Category: Art Review

  • Classic Tattoo Design Mosaics

    Classic Tattoo Design Mosaics

    Artist Sheldon Stehman‘s tattoo-inspired work demonstrates the vitality of the mosaic medium and how surprisingly well it accommodates contemporary pop-culture designs and themes. Sheldon uses classic tattoo designs as models for his mosaic interpretations. I think that was an inspired decision.

  • Variations on a Theme: Insight Mosaics

    Variations on a Theme: Insight Mosaics

    Artist Natalija Moss rebuilds Honda Insight hybrid cars, and she also makes mosaics of them using stained glass. Here are a few Honda Insight mosaics she made years ago. Unfortunately, Natalija didn’t take definitive photographs of each them, and so the images in this article were all created from the group photo using Photoshop. Even…

  • Monumental Mosaic Sculpture

    Monumental Mosaic Sculpture

    Artist Valerie Theberge recently installed an outdoor mosaic sculpture in Washington, DC, and like much of her work, the sculpture is monumental in scale. I recommend taking a look at Valerie’s website or Instagram, especially if you are planning a large mosaic mural or sculpture.

  • Bumblebee Flower Garden Mosaic

    Bumblebee Flower Garden Mosaic

    Artist Natalija Moss recently completed a mosaic of a bumblebee flying over a flower garden using a pattern drawn by artist Lucas Rocheleau on a scrap piece of wood back when he worked at the warehouse. The mosaic is made from our American-made stained glass. The most impressive part of the mosaic is the realistic…

  • Grouting Dorothy’s Spider Web Mosaic

    Grouting Dorothy’s Spider Web Mosaic

    Artist Dorothy Stucki made a fast-motion video of the process of grouting her mosaic Goddess in the House of Night, from dumping on the wet grout to buffing and hazing. The grouting video is on Dorothy’s Instagram. Dorothy’s mosaic is a spider web complete with spider and ensnared moths and insects.

  • Mosaic as Thoughtful Art Experience

    Mosaic as Thoughtful Art Experience

    Ros Edmonds of Art Docents teaches art interpretation and technique to children ages kindergarten through eighth grade, which is the most important age range for teaching art and science and “planting seeds” that change lives. Ros emailed me some photos of her Mosaic Coaster Project with fifth graders, and I am happy to announce that…

  • Fauvist Mosaic Art

    Fauvist Mosaic Art

    Artist Beverly Postman has a natural gift for creating visual interest with fauvist colors and variable andamento and mixed materials. The images she emailed me were low resolution because that was all she had, and so it reminded me yet again of the importance of photographing our artwork and creating a digital portfolio. More on…

  • Digital Grout Color Studies

    Digital Grout Color Studies

    Artist Steve Katzman’s first mosaic is a classic decorative design: sparse floral motifs with sufficient background for showing off interesting andamento. The problem is that Steve wasn’t satisfied with the grout color he used, which was very light, almost an off-white color. Also, the grout had an overwhelming color impact because a distinct grout gap…

  • Day-&-Night Table And Decorative Mosaic Design

    Day-&-Night Table And Decorative Mosaic Design

    Artist Pete Keller’s Day-&-Night Mosaic Table is an excellent example of incorporating scenic elements into decorative mosaic design. By “decorative mosaic design,” I mean a mosaic that covers a functional surface such as a table top or floor and is composed so that it is still figuratively meaningful when only a small area is visible.

  • Case Study: Mildred Mosaic Portrait

    Case Study: Mildred Mosaic Portrait

    Artist Mary Spadaro’s mosaic portrait Mildred is a reproduction of a mosaic she saw on Pinterest. I am reluctant to show the model image because I think the photo may be somewhat muted and blurred to enhance its verisimilitude:

  • Aspen Glen Mosaic as Semi-Abstract Art

    Aspen Glen Mosaic as Semi-Abstract Art

    Artist Michael Hayes recently completed a mosaic based on a photo he took of an aspen glen in Colorado several years ago. I wanted to share this mosaic for several reasons and not merely because it is a strong work by someone just starting out with mosaic.

  • Original Mosaic Designs by School Children

    Original Mosaic Designs by School Children

    Art teacher Bailey Smith has done something truly amazing. Instead of having her seventh-grade students work on one large mosaic mural to impress parents and administrators, she allowed her students to make their own designs. This gave her students a real art experience that allowed them to be expressive instead of merely being worker bees…