The idea was simple enough: to recreate Gustav Klimt’s Kiss as a full-size ceramic tesserae mosaic.

• A full-size rendition of the original • The whole painting • Thousands of handmade pieces • Lots of real gold •

Brett, mosaicist, and Kari, ceramicist, brought very different skills to the project.

Brett could cut, shape and meticulously place thousands of tiny tesserae, and embed fine grout lines.

Kari could make custom tiles – embossed and engraved – build texture and colour into clay, and gild tiles with real gold leaf.

But somewhere along the way, the project became more than a mosaic.

As their relationship deepened, so did the artwork. Ideas were tried, abandoned, reinvented and slowly woven together. A story of patience and surrender emerged.

There were challenges. There were disasters. And there was a lot of laughter.

Six years later, The Kissing Project was launched to an enthusiastic local crowd with dancing and music.

And that’s only part of the story.