"Yvette was the artist for our Community Artwork project in 2007 - 8
The idea was to use ideas generated in a series of workshop in schools and with other community groups to create three mosaic panels to symbolise the community involvement in a new building being constructed for the church to replace one destroyed by fire.
Once the workshops were complete, Yvette quickly produced four designs which reflected ideas from the work produced in the workshops. Two of these immediately found favour with the members of the congregation. Yvette was very happy to do further work, which eventually produced a third design which the congregation were very happy with.
Yvette supervised the production of the mosaic panels in her art class, and the finished results surpassed the expectations we had from the designs.
The whole project was completed more or less in line with the original deadlines; unfortunately there were delays in completing the building and Yvette looked after the panels for us until they were required.
They can now be seen on the outside of the church which fronts onto the main Romford Road in Manor Park.
It was a pleasure working with Yvette and I would recommend her for any similar project."
(Rev) Ian Parker
Manor Park Methodist Church
"I have known Yvette for over 25yrs; over this time I have collaborated with her, employed her and bought work from her.
Her work is always imaginative, innovative and executed to a very high standard. She has an original design style, with a graceful line and excellent sense of colour. Unusually, she combines a mastery of craft with reliability and always delivers on time and budget."
Sheenagh Mckingly
(BBBC) Bromley by Bow Centre E3
"Yvette has worked for St Hilda's on a mosaic project for 12 weeks where she worked with vulnerable groups from various cultures, ages and backgrounds to produce a mosaic sign for St Hilda's. Yvette managed to cultivate an inviting and friendly atmosphere for anxious members of the group through her warmth and welcoming personality. She was able to help build confidence for those shy and quiet members of the group who had never participated in any art project before.
Yvette is an extremely talented artist and managed to produce a stunning and professional piece of work by directing local people with little experience in mosaic work to work together. Yvette's assets lie in her ability to communicate with people from all ages, cultures and backgrounds, she was able to handle conflict in the group and resolve any issues with individuals. This mosaic project was a vehicle for community cohesion as well as producing a beautiful piece of art.
I would use Yvette again for future projects as I feel the quality of her work was outstanding and her approach is well suited to community development work."
Lourdes Colclough
VOLUNTEER MANAGER
St Hilda's East Community Centre
"We were looking for some stained glass art work to fit a new window that was installed during a loft conversion and The Arts Workshop was recommended to us by our architect.
We worked closely with Yvette the designer/Artist and decided on a design that would add style and colour, age well, and would fit in with our Victorian house that has 'contemporary inertia design features' (so we're told). Yvette specialises in Mosaic but uses traditional stained glass so the materials and methods fitted our brief perfectly."
The finished piece is stunning and exceeds our expectations. The glass panel changes with the light throughout the day and we often have a beautiful spectrum of coloured reflections on the walls of the stairwell.
We found Yvette easy to communicate with, the price reasonable and the end result excellent. We'd be happy to recommend Yvette and The Arts Workshop for projects of this kind."
Toby Chambers
(Private Comission in client's home; 2ft wide x 5ft glass panel, for window on staircase)