As I mentioned in a previous post, I've done a little mosaic work before, at some family art classes I took with Little Bird a few years ago. I made this number plate for our plot at the allotment. (Never got around to taking it there might I add).
Anyway, I remember enjoying it quite a lot and subsequently bought myself some tools, so that I could do some at home. They have to this day been sat in a box on top of the kitchen cabinets awaiting use. Here's the specialist tools I bought.
These pliers are great for breaking up tiles into smaller pieces and the glasses are to wear as safety goggles, as this can of course be quite dangerous if a chip flies up into your eye.
I also managed to find these lovely frosted glass jewels for a few pounds in a charity shop.
I have a bag full of each size and they may come in useful at some point, along with this frame,
which I would like to make a mosaic plaque for. I wasn't able to manage this in the couple of hours duration of the workshop, but I did manage to make this.
This is a picture of it before it was grouted. Can you tell what it is?
I didn't post yesterday for a few different reasons, one, the day was pretty mad from start to finish, two, for some reason Blogger doesn't seem to be working as it (I'm not getting my usual blog reading feed and assume others might be having the same problem), and three, I wanted to wait until I could finish the plaque, as it couldn't be grouted for 12 hours or so. So here is the finished, grouted but still drying result. It's a dragonfly, of course. There were a couple of pieces of tile that I would like to have replaced for alternatives, as they didn't quite work when it was grouted, but overall I was quite pleased with it.
I've been saving up various bits of chipped or cracked pottery for a while now, in order to use them in a mosaic project. Here's a picture of what I've collected so far.
The problem is, I can't bring myself to break them up and use them. Some of them would be quite collectable if they were perfect. Seems criminal, especially when they are Hornsea Pottery or Poole Pottery items. It would, however, be a very good way to continue to make use of them.
Other items needed for mosaic making are simply a few old tiles or crockery, PVA glue, MDF to stick the tiles to with the PVA, a tiling grout in whatever colour you wish to use and a grout spreader to apply the grout, the excess of which is later wiped off whilst still wet with a damp sponge. Very simple process, but can produce very colourful and individual pieces of work.
The workshop was a very useful reminder of how to do this and will hopefully spur me on to make a few more pieces at home for the garden. The lovely ladies that ran the workshop, also run a weekly drop in class on a Monday evening, for adults and children, which is free to attend. Unfortunately, Monday isn't a good night for us, as Little Bird has her trampolining class, so I won't be able to attend which is a great pity. Still, I enjoyed this workshop a lot.
Joining in with Dreamer at Living a Slow and Simple Life in trying to complete a task a week for a year.
What a fun class. Hard to break up the attractive pottery unless it's already badly chipped.
ReplyDeleteHi, yes, some of it is, but some of it has only minor chips or hairline cracks, hence the dilemma.
DeleteYes, some of it is, but some has only small chips or hairline cracks, hence the dilemma. They may get a reprieve.
DeleteI love it. l would love to do more mosaic, I did do a little bit but wasnt very pleased with it and didnt get it finished but I do love what you have done with yours. The key is to attend classes, not only do you learn the technique but you get tips from other people too.
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for stopping by and for your kind comments. I agree, often going to a class is the key to getting to grips with a new skill. It's good for getting inspiration from others too, as you see people do things that you would never think to do yourself.
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