I often get asked about how I make my mosaics - and, as with a lot of things in life, there is no magic formula - it is hard work, practice and lots of good ideas!
I can tell you want I use - simple tile snippers, PVA glue (for indoor mosaics), ordinary wall tiles, exterior plywood for the base, tweezers for putting the little pieces in place - I have a pencil, ruler and rubber handy (and a notebook for ideas as they come to me), and basically blogger friends, that is it!
Ask any mosaic artist, and they will tell you, mosaics take a long time to make. I have never priced my work with how long they take to make - it would make the minimum wage look loads! But, of course, that isn't the point - I just love to make mosaics, and still feel privileged that customers want spend their hard earned money on them!
My tiles are always a source of interest - where do I get all those gorgeous colours and textures? Well, I do a biannual big order from Wall and Floors, so that the delivery is reasonable. I visit the British Ceramic Tiles factory shop twice a year too ( see blog post - http://justmosaics.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/a-visit-to-british-ceramic-tiles.html) and I keep my eyes open for anything interesting, wherever I am.
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| A mosaic of Chesil Beach, Dorset, England - one of the mosaics I sold this week. |
The ideas for mosaics..? Well, they just flow - while I am working, or walking the dog, or on holiday, or at exhibitions, or in the middle of the night! I have a great list of mosaics I want to make ..'when I have got time!' I am learning to make the time between orders and commissions now - because you have to feed that inspiration regularly to keep it ... humming! My heart races as I start a new mosaic I have been thinking about for a while - no one else will have done one quite like it before - it's really exciting!
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| On my worktable this week.....! |
So, I am always happy to answer questions about mosaics, as best I can - I have a Q and A session pinned to the tope of my Facebook page this weekend www.facebook.com/justmosaics.co.uk - if you have a question. But mostly I would say, just get stuck in and see what happens. As an old art teacher of mine used to say, 'Art is never wrong!'
Happy weekend!
Felicity x
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