Dick looks at me with a twinkle in his eye and says: “Good business plan, you come for a night, you book a mosaic workshop, and after three weeks you’re still here.” I laugh: “Yeah, great, huh? And people enjoy it too.”
They’ve chosen to do a mosaic workshop
They want to take something beautiful home with them as a souvenir of this trip, and the creative element won’t be suppressed. As long as you’re surrounded by nature, good food, beautiful beaches, the occasional Portuguese party with great music – all fine and dandy, but sometimes you just want to get your hands dirty.
“You also want to do something during your vacation, don’t you?” Henriëtte smiles, and in the same breath she asks her husband, Dick: “So… the Celtic symbol is finished, we can start laying it. Have you thought about that lid yet?”
You can choose, with a workshop, whether you make a small painting or a bowl. I have super bamboo bowls as a base, nice and light, which you can easily use wood glue to create a beautiful, personal work of art. Mosaic isn’t difficult; that is to say, the basic techniques aren’t difficult.
“If you went to a good kindergarten, you’ll already have a good grasp of the basics, because it’s mainly about cutting and pasting,” I say with a wink.
The mood is good during this mosaic workshop
Not so difficult with such positive people, with a creative streak or experience. “I started out as a furniture maker,” Henriëtte explains, and then I understand a bit more: “Ah! That’s why the design of the Celtic symbol has to be accurate to the millimeter!” “Yes, exactly. As a furniture maker, you do learn to work precisely, to the half-millimeter, no less.”
“Oh, mosaic isn’t all that precise,” I warn, “maybe it’s a good idea to refocus on that.” We’re chatting pleasantly while the couple occasionally discuss and/or negotiate this and that. “We’ve known each other a bit longer than today,” Dick laughs, and then turns to his wife: “Should I do this? Or this?”
Friend and mosaic enthusiast Astrid is also there, cutting and piecing together her own piece, chatting along in between. She does it with one head and two hands, and the results are just as beautiful:
After lunch, everything is different: “We’re letting go of that symbol; we can’t get it right – the curvature of that bowl isn’t that big, but that makes it much more difficult.” It’s great that they’re gaining insight themselves. One night has ultimately turned into three, but it’s worth it!
Or not? “No one has a bowl like that,” Dick says proudly, and I wholeheartedly agree with him. “What I find especially special,” I say, “is that it was made by two heads and four hands. That definitely means something!”
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We moved here in 2000 from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to the Termas-da-Azenha, Portugal.
We started to rebuild one of portugals cultural heirlooms: Termas-da-Azenha, an old spa.
You’ll find mosaics and paintings everywhere.
Since Covid we rent the houses for a longer period of time, not as holiday houses anymore.
Each week a little blog about what is happening around us. An easy read. A few minutes in another world. A little about what it going on in Portugal. If you plan your holiday to Portugal, it might be a nice preparation.
In the weekend we publish it on Bluesky, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.