A PSYCHIATRIC nurse turned mosaic artist is celebrating today after learning her work will be displayed at the Chelsea Flower Show.During the day, Sue Coldwell, of High Street, Needham Market, works with elderly people with mental health problems in the Stowmarket area.
A PSYCHIATRIC nurse turned mosaic artist is celebrating today after learning her work will be displayed at the Chelsea Flower Show.
During the day, Sue Coldwell, of High Street, Needham Market, works with elderly people with mental health problems in the Stowmarket area.
But most of her spare time is consumed by her hobby, which she soon hopes to make into a career.
This dream has been boosted with confirmation her work will be viewed by thousands of people at the prestigious show, between May 25 and 28.
The 37-year-old will have her representation of a dragon displayed in a courtyard garden designed by fellow psychiatric nurse Paul Herrington, of Kedington.
The pair met through their partners, but soon struck up a working relationship and the idea to submit to Chelsea was thought up around one year ago.
The garden is inspired by the 1804 Parliamentary Act of Enclosure, which effectively privatised an area of common land, St George's Hill, in Weybridge, Surrey.
This is rumoured to be one of the many places that St George slew the dragon – and this provides a theme that is central to the design.
Ms Coldwell is creating a pebble mosaic depicting the spiral of a dragon's tail, highlighting her values of drawing on history, folklore and legend in her work.
She said: "The simplicity of the dragon spiral design works so well. I can't wait to see the finished garden."
The mother-of-three estimates the three-part mosaic will take around two weeks to complete, using thousands of hand-picked, round, smooth and regular pebbles.
It is a process that provides Ms Coldwell with immense satisfaction.
She said: "Picking the pebbles is very much part of the process for me. That's when the ideas come.
"There's something very compelling about the visual impact of something that's put together using hundreds of pieces."
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