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'Pebble Mosaic Art' for the Garden ~ with Maggy Howarth Studios
An exciting 'Hands On' two day workshop, under the careful guidance of Maggy Howarth Studios, creating your own unique 40cm² section of Pebble Mosaic Art to be installed in your own garden (or house!) once home.
This two day workshop aims to give a basic understanding and practical experience of the technique created by Maggy Howarth, from initial design to construction and completion. By the end of the two days you will have a unique panel measuring approx 40cm x 40cm and weighing around 18kg - which will be yours to take home and display. Some students have created a house number for their buildings, others in their gardens. The choice is yours! We will be working between the ground floor Swallow Barn and the driveway outside where the resources will be located. A canopy will be erected over this area in the event of wet conditions.
It’s a lot to fit into 2 days and is definitely not for the faint hearted! By the close of the course, you will come away equipped with the knowledge to take on more ambitious projects and continue your journey, at home, into this ancient craft.
Each Maggy Howarth Studio mosaic created on commission by the team, is a labour of love for our artists requiring incredible patience and skill. The craft takes years to master. Unlike traditional mosaic techniques, the artist works upside down and therefore somewhat blind, placing pebbles face down into sand so that their final appearance is only revealed once the mosaic section has been cast and turned out. This stage is always the most heart in mouth - and exciting moment!
The 'upside-down technique' developed by Maggy, is admittedly difficult to master, requiring patience, an eye for detail and nimble fingers, but it also offers many advantages over the traditional method (where pebbles are placed directly into a dry mix). Done Maggy's way, the panels are more easily transported and assembled alongside other panels to create impressive, large and apparently seamless projects as required.
9.30am – 5.00pm each day
£215, fresh coffee, home made biscuits, tasty home made lunch and cream tea included both days.
Material Charges - £100 pp for all materials and equipement used for the course, payable on the first morning.
Dates for this course - see the table below to book:
Friday 8th & Sat 9th May 2026
Typically this course runs with around 10 students and will take place in 'Swallow Ground' - the new Quirky studio of the Swallow Barn with doors opening out onto the driveway. Please book as appropriate
Please bring: Please bring your materials fee of £100pp in cash for your tutors from Maggy Howarth Studios, to cover everything provided for your course. All you need to bring is some patience ans a smile, and some suitable clothing for practical work. Perhaps also some gardening gloves although we will confirm this. 
About Maggy Howarth Following a degree in fine art, Maggy Howarth began her career as an artist in the theatre, touring the world with the Welfare State international theatre company where she helped create spectacular outdoor productions throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Towards the end of this period, a theatre production at a Buddhist centre in the Lake District (United Kingdom) sparked an interest in mosaic and land art that would consume the rest of her life.
Maggy's work attracted recognition from artistic peers from around the world and awards followed. An incredible body of work now sees Maggy Howarth mosaics in private gardens and public realm spanning Royal gardens to Land Art parks in Taiwan. Maggy’s love of the natural world fuelled many of the designs in the proceeding years inspired in no small part by Hilltop - her beautiful family home in the remote Lancashire countryside.
During the early years, Maggy had to totally rethink mosaic fabrication in order to accommodate the cold winters of the Northern European climate. Rather than placing pebbles in situ, she pioneered the pre-cast technique which allowed small sections of mosaic to be created in her workshop, stored and then pieced together on site at installation. Together with current master craftsman, Mark Currie, Maggy began perfecting the fabrication craft leading to ever more intricate and ambitious projects.
Generosity sat at the heart of Maggy’s career. She shared her knowledge and techniques with fellow artists and part time enthusiasts alike in books and videos in the hope of growing the art form.
Those who benefited the most are of course the team that continue her legacy today at Maggy Howarth Studios. Led by Mark Currie and her son George, everyone at the studio is inspired to maintain Maggy’s incredible artistic standards and continue to push the boundaries of the art form.
Workshop Details
| Workshop Date | Fri 8th May 2026 9:30 am |
| Available places | 0 |
| Individual Price | £215.00 |
