As a girl I would spend hours drawing the latest fashions from models seen on the “Style with Elsa Klensch” show  in the evening news, and then try to reproduce them in hand-sewn outfits for my barbie dolls. I’ve kept my hands busy ever since, from upcyling vintage clothes to to making linocut prints out of styrofoam trays, and refinishing wooden tables and home accents. I began working as a professional artist in 2002 when I completed my BFA from the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto. Like many artists I’ve worked in different mediums over time, and I trained in clay sculpture, mould-making, cast bronze sculpture, and body casting at OCAD. After leaving art college I also left access to the main bronze foundry in the area, so I started creating pieces using fabric and found objects. Creating mosaics began almost by accident when I was assisting a friend with re-tiling her bathroom floor and we added some broken tiles, shells and rocks on the border. Since then the rest is a delightful blur of tiles of all kinds in side tables, fireplaces, and back-splashes.

My work is mostly representational and tends to depict people and other creatures at home, as well as  abstract designs. Mostly functional, my art is shaped by upcycling found materials as much as possible. As well, I’m passionate about making art accessible to everyone regardless of what talent they believe they have, and I facilitate workshops with people of all ages and abilities in Toronto, Montreal, Malaysia, and Ottawa

Although I spent my formative years in Toronto, right now I am based in Ottawa where I divide my time between teaching art in the community, working with seniors and other marginalized groups, and creating mosaics. 

My company name is borrowed from the chip-chip mollusc found on the shores of the beach that I grew up on in Trinidad. There the orange and purple-striped shells cover the beach in low-tide and the sand weaves through it like grout, creating a dreamy mosaic.