Caroline's Chilean Creation

Autumn & Meadow Gathering Goddesses
Photo Credit: Caroline Jariwala

Bearwood based mosaic artist, Caroline Jariwala, has been selected to take part in the first International Urban Mosaic Intervention in Santiago, Chile in January.

How exciting!  We caught up with Caroline whilst she was busy getting ready for her trip to find out more.

Caroline Jariwala
Photo Credit: Ema Van Souwe

Sixty international professional mosaic artists from around the world including USA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand will be creating an epic external wall mosaic to be situated in the grounds of the capital city’s town hall.

Lead artist Chilean Isidora Paz Lopez has gathered artists of expertise and high profile in their field. Eleven artists are from the UK.

Isidora has been creating a real stir, through Facebook and other social media, with the huge transformative mosaic projects with Chilean artists in Puente Alto, covering existing structures with metre upon metre of beautiful amazing detailed mosaics.

“84 pillars of metro line 4, which connects the city of Puente Alto with the metropolis of Santiago, were transformed into brilliant artworks that show the flora and fauna of the region, home to many endangered plant and animal species.”

Isidora is now bringing together the expertise of mosaic artists from around the world in the First International Mosaic Intervention.


Caroline has been making mosaics since teaching the skill in 1998 when she was visiting tutor at City College, Manchester on the HND Arts in the Community.

Caroline is a professional artist, creating large scale projects in schools, galleries, and local communities.


New Haven Unit Princess of Wales Hospital
Photo Credit: Caroline Jariwala



During the summer, Caroline was invited to create a large 12 x 8ft mosaic at the Newhaven Unit, Princess of Wales Community Hospital, Bromsgrove. Caroline worked with patients and staff of the early dementia assessment unit, as well as pupils from Birchensale Middle School, Redditch.

Caroline says: “I believe that the mosaic art form really speaks to people. It has therapeutic value. It has a calming effect and a way of making sense of the world through the creative action. It’s like creating your own personal jig-saw puzzle."

For the Chile Project each artist will be allotted a 2 x 1 metre wall space on the theme of Magic Garden.

Caroline says: “It felt as though this project was ‘meant to be’, as I am creating a series of mosaic pieces for a solo exhibition in March 2014 at the Corinium Museum, Cirencester, the Roman mosaic museum. The title of the show is Garden Goddesses. Each intricate mosaic panel depicts figures gathering, planting and nurturing the garden surrounded by exotic, beautiful flowers.

Caroline says: “I am a picassiette mosaic artist. Picassiette is a French term meaning ‘stolen from plate’. I use rejected, second hand, chipped and broken crockery to create a new beauty.”

The artists have been given images of Chilean flora and fauna as an inspiration.

“My aim is to keep it simple! We have a 3ft x 6ft area, the size of a doorway, to make and complete a mosaic in 9 days! I am currently making a Moon Goddess which is my ‘drawing plan’ for the Chile project.”

The project will be filmed and a book of the project will be compiled.

“I am very excited to be involved in this amazing opportunity. I have worked abroad as a VSO volunteer in Eritrea, North East Africa in the 1990’s but Chile will be in a league of its own!”

Moon Goddess
Photo Credit: Caroline Jariwala

Caroline hopes to bring the experience back to the West Midlands.

“I would love to work with our local community to create our own mosaic Magic Garden!

I think it would be a great community builder! I run mosaic workshops in my home studio. It is fabulous to see complete beginners getting into the art-form and creating their own projects thereafter.”

Mosaic is clearly proving to be a popular urban art-form and can bring joy to all ages! Mosaics all over Bearwood…how good would that be!!!

To find out more about Caroline's beautiful mosaics visit her facebook page, Mango Mosaics

Caroline’s solo exhibition Garden Goddess is at The Corinium Museum, Cirencester from 22 March until 27 April 2014


The Goddess Series
Photo Credit: Caroline Jariwala