Mosaic artist Paulene Attard is showing her latest exhibition of works at the church of Santa Maria ta’ Doni in Rabat this month. She tells Jo Caruana about the laborious process and the works of art that come out of it.

We all find our creative outlet somewhere. For some it’s cooking or baking, for others it’s hours spent adding delicate brushstrokes to a watercolour or coercing clay into form.

For artist Paulene Attard, though, it is the creation of mosaics and she recently unveiled her latest collect in Rabat.

Attard explains that she has been creative for as long as she can remember and she recalls cutting out and sewing complete outfits for her dolls and later for herself.

She also dabbled in art at school and won several prizes, especially for her work in collaging, which is akin to mosaic.

“But I didn’t discover mosaic until years later and, even then, it was quite by accident,” she says.

“A small board of pool tiles was given to me and I decided they were too pretty to throw away, so I had a go at turning them into a mosaic… but it quickly turned into my first disaster.”

Nevertheless, Attard had been bitten by the mosaic bug and she has since turned her focus firmly to the art form by doing everything she can to learn about it and practise it.

“It wasn’t easy at first but the results have definitely been worth it,” she says.

“It has become my passion and a means of distracting myself after a day stuck in front of a computer. Art means so much to me. It is a method for expressing my feelings and I take great inspiration from artists like Antonio Gaudi and his works in Barcelona.”

Attard says that creating mosaics is a labour of love – an intense process that produces amazing results but which takes hours to perfect. She begins with when the muse hits her, at which point she says hundreds of ideas run through her head and she cannot wait to get started.

She has different ways of working. When producing a wall hanging, for instance, she begins with a base of wood or MDF (medium density fibreboard).

You have to work quickly to be able to clean up all the small pieces of glass before the grouting dries and I have often cut my fingers in the process

She then selects her materials from within her vast store of colourful containers. There is no shortage of inspiration to be found here.

She takes her pick from among different types of tesserae, glass nuggets, vitreous glass, Murano Millefiori from Venice, the famous (and very expensive) 24 karat Orsoni gold from Italy, stained glass, semi-precious stones from all over the world that she collected on her travels, bone china plates picked up at car boot sales, beads, shells and all sorts of other interesting bits and bobs.

“My store is jam-packed and I looking through it at the start of every piece. Once I know the components I will be working with, I use a special tool to cut them to size, and then glue them to the wood base to bring the image in my head to life.”

Of course, Attard’s mosaic-maing doesn’t stop there and she also works on pots, troughs and mirrors. Either way, she waits until all the pieces are fixed in place before beginning to grout.

“This stage takes quite a while and you have to be really patient,” she says.

“You have to work quickly to be able to clean up all the small pieces of glass before the grouting dries, and I have often cut my fingers in the process. I have to polish the piece until I think it’s clear of all the grouting, and I often think I am done – only to wake up the next morning to the need for more cleaning.

“After that though, once I am satisfied, I usually pass the piece on to my friend, frame-maker Jason Greenaway and then consider it complete.”

And now, after months of work, Attard has composed several of her favourite pieces into one exhibition entitled Frescoes and Mosaics: The Old and the New. It includes several wall hangings, a number of unusual mirrors and a collection of pots, bowls, troughs, crosses and other decorative items. “And they’re all made with love,” the artist says.

“I think it’s brilliant for people to appreciate this art form. It is, after all, part of our history and can be found everywhere from the Domus in Rabat to many of our churches and chapels.”

With that in mind, Attard chose to hold this exhibition at the Santa Maria ta’ Doni church in Rabat, which also happens to be where she was born. The church is over 350 years old and in dire need of renovation and hundreds of thousands of euros will be needed to restore it to its former glory.

“I gained great inspiration for my work from the frescoes on the ceiling of this church and they work in harsh comparison to the modern glass I have used for my exhibition pieces. I now hope that donations raised from my exhibition will, in turn, contribute towards the restoration needed here so as to keep it in good running order for the future, while also raising awareness about this beautiful church,” Attard says.

Frescoes and Mosaics: The Old and the New is open from Monday to Friday from 10am to 3pm at the Santa Maria ta’ Doni church in St Paul’s Street, Rabat. For private viewing and weekend appointments call the artist on 9940 3676.