Personalise your garden and express your artistic side by going on an outdoor mosaic course, writes Fiona Russell

Sally MacRae found the perfect pale blue crockery set in an Edinburgh charity shop. She discovered dozens of bright red kitchen tiles in a skip. And, after months of searching, she spotted several bright pink candle plates in a high street store.

All these treasured items she took home - and then smashed up with a hammer.

"I admit this is not normal behaviour," says MacRae. "But when you have the mosaic bug like me you see crockery and china in a whole new light."

MacRae, a graphic designer from Edinburgh, certainly makes good use of the ceramic tiles she finds. Dotted around her home and garden are unique and beautiful mosaic-covered items, including flowerpots, stepping stones and ornaments.

The hobby started when MacRae attended an outdoor mosaic workshop run by Jan Kilpatrick of Wild Tiles. The weekend course teaches participants how to create pictures and patterns from a wide rande of recycled products including ceramic, glass ans mirrors. Projects such as birdbaths, wall hangings and nameplates also make use of quirky bits of plastic or metal jewellery and natural materials such as pebbles and shells

"I have kind of invented this type of mosaic-making over the past seven years," says Kilpatrick, a self-taught artist and former English teacher. "I am interested in all kinds of media and creating unique pieces of art, especially for outdoor spaces, but I am also keen to reduce our impact on the environment.

"I have developed the traditional form of mosaics, where tiny and uniform squares are formed into precise patterns and pictures, into a more organic, abstract type of mosaic work using all kinds of old and odd-shaped materials.

"I have also worked out ways to make mosaics frost-proof so they can handle our difficult climate."

The concept appears to have captured the public's imagination. While Kilpatrick offers workshops in a range of textile crafts from her base in Ullapool and at various Scottish art centres, she says the outdoor mosaic classes are the most popular.

"Many people want to decorate and individualise their gardens these days. We are spending more time in our gardens and we like them to look pretty," says Kilpatrick. "Mosaic flowerpots or stepping stones, or even a wall covered in a mosaic adds a special something."

Another mosaic convert is Vanessa Nias, who has attanded several weekend sessions and one week-long course run by Kilpatrick. "My first workshop was at the Four Winds Inspiration Centre in Edinburgh, where I surprised myself by creating a lovely mosaic of sunflowers," says Nias, who lives in the city. "I'm not a born artist and I was a bit daunted by all the different materials and designs at the workshop.

"But Jan showed me that you only need a simple design and a few basic colours to make a stunning mosaic. It's quite easy. I have now completed a birdbath that includes lots of lovely bits of mirror, a large spherical garden ornament and various pictures and pots.

"Visitors are always asking me where I buy these items - so it's very satisfying to tell them I made them myself".