Category: Material and Tool Information
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Secret to an Exceptional First Mosaic
I’ve already written about Brad Srebnik’s first mosaic and how impressive it is. It’s also amazing how well Brad documented the process as he was learning it. Brad emailed me a summary of his methods and the lessons he learn from the project. He has some good photos of some important steps, including making a…
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Cutting Glass Mosaic Tile: A Practical Guide
Designs are said to be elegant when they “don’t try to push things uphill” but instead go with the natural flow of materials and forces. Consider the Roman arch versus a rectangular doorway with a flat lintel on the top. The flat lintel could be constructed from a superior material than that used in the…
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Glass-On-Glass Mosaic Grout Color
Artist Laura Adams emailed me for advice on selecting a grout color for her glass-on-glass mosaic, and it is a good case study for several reasons. First, the sky of the mosaic is a whitish gray. Second, Laura made sure to photograph the mosaic with two different lighting regimes: backlit from behind and regular lighting…
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Knight Park Mosaic Sculpture
Artists Angela Bortone and Natalija Moss have discovered a new way to do huge amounts of extreme physical labor in an unheated loading dock. They call this latest folly the Knight Park Mosaic Sculpture. I know from past experiences with my own large sculptural projects that Angela and Natalija have doubted their own rationality if…
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Agonizing Over Mosaic Icons
Artist Sue Hague’s mosaic icons are reproductions of medieval, byzantine, and early Christian icons, and some are mosaic interpretations of icons that were originally paintings. The mosaics Sue produced from these paintings were made with authentic andamento and look as if ancient mosaics were copied tile by tile. Sue describes herself as a beginner still…
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Epoxy Grout vs. Archival Quality Materials
Epoxy grout is preferred for pools because it is more resistant to pool chemicals and staining, but it shouldn’t be used on art object or plaques that might be around for decades or centuries as heirlooms. Epoxy is a resin of long carbon compounds. Long carbon molecules are prone to breaking overtime because they contain…
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Your New Best Friend Mr. Pinchapotamus
Mr. Pinchapotamus is your new best friend. He holds small glass tile while you cut them with a Mosaic Glass Cutter so that your fingertips aren’t near the blades. He can also hold the tile more firmly in place than your fingertips, and so Mr. Pinchapotamus also improves the precision of your cuts.
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Out of Site, Out of Mind
I have always transferred my glass tile from the plastic factory bags used for shipment and into glass jars or plastic tubs. I do that for several reasons: Rigid containers like recycled jars and plastic yogurt containers make it easier to rinse out the glass dust and slivers formed by cutting. Torn plastic bags drip…
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Cleaved-Tile As Smalti Alternative
If you like the cut-face look of smalti but don’t like the price, remember that you can cut recycled glass tiles in half and mount them on edge to get the same look and feel as smalti. Since your “halves” of tile won’t be perfect halves, they will all be slightly different heights when turned…
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Broken Millefiori Mosaic Coaster
I made a mosaic bouquet coaster using our Broken Millefiori and Morjo 12mm Recycled Glass Tile. I used clear contact paper to lay out my design so that I could improvise without a pattern and make revisions as desired BEFORE glue is involved. I wrapped the contact paper around the backer temporarily so that the…
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Marble Mosaic Restoration Project
At the end of 2019 Mosaic Art Supply was e-mailed by a local homeowner about repairing a stone mosaic that was being displayed outdoors. The design of the mosaic is a smaller-scale interpretation of the “Tree of Life” mosaic found in the bath of Hisham’s Palace in eastern Palestine. The palace dates to the 700s…
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Grout Color for Stone Backsplash
Randy Evans emailed me a photo of his stone mosaic backsplash and asked for advice in choosing a grout color. Even though this project isn’t figurative mosaic, and the grout gaps have the width of masonry joints (much larger than the gaps recommended for small glass mosaic tiles), it still makes a good teaching example…