by Debbie Southern - Sunshine Coast Daily 21/5/03

Three Years ago, Brett Campbell packed away his briefcase & calculator - then went to work with his tile nippers & smashed tiles.

Brett shut the door on a 20 year career in Banking & finance and opened the door to a whole new world of mosaic making.

The Flaxton artist is self-taught, but already he is cementing his new career, selling his pieces interstate and as far afield as the United States & England.

Brett calls his 20 years as a bank manager and finance consultant the "old world". "I had a lot of realisations," he said of his decision to leave his secure career and go on his artistic adventure.

"I was living a life where I didn't really let my heart do the talking all the time. Instead of thinking about things, now I'm just doing them. It's really life changing. I think the world rewards you if you have a go."

Brett discovered mosaics through his wife Lesley, who had talked about making pieces & selling them at the markets.

The couple, who have four young children, work as a team. Lesley is great with designs, bold colour combinations and surreal features; and Brett is the perfectionist, crating natural scenes and geometrical designs.

Brett jokes he is overflowing with creative thoughts and has a whole bank of designs in his head. "That's what comes from being a bank manager for 20 years."

The couple's mosaics "evolve" as they are created.

The design is sketched, then developed on a computer, broken up into boxed grids. and reproduced in cut tiles. The piece is then grouted & sealed.

Brett loves to immerse himself in his images - and once completed a mosaic in the moonlight. He stayed up all night to get his first sketch of the moon setting over Lake Baroon. and then worked on the mosaic beneath the moonlight to get the right feel for the piece. His efforts won him a highly commended award at the Caloundra Arts festival in 2002.

Brett's most talked about piece is Forest Dawn, a 5m x 2.1m mosaic waterfall at Tony and Jacqui O'Connors Time to Relax courtyard in Montville.

Brett & Lesley create mosaic murals & outdoor works for water features, swimming pools, cafes and restaurants, and entries. Go to their website to commission your own mosaic or to order a mosaic making kit - www.studiohorizon.com/mosaics.