Do you enjoy the hunt? You know, scouring flea markets and yard sales for great deals; wading through all of the glassware, holiday decor and discarded stuff from people’s homes. This is where Minimalism is our friend. Folks are tossing out all of the stuff that doesn’t bring them joy, right? But hey, sometimes a little make-over is all that’s needed.
Mosaic Basics
Mosaics is often the perfect medium for transforming your flea market finds into gorgeous, often colorful, pieces to use and display around your home. It is so versatile ~ you can use an infinite number of found objects, tiles, dishes, stained glass, rocks, sea glass, driftwood, etc as your tesserae.
When selecting the base, or substrate, for your mosaic, you’ll need to be a bit more discriminating. It’s not anything goes. After all, you’ll want your new creation to last a lifetime. And that won’t happen if the base is in anyway flexible; your mosaic will crack and break over time. Good selections for the base include glass, cement, terra cotta, stone and compressed fibre cement (think Hardie Board). Some woods, like marine plywood, are good options. The caution is to select wood that’s moisture resistant and ALWAYS seal or paint before use.
More often then not, I opt for glass on glass mosaics. I just love the look of stained glass, especially with some sunlight shinning through. Working with the glass is made lots easier once you get the hang of using glass nippers and cutters. There are plenty of instructional videos on you tube. Some of my go-to’s are Sue Smith Glass Mosaics and Delphi Glass Creativity Center.
The final essential consideration is adhesive. Selection of adhesive is dependant upon the nature of your prooject: indoor or outdoor, and the type of tesserae used. For outdoor projects you’ll need an adhesive that will withstand the fluctuations in temperature and wet conditions. For glass projects, a silicone adhesive seems to work best. For other types of outdoor projects, thinset is usually recommended.
OK. So, this particular project isn’t suited for someone brand new to glass cutting or mosaic work. But if you have the basics of cutting and nipping and understand the steps to completing a mosaic; this is certainly achievable for beginner level practice. Hey, you don’t need to be a Picaso to paint a room and you don’t have to be an accomplished mosaic artist to bring a little mosaic art to your garden.
Creating Garden Art
My steps:
- This piece was going to be used outdoors and I wanted it to be white to match the planters. After cleaning and lightly sanding the frame, I spray painted with a 2 in 1 paint/primer for outdoor use.
- The original photo covers were made of thin pexi glass. Not suitable for glass mosaic. I used them to draw an outline on clear glass and cut out the four sizes needed to fit each opening. These glass pieces were the substrate for glass on glass mosaic.
- I used stained glass and a few fused glass gems to create the flower designs. As this was an outdoor project, I choose clear silicone as my adhesive.
- Once all the glass was adhered in place, I used sanded grout to fill in the lines. It’s basicallsy the same process you use when tiling the floor, except no kneeling is necessary:-)
- Finally, I sealed the grout; especially important as this piece was going to live outside.
The completed project sits outside of Mom’s “Granny Cottage” among her potted plants and she loves it. We’ll also be adding some mosaic stones and planters in the next few months. These are projects Mom can do with a little assist and she enjoys seeing the finished work just outside her ront door.