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Making Tiles from Stained Glass
We haven’t been able to keep our Smalti stocked very well over the past year because it has quadrupled in cost after the tariffs and freight gouging and the large factory price increase. I have been fretting about that a lot recently, and so Natalija reminded my how much cheaper and easier it is to…
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Making Mosaic Letters from Beads
Glass Seed Beads in the 3.7mm size can be strung on short pieces of wire to make letters, numerals, and symbols in mosaic artwork. Step #1. Find Wire Any variety of metal wire can be used, but copper taken from stranded electrical wire is the easiest to find and use:
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Subtle Color Variegation
I wanted to share more photos of Jill Gatwood’s Mosaic Butterfly commission because it is a good example of subtle use of color variegation when fairly uniform color fields are desired. I often recommend using color variegation (a mix of related hues or shades of a particular hue) as an alternative to monochromatic areas of…
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Underestimating Grout Gaps
Artist Harry Belkowitz’s millefiori mosaic Dove of Peace is a mixed-media piece of artwork with a black painted background surrounding the central mosaic figure. The rainbow silhouette of dove with olive branch might be a little aspirational right now, but I figured we all could use a little hope and beauty. The Dove of Peace…
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Amazing Commission
I have survived the stress of managing the supply business during the pandemic/supply crisis so far only by allowing myself periods when I get very slack in responding to non-crisis emails. I tell myself I will get back to them eventually, but sometimes eventually is a long time. Most emails that can be ignored for…
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Multiple Modes of Andamento
First-time mosaic artist John Schroeder’s Celestial Transom Mosaic is something of a tour-de-force in combining different styles of andamento into a seamless composition. Kids, Don’t Try This at Home Combining different styles of andamento in a mosaic is something I would never recommend to a first-timer. It’s easier to figure out one way of working…
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Mosaic Restoration Video
Natalija made a video of her work with artist Angela Bortone in the restoration of a marble mosaic. The mosaic was a reproduction of a detail of Botticelli’s painting The Birth of Venus, and it was covered in grime and missing tiles. It also needed to be transferred to a new backer. There was a…
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Imperfection as Grout Gap
The Blue Crab mosaic I recently completed is a good example of how to create a grout gap by making use of imperfect cuts instead of spacing the tiles intentionally. The “imperfect cut” method makes the process of creating a mosaic faster, easier, and less tedious -first in the cutting and placing of tiles but…
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Blue Crab Mosaic Relic
My dear old friend Jay Brown had been requesting a mosaic of a blue crab for years, and this past week Jay had his official investiture as a federal judge, and so I decided it was time. Art with a Capital A Normally I avoid bespoke commissions like the plague because I have trouble keeping…
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Mosaic Art Exhibition
Janet Crawford has owned and operated Fog Forest Gallery in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada since 1984. The gallery’s current exhibit is called “Piece Works” and has been in the making for several years. As the name implies, the exhibit features works of art that were created by assembling small pieces, and the exhibit itself is…
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Mosaic Grout Rules
Artist Caroline Bommer’s recent Sunset Mosaic is a great example of an exception to the rules of mosaic art that I harp on in all my online content. After seeing the finished mosaic, I actually wanted to title this article, “Don’t Listen to Me. I Don’t Know Anything about Mosaic.” Exceptions to Rules of Art…
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Subtle Mosaic Mandalas
New Mexico artist Debbi Murzyn emailed me some pictures of her mosaic mandalas that she made using Native American symbols as the center of the designs. She says she didn’t realize her cultural faux pas until she had completed them, and I think she was a little surprised by the fact that she was surprised.…