Sensational Mosaics

 

Spiral

It's rare I praise my own work, but there have been times lately when I've been very surprised at what I have been able to create.  My mosaics sparkle in the sunlight or, as above, the full effect of the iridescent tiles can be seen.

• I've taken things which were nothing.
• I've added to them.
• I've built them up gradually
• And finally covered them in mosaic designs which required little or no planning.
• I have created beauty where there was nothing.
• And I'm happy to have brought some beauty into this existence :-)

Only lately have I completed two mosaic projects.  The Spiral Mosaic (seen above) and Step No. 8 Vertical Face (seen below).

The spiral was created when I arranged six cut mirror tiles and then built out the design with similar cut tiles; filling in the gaps with glitter tiles and iridescent tiles.  It depends where you stand and where the sun is to get the full effect as seen above.  But it is a beautiful effect when you find it :-)

The Spiral was created to fill in a gap where two coping stones meet and to cover a hopper which forms part of the garden drainage system; the latter also being a feature in itself as an artificial riverbed of pebbles and large shells.

 

Step No. 8 Vertical Face

The step mosaic was one I created with sunshine in mind.  The oranges, reds and yellows merging towards the centre before converging with gold and silver mirror tiles.  The central design is another of my unplanned creations.  I don't know what it is, nor its meaning, but it gives the feeling of something dynamic and possibly advanced.

 

The Riverbed

 

Although the feature functions perfectly as drainage for excess water, it's still a work in progress project.


Peace and Happiness x

Body Adornments and New Projects

Mosaic Medallion

Now see if you can guess what substrate I used for this one ;-)

It's a design made up of cut and whole glass gems with a resin crystal in the centre.  I've lately been experimenting with cutting these glass gems as you can make much more intricate patterns than if left whole.  It's a shame I had to grout this really but really it's the only way to keep it all together.  Mind, the finished design still has a wonderful effect to it.

Once again I have used anthracite glitter grout to finish the design.  The resin crystal now had glitter paint behind it to add to the effect.  I am still trying to find a suitable thing to hang it with that would be strong enough to take the weight without putting pressure on the neck.  Currently it is utilising an adapted hanging basket chain!  But, due to no help on this problem whatsoever, I've had to improvise with what I could find.

This is the back using a much more simpler pattern.  It is designed for comfort on this side; though really it could be worn either way round.

The rear of the substrate was finished with glitter paint which adds a sparkly effect to the gems which sit on top.

Mosaic Clock

 

This started out as simply a plain black clock.  I painted much of it silver with a view to placing glass gems above so that the silver shines through.  I debated taking them right to the centre under the pointers but in the end to be on the safe side, I opted to use flat glass tiles bought from the local DIY store.  This was to give allow the pointers to still be able to move round the face unrestricted.

The design for the centre was not planned.  I was trying to get get spirals that emulated the waves of the sea.  It's a sort of adaptation of my scroll designs on my step mosaics.  The clock isn't 'quite' finished; the gems need cleaning still and a bit more grout needs adding to finish off.  The pointers may also need some attention before hanging.

Spiral Design Mosaic Vase

I began working on this late 2012 but it got put to one side as I began doing more elaborate designs.  There was a while before I really had any ideas on how to complete this one.

Only the upper part has been done and as you can see I was experimenting with spirals with this vase.

The lower half has recently been painted silver.  I wish I'd done the same with the upper half but at the time I wasn't really experimenting with backings yet.  I may well adjust the top to make it a little more interesting though.  I'm already having thoughts about different designs I could use and connect it to the lower half.

The Head

This was a glass head which I have now painted silver.  I've wanted to mosaic something like this for some time but have never found a suitable substrate until now.

There is no planned design for this (I haven't 'planned' any mosaics in ages as it's been more fun to just do spontaneous patterns) but I have one or two possible ideas.  I am still going to be utilising glass gems and will probably be using anthracite glitter grout again.