Monday, 20 April 2015

The making of my mosaic, 'Sheep in Winter'.

Hello, blogger friends!

There is never a dull moment with my mosaic work, and I love the variety!

Last week, I was commissioned to make one of my 'sheep in winter' mosaics.  This is one of my personal favourites as I use a more subtle palette of colours - love the bright, love the pale!

This mosaic is particularly 3D.  I build the sheep and the tree trunk in plain white tiles first, and then add the coloured tiles on top.  It really works well to bring the mosaic to life.  The other tiles I have chosen are all different widths so bringing a lovely texture to the whole piece.  The sheeps' heads and legs are only one tile thick so giving the effect of a big wooly body coming out at you.  As you can imagine, better in real life, but I'm trying to give you some idea of how it is!  These photos probably do a better job.



The grouting of this mosaic piece is particularly difficult, with all the different levels.  My fingers do suffer, as no other tool will do!  But I take it slowly, section by section, making sure I haven't missed a bit, and then turning it upside down and grouting it again - amazing how many holes slip the net!  And then, the long wiping process begins, until I am 100% happy :-)

And here it is finished!


I hope you like 'Sheep in winter' and thanks once again for reading my blog.  I know you are all out there as my stats tell me loads of you read, so do leave me a comment - it would be lovely to hear from you!

Felicity x
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8 comments:

  1. Unknown21 April 2015 at 14:52

    Really interesting to hear about the process you go through. Must really do a number on your fingers..all those little crannies to get the grout into...ouch!

    Wasn't sure what you meant by turning it upside-down? Is that a test to make sure the tiles are adhered well?

    Have a great day!

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    1. Felicity Ball mosaics21 April 2015 at 17:06

      Thanks Jane - by upside down, I mean I look down the mosaic to see if I have left any gaps - and then turn it round and look down it the other way to check the same thing - hope that makes sense! Fx

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  2. Deborah21 April 2015 at 17:11

    It's fantastic!

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  3. Winwick Mum23 April 2015 at 10:49

    Wow, that looks fabulous! The sheep really do look as if they've got little woolly bodies! I'm seriously impressed! xx

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    1. Felicity Ball mosaics23 April 2015 at 15:35

      Thank you - I am really pleased with the effect! fx

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  4. Anonymous23 April 2015 at 16:30

    I love it, the colours are great, I like pale colours and the 3D effect is fantastic. :)

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    1. Felicity Ball mosaics23 April 2015 at 16:48

      Thank you - it was lovely to use a different palette of coloured tiles! Fx

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