Mosaics
It’s interesting because glass arts have been a part of my life since I was very young.
At an early age, my mom mosaiced some pots using leftover tiles from the house. They still live at their front door.
As a child growing up near the theme parks, we used to frequent the artisan glass store on Disney property. I’ve spent hours watching the artists make glass sculptures under a torch. Later, I would work the register in that store and get to know them. I learned how to engrave glass on a wheel and with a dremel there.
In college, I volunteered with an arts program at the hospital. My supervisor was an incredible mosaic artist who had done large murals and walls in the building.
So naturally, when I found a large wooden plant stand at a junk shop last year, mosaic was at the forefront of my mind. I wanted to turn it into something beautiful. However, with this artform, I had very little experience.
I needed some guidance. So, I reached out to my old supervisor from the hospital to help me out, via email of course.
She welcomed me with open arms and invited me to her studio to come play with her tools and supplies. I brought a small pot that I had penciled some orange blossoms on.
She showed me her process. She would cut her pieces to desired shape and size, glue them onto whatever she was mosaicing, and grout at the end. Sometimes she would use sand paper to round out harsh edges. She didn’t care too much about the different materials and thicknesses of the pieces she would use. So, I opted to try using different materials to see if I liked it.
Having a trial piece like this allowed me to see what materials I liked and let me understand how I should use them. For the most part, I used stained glass, but for the larger orange, I tried my hand at using an orange ceramic bowl. I sourced everything from thrift stores or the incredible junk store in my town. I worked in the garage and on the driveway for safe and easy cleaning. One day I came home and my boyfriend had set up a whole work station for me- too sweet!
I used needle drivers and tweezers to place my items. The pieces were small, but the orange pulp was quick and easy. The shapes were easy to cut and all I had to do was wedge them into each other.
I started to add on the leaves. I opted to break up each section of leaf because of the curvature of the pot- anything large would not lay flat and would protrude outward. Breaking it up allowed me to mix and match different shades of green. I think it came out great, but my goodness it took so long. I had to ensure each piece would fit and cut it perfectly to make the whole shape. It was easily the most tedious part of the process.
I used the thicker, orange bowl material as a foreground and a background orange on purpose; I wanted to see how it would come together after grouting.
After I got through the leaves, I was done with the details. I was SO ready to turn off my mind and fill in the blanks. I used a blue plate for the top border- still pleased with that choice. I used chunks of light pastels and whites for the rest of the background. Because I was working in a larger surface area and was sure to move quickly, you can see how I spread the glue onto the pot before sticking pieces on.
I had the idea to leave a larger gap around the main subject matter so it would pop when I grouted the whole piece. This was a good move- one that I think made the pot easier on the eyes.
Then I was was ready to grout!
A little before and after below.
I used black grout. You can see how much it changed the way light moves through the tiles. Initially I was upset that the pot had lost a lot of its glow for this reason. If I had used a white grout, the pieces would still have a certain brightness. However, with white grout I would have also lost a lot of definition, especially with my thicker border around the main subjects. So, I came around. The whole point of this pot was to learn!
Overall…
a success! I had fun, and I like the way it turned out. It was a perfect way to get my feet wet and learn how to mosaic. Some time after this I held a craft day at my house and my friends made some great things! But that’s for another day.
I gave it to my mom, she put mini roses in it.
Thanks for reading! Until next time.
xo A
