2nd project: Home sweet home (Part 1)

So the first project had its ups and downs and I am still a little upset about the whole grout thing (that the white grout did not go too well where I had those black tiles) and painting over it did not turn out to be the best solution. This time I will try another method that I will describe in a later post.

***

The second project, "Home sweet home" is, as the titles already gave away, a decorative plaque like the ones I used to see in cartoons when I was little. I came up with the idea when I saw the wooden base in the store.

In order to make the big letters neat and tidy I could have used an image from the Internet and print it like I did for the previous. But because I don't have a printer and my sweetie is on holiday (no abusing the printer at the office this week) I used the following technique that will help in the future too:

1. Divide the base into smaller rectangles according to where the writing will go and how large you want it



2. Decide what type of letter you want to use



3. Count how many letters you have in a certain word and divide the space you have for that word into equal rectangles (eg: home has 4 letters so I made 4 rectangles of 8cm x 10cm and drew the letters to fill, this way all letters are of similar size)



4. Use copying paper to transfer the writing onto the base, or if you don't have copying paper (I didn't) you can cut out the letters and stick them to the base with double sided tape and draw the outline. I used the double sided tape to make sure I the letters don't move out of place and make the writing crooked.


And now, on with the million little tiles!

10 things about making mosaics

Now that the mosaic is done, I can finally begin sentences with “in my experience” just like I always wanted. But I need to squeeze mosaic arts into the next conversation to say it :-P

Seriously now, I made a few mistakes that will help me in my next project.

* * *

Here are the 10 things I learned so far:

1. Cutting tiles with the nipper is not hard as long as you remember to “nip” (you have to check it out on YouTube to see how to do it before you start).

2. When using the nipper it’s hard to make perfect small squares because you can’t control too well the way the tile is cut. I made and used irregular shaped small tiles


3. The ceramic tiles I used are very messy (lots of chips flying about)

4. The small chips and the sand that comes from breaking the tiles can get on the base. This is where I could have used a brush…


5. You need good lighting

6. All the curves of the pattern I chose made the process difficult, but it helped me practice cutting different shapes (not just squares and triangles)

7. Making round or curved shaped tiles by nipping hurts your hand so a good glove is essential

8. When grouting don’t add too much water to the powder, I ended up making more than I need (and it’s not like I can store it and use later, it dries up after a while)

9. You need to wipe the excess of grout from the face of the mosaic before it dries up and after it dries, wipe it with a moist sponge and a dry cloth.

10. Be careful about piking the colour of the grout (I had to paint over it because white on black tiles brought too much contrast)

So here is how it looks like in the end:

Notes on my first mosaic creation

I had been looking for mosaic supplies for some time before I actually bought them. There’s this “Do it yourself” store close by and every time my sweetie was going to look for stuff to build his darkroom I was checking out the arts and crafts corner. I was very rudely browsing through the books and magazines on mosaics without buying, I was reading the instructions on the back of the material packages. Then I went home and read more stuff online.

Here is what I finally bought: black and white tiles, a tile nipper, a round wooden plank, glue, protective glasses, gloves and grout.



Here is what I already had: a desk lamp, tweezers, scissors, ruler, crayons, and eraser.



Here is what I wish I had: a larger desk, a big plastic to over the desk, a lower chair, better fitting gloves, a brush, air pump and finer tweezers.



To make a long story short, I basically drew the ground key on the wood base; I cut each black and white square tile into smaller tiles with the nipper and glued them according to shape and size. At the end I combined grout with water and applied it on the mosaic to finish it off and fill the spaces between the tiles. I took out the excess of grout and left the mosaic to dry. It’s still drying now and in a few hours I will clean everything up with a moist sponge and a dry cloth like the lady on YouTube showed me. :D



The whole project took approximately 9 hours to make. I worked two and three hours at a time and took breaks in between because even though it’s a small project I can’t sit more than 4 hours in a row. My back is hurting and my neck is sore, but I have to say, it’s worth it!

I'll show you pics of the finished project later tonight when it's all clean and dry. Stay tuned! :-)

About

I just finished my very fist mosaic and it turned out better then I ever hoped. Now I am opening this blog to record this very exciting and creative experience. I am also writing everything down so that maybe I can help those interested in the art of mosaics.

There is already a lot of information online, I will post links to resource pages in the near future. For now I will simply explain, as well as I can, what I have learned so far and give a few tips in order to avoid the mistakes I made. If anyone knows more about mosaic art and wants to give me tips, that would be very much appreciated :-D

So here is how it all began...