosaic artist working from her studio in a
beautiful rural setting near Romsey, in Hampshire. When not working on
commission, she creates mosaics for sale at local outlets or plans her next
adult “Mosaic and Cake” workshop. She marvels at the natural creativity of
children taking part in her “Make a Mosaic” parties or in after-school and
holiday camp mosaic sessions. Mosaic creations in stained glass and mirror
dominate her portfolio however, she also particularly enjoys working with
beach-combed sea glass and driftwood. The latter are mainly sourced from her
beloved South Cornwall. Other materials she occasionally uses include 'found'
objects from the garden or beach, and the commercially available glass tiles and
nuggets. After a crafty childhood Joss focused her mind to pursue a career in
Paediatric Medicine. Six university years and a further seventeen, mainly
working for NHS England, left little time or energy for creativity! Job
rotations and RAF deployments (her husband) necessitated living at fourteen
different addresses (in the UK and in Australia). Retrospectively she realises
that the repetitive home-and-garden making was expressing a hidden natural
creativity. Five years ago she made the life- changing decision to say 'goodbye'
to Dr J Hughes, Neonatal Doctor, and to say 'hello' to Joss Hughes, mosaic
artist. A birthday gift of a two day beginners’ course (Clare Goodall, Oxford)
in 2009 had sown the seed of the addictive nature of mosaics. Following up on
two chance sightings of the same incredible huge floating mosaic ball, she
tracked down the artist and a second two day course (Sue Smith, Devon) in 2014
reignited Joss's passion and introduced her to the media of stained glass and
mirror. There followed lots of trial and error at the kitchen table with glass
shards flying everywhere before she finally produced a mosaic she felt able to
show anyone! Slowly amassing the prerequisites of a basic studio she moved into
her own working space and, in May 2017, she decided to officially launch her own
business: Peacock Mosaics. In 2018 Joss attended a 5 day residential mosaic
course at West Dean College of Arts and Conservation, learning from the fabulous
Sonia King. The emphasis was on developing artistic expression. In 2019 Joss
became the Editor (a voluntary role) for "GROUT", a thrice yearly publication by
the British Association of Modern Mosaic for its members. This has been a superb
networking and knowledge-boosting opportunity. She also attended the 2018 and
2019 BAMM Forums, in London and York respectively, furthering her contact with
the UK mosaic community. She has had mosaics accepted for exhibition in
Penzance, York and Andover during 2019. In 2020 Joss will attend a short course
at the London School of Mosaic, with tutor Debra Collis, exploring further her
preference for abstract design, and practicing colour studies and andamenti.
