Helen has a well-established practice as both an artist working on commissions and private projects and as a teacher in the art of mosaic-making. She also runs a widely subscribed YouTube channel where she shares tips about the process, drawing on many years of accumulated knowledge. Helen's journey with mosaics began on a beach in Greece (more about that later), and was cultivated initially through classical training. Her passion for mosaics clearly comes across in the way she talks about the art form and shares her knowledge of its history and practice, and her enthusiasm for the subject.
Among other things, we talked about moving to Edinburgh and finding your feet in a new city - something that resonates with me, having moved here myself only a few years ago. Helen's studio is surrounded by the workspaces of other artists and makers; a creative community within a historic building close to the centre of Edinburgh and Holyrood Park. I was fascinated to see all of the jars of materials Helen keeps close to hand in her studio space; from traditional ceramics and glass to found objects and plastics, all of which have been incorporated into her works.
As with every feature, I invite each artist to answer a few questions about their work, background, and inspirations. I always feel it's best to hear it straight from the artist. So, without any further delay, here is Helen's Q&A... thank you, Helen!
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Josh Murfitt: You mention on your website that you started making mosaics after you moved to Greece in the early 2000s. What came before that? Had you been interested in - or studying, or making - other kinds of art or crafts already?
Helen Miles: I studied English Literature and went on to train as a journalist. Through various twists and turns, I found myself living in Greece with three small boys (one was born shortly after we moved there). I was trapped by the fact that I couldn’t speak the language, and I also couldn’t attend classes to learn Greek because I had the children. This was before the days of the internet, so it was difficult to know what to do. I desperately missed working.
One day I was on the beach and was running pebbles through my hands and looked down and knew with absolute certainty that I was going to make mosaics. Not only that, but I was going to devote my life to them. It was a strange feeling. I had never made mosaics before then and hadn’t even been aware of them, but I was totally sure from that point on.
I found a teacher in Thessaloniki who taught me what he knew (and I learnt all the words needed to communicate in mosaic-speak!) before going on to study more in Athens as well as taking short courses in the UK.
I think mosaicking was deep in me. As a teenager, I used to make elaborate hand pieced patchwork quilts and helped my father repair the dry-stone walls around our fields. My father was also an art historian, so art was part of the air I breathed at home.
JM: What was it about mosaics in particular that initially hooked you and sustains your interest and dedication to this art form?
HM: Going back to the experience on the beach, I think it was the materials that hooked me. Despite the beauty of pebbles, I don’t specialise in pebble mosaics but there are so many other extraordinary options for materials. While living in Greece I only used stone and marble, and the colours bewitched me. You never entirely knew what you were getting because of course natural stone is unpredictable. There is one gorgeous creamy white that you would split open and find little fossilised plants inside it.
I moved back to Scotland almost nine years ago and now experiment with all kinds of materials. For commissions, I tend to use vitreous glass and porcelain but almost anything can be included in mosaics. Besides broken ceramics and shells, I have used keys, road markings, blister packs, micro plastics, medical waste, and a pair of false teeth I found lying on a path up to a mountain graveyard.
The other thing that sustains my interest is inspiration from ancient mosaics. We used to drive from Greece to Scotland in the summers and stop at every mosaic site that I could persuade my family to divert to. It seems to me that Roman mosaics are a neglected art form. The richness and diversity of the designs constantly amazes me.
JM: How did your traditional training in Greece inform the way you make mosaics? And has your approach changed or evolved since then?
HM: When I first began making mosaics, they were informed by my training and exposure to Roman and Byzantine mosaics. The way I was taught was steeped in ancient tradition – in fact, I found it impossible to find a teacher in Greece who would experiment with materials or methods. Everything had to be done the way it was always done. My first teacher only taught a method which was favoured in the Hellenistic period – in other words, more than 2,000 years ago. It involved using tiny tesserae, sometimes no more than a millimetre in diameter, to make painterly images. The strictness of it taught me to have an almost obsessive eye for detail which I have spent the past 15 years trying to shake off. At first, I tended to take existing Roman designs and adapt them but now I do my own designs. I am going through an abstract phase at the moment. I find myself unable to stop experimenting and pushing the medium but overall I would say that my work retains the discipline of ancient practitioners.
JM: How did you initially begin teaching, and was it a natural progression to make after being a student and practitioner yourself? Were there any challenges? And has it changed or helped your own approach in terms of your personal work and commissioned projects?
