Tag: contemporary mosaic

  • Grouting Case Study (Plus Mosaic Art Worth Seeing)

    Grouting Case Study (Plus Mosaic Art Worth Seeing)

    Artist Sherri Grasmuck created a mosaic facade of Guatemalan women on her house in Philadelphia that is the perfect case study for choosing a grout color.

  • Why Did My Tiles Come Loose From Thinset?

    Why Did My Tiles Come Loose From Thinset?

    Recently, artist Jackye Mills emailed me about a problem she was having with her first mosaic project, and it really caused me a lot of angst because the artwork was a strong design that was otherwise well executed. I hated the thought that a first-time mosaicist could do such a good job on something so ambitious only to…

  • Making Mixed-Media Mosaics By A Process of Elimination

    Making Mixed-Media Mosaics By A Process of Elimination

    Artist Susan Watson created a stained glass and stone mosaic for her studio exterior wall and chose the background color and material using a process of trial and elimination. Mixed-media mosaic artists often choose backgrounds by laying tile on the pattern or backer after the figures have been tiled, as I explained in my recent article…

  • How To Choose Mosaic Background Colors and Patterns

    How To Choose Mosaic Background Colors and Patterns

    Background colors for mosaics should be chosen based on how well they contrast with the colors used in figures. For this reason, most mosaic artists will tile their figures first and then choose their background colors by a trial-and-error process of placing tiles on the mosaic backer and just seeing how they look. The same approach…

  • Mario Gamer Mosaic Art

    Mario Gamer Mosaic Art

    Artist Jason Oakley made this great pixellated mosaic of Mario and some of the other characters in the Mario games. I like how the gridded pattern of tiles looks exactly like low-resolution pixels such as used in vintage video games. Mario Gamer Mosaic Art second view by Jason Oakley.

  • Opus Pixellatum Mosaic Class Photos and Videos

    Opus Pixellatum Mosaic Class Photos and Videos

    Frederic Lecut’s “Opus Pixellatum” Mosaic Class was a lot of fun, and I think the mosaics were very successful, especially with the improvised tweaking and colorization that students did in phase two of the process. In the photo above, instructor Frederic Lecut kneels in front of the class. When people are in position at the…

  • Mosaic Artist Michael Kruzich’s Must-See Work

    Mosaic Artist Michael Kruzich’s Must-See Work

    Mosaic Artist Michael Kruzich has a body of work worth taking a look at, especially if you have any doubts about how well dramatic lighting can be rendered in mosaic portraiture and other figurative mosaic artwork. But that’s not all that you need to see of his work. Michael has also made some mosaic-clad figurative sculpture that is as…

  • Figurative Mosaic Artwork As An Element of Interior Design

    Figurative Mosaic Artwork As An Element of Interior Design

    Figurative mosaic art (mosaic pictures) can be used as an element of interior design in the same way that paintings are used. The only difference is that a stronger, more secure way of mounting the artwork to the wall is needed. Natalija wrote an article about using a French cleat mounting system to securely hang…

  • Pan’s Head Mosaic: A Classical Interpretation

    Pan’s Head Mosaic: A Classical Interpretation

    Artist Frederic Lecut’s “Pan’s Head” mosaic has a style that matches its theme, and it is a great example of using classical elements in a contemporary mosaic. The face of the “goat-footed god of Attica” or Pan is the subject of Lecut’s mosaic, and consequently the artist incorporates several aspects of ancient Greek mosaic in his…

  • Mosaic Artist Frederic Lecut’s Opus Pixellatum Technique

    Mosaic Artist Frederic Lecut’s Opus Pixellatum Technique

    Artist Frederic Lecut’s Opus Pixellatum Technique is a tool for rapidly creating original photorealistic mosaics and incorporating improvised elements. Artist Frederic Lecut Mosaic Artist Frederic Lecut creates striking portraits of people’s eyes, mosaics that are photorealistic in execution and powerful as compositions because they are cropped closely and look almost like eyes seen in a Niqab.

  • How To Price Mosaic Art

    How To Price Mosaic Art

    Pricing art is difficult because it is subjective, and pricing mosaic artwork is even more problematic due to the extra labor required to make it, but there is a structured way to determine a hard number, even if the buyer is a friend or relative. Recently artist Valri Castleman emailed my a photo of her untitled mosaic shown…

  • How To Add Texture To Mosaic Art

    How To Add Texture To Mosaic Art

    Mosaic artwork can include rough textural elements that would be impractical in architectural tiling such as a shower wall, which needs to be smooth for cleaning and safety. Note that smooth does not mean flat. You can have textural elements in an architectural surface, but they need to be rounded and not jagged. (Cheese-grater walls…