I collect vintage china – I scour car boot sales and charity shops – and nothing breaks my heart more than seeing a beautiful, elegant bone china teacup complete with a chip or a crack. No matter how small the chip – it ruins the whole effect. And how about a stunning saucer with no matching cup?… Useless but surely no reason to leave the 10p item behind?
In fact I have a whole box of damaged/redundant items. So my heart practically skipped a beat when I came across Anna Tilson who makes incredible mosaics using vintage china. Like me, she scours car boot sales and charity shops carefully selecting vintage pieces to turn into beautiful, eclectic, precious objects.
Anna’s inspiration originates from Indian textiles and Islamic architecture to patchwork quilts and pink roses! She describes her style as ‘a combination of a Victorian boudoir and 1930s tea room – nostalgic and whimsical’.
Her expanding collection includes fancy mirrors, eclectic vases, romantic brooches, garden tables, flower pots and “wallflowers” (fancy floral wall plaques).
Anna Tilson was born in 1959 in London. She studied textiles and fashion at St. Martins School of Art between 1978 and 1982. After leaving college Anna become a freelance textile designer, setting up a studio in London. She set up her own business, making hand printed scarves and clothes. Outlets for her textiles included Neiman Marcus – New York, Liberties of London, the Crafts Council at the V&A and the annual Chelsea Crafts Fair.
In 1999 Anna changed discipline and produced a collection of beautiful mosaic works.
She works from her studio just off the seafront in Brighton where she runs mosaic workshops. If you’re interested in Anna’s work or would like to book onto a workshop please check out her website www.areaatlas.com
Anna regularly exhibits in the Brighton Festival and the following local shops stock her work: Appendage, Kensington Gardens & Wickle, Lewes High Street.
By Helen Ruff