HM: There aren’t many people teaching mosaics, especially ancient techniques, and holding classes was an obvious next step when I returned to the UK. I find teaching to be great fun and also challenging because it pushes you to see the art form through the eyes of other people. We all have our own ways of doing things, and teaching involves deconstructing what has become instinctual. I often feel that I learn from the students as much as I teach them. Many of my students are extremely accomplished mosaicists in their own right but come to my classes to learn about the Roman rules and they often share their own tips and approaches to their practices.
JM: Your studio at Abbeymount is part of a small community of creative practitioners. Do you feel it helps you or motivates you to be situated in such a creative space, surrounded by other artists? And, how do you manage working in a small studio space?
HM: Before I moved to Edinburgh, I had a studio at home and I was worried that working in a shared space would be distracting. Quite the opposite. It is enormously stimulating to be around other creative people. Very occasionally, I have arrived at my desk feeling lacklustre and uninspired. Just being in a room where other artists are at work gets the creative juices flowing. Everyone is friendly and happy to share their knowledge, so I feel as if I am learning by being around them.
However, I have a small space which I find frustrating. Studio space in central Edinburgh is not easy to get hold of and the rents are high. Moreover, I have quantities of heavy materials and tools so moving out would be a significant undertaking. I store a lot of my materials in the teaching space in the building which is a great help. When I have large commissions, I work in a spare room at my mother’s flat. So basically, I divide my stuff between three spaces and can manage that way.
JM: You maintain an active presence on social media - in particular, Instagram and YouTube - sharing your work, processes, inspirations and practical tips for people learning to make mosaics. Could you offer any tips for social media success or words of wisdom for any artists who might be struggling with it?
HM: The need to be active on social media is the bane of every artists’ life. It can be horribly time-consuming, and I feel resentful of the fact that it is almost compulsory. When I first started using it seriously, I followed Instagrammers and YouTubers who offer advice on how to get seen on the algorithm. However, the more advice you follow, the more time it takes and the more likely it is to become obsessive. Reels, in particular, take a lot of time although it is easier now that there are free templates, and the music is synced for you.
I started my YouTube channel during Covid when I couldn’t go to the studio and wanted to try it. I then forgot about it until someone told me that I could monetize it. I had no idea you could make money from YouTube. Now, that I am making a few hundred pounds a month from YouTube I am obviously much more enthusiastic about it as a platform. The good thing about YouTube is that small channels can get a lot of traction quite quickly if you find a niche that other people are interested in. My videos aren’t wildly professional-looking, but they are informative, and people appreciate that.
My only wisdom, for what it’s worth, is don’t fret about it. Just put it out there. More than 100 million posts and videos are uploaded onto Instagram daily, and so no one really notices or cares what we post. I think we all feel it is more important than it is and that our posts have to be beautifully curated. If it’s visually appealing/interesting, then that’s enough.
Having said that, in the last six months or so I have stopped posting as much on Instagram. One day I noticed that I was thinking about my work not in terms of its artistic merit/what I wanted to convey but in terms of how it would look on Instagram. That really worried me, so I use it a lot less.
JM: Are there any particular inspirations to your work that you are willing to share, or recurring themes and subjects that you find yourself particularly drawn to? And, where do you look for ideas for your mosaic designs - do they come from your imagination, or things you’ve seen, or photographs, for example?
HM: As mentioned above, I am very drawn to ancient designs and reworking them/playing with them in new ways. However, I am also interested in using mosaics to tell stories. Mosaics are essentially made of lines, you can think of them as brush strokes. Those lines, in themselves, can be expressive and the materials used add another dimension to the work. Perhaps my favourite theme is the Roman concept of the ‘Unswept Floor’. There is a 2nd century mosaic in the Vatican Museums in Rome which is a trompe d’oeil of food debris which has fallen from the hands of the diners. Things like shells, seeds, bones etc. are scattered over the floor. I have made a number of Unswept Floors – it’s a concept that never tires.
JM: Do you have any current or upcoming projects that you’d like to share - exhibitions, workshops, commissions, residencies, etc.?
I have a number of workshops coming up during the year including a three-day residential class in Ireland as well as classes in Edinburgh.
Abbeymount Studios, where I work, has their summer open studios on June 21 & 22, 2025.
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Another huge thank you to Helen Miles for participating in this series! You can find out more about Helen's work via her website, Instagram and YouTube channel.
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