Search results for: “outdoor”
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Mosaic Sofa Bench: Best Practices for Outdoor Sculpture
Artist Candy Hahn recently completed a mosaic sofa bench for her patio area, and the color scheme and floral pattern are nothing short of inspiring. Candy’s mosaic bench also reminded me of one of our central missions as a supplier of art materials, and that is to promote best practices. We live in the misinformation…
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Weldbond Mosaic Tile Adhesive Outdoors?
Weldbond is a PVA (poly vinyl acetate) adhesive that is the best all-around adhesive for dry indoor mosaic projects and craft projects. It is water based, nontoxic, fume free, archival, easy to clean up, and water resistant when fully cured. Note that Weldbond is water resistant and not waterproof. There is a significant amount of…
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Tough Outdoor Mosaic Backer
The thinnest, toughest, most water-resistant backer I have been able to make is steel lath plastered with a “concrete” made from Versabond brand thinset mortar (or the equivalent Mapei product) and unsealed aquarium gravel. Regular pea gravel is too large for the lath, and so aquarium gravel is used instead. The aquarium gravel must be…
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Using Floor Tiles as Backers for Outdoor Mosaic Plaques
Concrete stepping stones should be used as the bases for outdoor mosaics that will be walked on, and the stepping stones and thinset mortar that you would need to make those are available at most any building material store. But what if you want to make small mosaic signs and mosaic plaques for your garden…
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Making Foam-Core Mosaic Backers For Outdoor Projects
Artist Jill Gatwood uses the following method to make water-resistant foam-core mosaic backers for exterior mosaics, such as the Pet Memorial Name Plaques she does for clients who need something that is lighter weight and easier to ship than stone or solid concrete. The method wraps the foam in three or four successive layers of…
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Backers for Outdoor Garden Mosaics
Outdoor mosaics must be made on concrete or stone or masonry, but that doesn’t mean you have to pour a concrete slab or do some other form of heavy construction. Flagstones (flat paving stones) and concrete stepping stones are readily available at building material stores and lawn and garden centers. The flagstones are great if…
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Materials and Methods for Outdoor Mosaic Tables
Artist Risa Puno recently completed her interactive mosaic sculpture Common Ground for Rufus King Park in Jamaica Queens, NYC, and the project is a great example for discussing materials and methods for mosaic table tops. No Plywood Backers Outdoors Plywood is never an acceptable backer for outdoor mosaic table tops. Humidity in outdoor air can…
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Outdoor School Mosaics
Recently I received an email from an art teacher whose school mosaic project was an outdoor mosaic where each child would create a mosaic on an 8 inch x 8 inch brick paver (paving stone), and then the mosaic pavers would be arranged together in a crazy quilt design similar to what artist Victor Kobayashi…
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Outdoor Mosaic Signs
In the last section of one of my previous posts, Custom Shapes For Mosaic Backers, I showed some pictures and instructions for how I used 3/4-inch expanded steel to make a backer for an outdoor mosaic. The expanded metal was welded together in 3 plies, some mounting bolts were welded to this, and then the…
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Practical Advice for Outdoor Mosaic Art
Thinset Mortar The first thing you need to know about outdoor and wet mosaic (pool, fountain, shower) is that thinset mortar is used instead of glue. Thinset mortar is a type of concrete with polymers added for tensile strength and enhanced adhesive properties. It contains sand and portland cement just like standard concrete and comes…
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Toilet Tank Mosaic Planters
A significant part of the ethos of modern mosaic is to make use of damaged materials such as the broken dinnerware used in pique assiette mosaic. These mixed-media mosaics are intrinsically interesting because of their eclectic use of found objects: ceramic figurines, fossils, marbles, seashells, etc. Artist Debbie Logan has taken this one step further…
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Pet Memorial Mosaic: Dusty’s Rest
Artist Sue Williams made a memorial mosaic for her recently-departed companion Dusty, and I wanted to share it with you for several reasons. The first reason is that Sue made the mosaic in sections on concrete pavers, which allowed her to make the mosaic in manageable pieces indoors. This mosaic is also worthy of note…