Aimee Saic took up mosaics as a hobby and is now one of the country's top exponents of the art form.

She signed up for an eight-week course in 1997, but was told by her teacher after the first lesson to go home and make mosaics because she had a natural talent and there was nothing the classes could offer her.

She said: "After that first lesson I was hooked. I couldn't wait to start and when my neighbour threw out some old kitchen units, I used one of the doors as the base for my first piece.

"It was a pig with wings and gave it to my mother to display in her gallery in Norfolk.

"The piece got the attention of someone from the Norfolk firm Mosaica and I started demonstrating their tiles on television."

Her big break came when she saw a competition in a lifestyle magazine to give a room a makeover.

She was determined to win and gave up her job to concentrate on the project.

For £300 she transformed her bathroom with a huge mosaic and was listed as a finalist.

Her design came second and she won £1,000 which she invested in making mosaic jewellery that was sold in London's Selfridges store.

She also contacted Telscombe Cliffs Town Council, offering to decorate a roundabout on the busy South Coast Road with her mosaics.

The resulting publicity led to her being contacted by the company that runs the Orient Express trains.

It asked her to restore the lavatory floors of the famous carriages.

She carried out the work with her friend and pupil Kerry Ford and as a thank you, the company gave her a pair of tickets for a day trip on the train.

Aimee, who has a workshop in Peacehaven, is offering one of the tickets as a prize in a draw that is open to people signing up on her next course.

She said: "Restoring the lavatory floors doesn't sound glamorous but it was a great assignment. It felt like a privilege to work on the famous floors designed by Marjorie Knowles."

Aimee can be contacted on 01273 589457.