Glass Mosaic Tile Art: Andamento Huh? What's That?
Making wonderful glass mosaic tile art is easy! Let me show you how. Andamento (Italian for "flow") is the visual movement of your mosaic created by placing tesserae in specific patterns to achieve the desired image (a.k.a. "coursing" your tesserae). Opus (Latin for "work of art or literary work") is any work in any creative field, such as literature, architecture, music, and fine art. In our world of mosaic art, opus refers to how we arrange our tesserae. Different opera (the plural of opus) result in different flows. Understanding the various opera allows you to properly plan your work to ensure you achieve the desired look. The following opera terms are based on Latin.
Glass Mosaic Tile Art: Creating Mosaic Tables
How do you create lovely stained glass mosaic tables? Once you know these basic steps, your creativity can take over. If you want something truly unique in a mosaic table, forget the many common styles of round mosaic bistro tables on metal stands that look they were produced on an assembly line. Instead, try integrating a beautiful stained glass design onto the table top of a piece of real-wood furniture. Start with an unfinished table from a local or online store that deals in unfinished furniture. If you buy online, shop around because you can oftentimes find the same products in a wide price range. Search for "unfinished furniture" and you'll get tons of hits.
Glass Mosaic Tile Art: Mosaic Glass Cutters
Making wonderful glass mosaic tile art is easy! Let me show you how. Wheeled glass cutters are essential for creating glass mosaics. I use it to cut and shape vitreous glass and stained glass. It can also be used to cut smalti. The wheeled cutters make cleaner cuts than tile nippers. The two carbide wheels (or steel, if you buy cheap cutters) are fixed in position. Instead of scoring and breaking, the wheels apply even pressure to the top and bottom sides of the glass, causing it to fracture along the line of the wheels. The wheels are replaceable and eventually go dull, but not before several thousand cuts. Each wheel is held in place by a setscrew (usually an Allen screw).
Glass Mosaic Tile Art: Stunning Mosaic Tables
Want something different for your home? Something truly unique? Maybe a stunning art masterpiece that everyone is irresistibly drawn to admire as soon as they walk through your door. Maybe you want something a bit more functional, such as a distinctive piece of furniture. What if you found something that combines the two? Lovely stained glass mosaic tables add color and warmth to your home or office. They serve not only as beautiful works of art, but they also serve a useful function as furniture. You probably think, "Mosaic tables are nothing new or unique, so what's this guy talking about?" You're right! Search the Internet for "mosaic table" and you'll find that most websites offer round bistro or kitchen tables with wrought iron stands done with mosaic designs using standard tessera shapes (i.
Glass Mosaic Tile Art: How to Easily Fix Grout-line Imperfections
Making wonderful glass mosaic tile art is easy! Let me show you how. Have you ever watched your mosaic grout seemingly shrink before your eyes as it hardens? Arrrrg! The grout lines are no longer flush with the tesserae and tiny pinholes mysteriously appear. Now what? As the grout sets and hardens, you may notice grout shrinkage (i.e., the grout lines are like little valleys where the grout sinks and isn"t flush with the tesserae). This used to happen to me a lot when I mixed the grout too runny. However, since using thick, pasty grout, I"ve experienced much less grout shrinkage. Don"t fret! It"s an easy fix. Simply re grout the mosaic. It"s a lot easier the second time, especially when using thick, pasty grout.
Glass Mosaic Tile Art: How to Make a Permanent Signature on Glass
Making wonderful glass mosaic tile art is easy! Let me show you how. Ever wonder how to sign your indoor glass mosaic art so the signature won't rub or wear off? Nothing seems to stick permanently to glass. Permanent marker isn't permanent. Acrylic and enamel paint rub, chip, or flake off. Nothing works! Until recently, I signed my indoor glass mosaics with enamel paint. I covered the entire mosaic (except the signature) with old rags and towels, and then lightly sprayed on two light coats of clear acrylic sealer to protect the paint. That method works okay, but it doesn't seem to be as permanent as my new idea. I had an epiphany a while ago and I've been signing all my indoor glass mosaics with this method ever since.
Glass Mosaic Tile Art: Do We Cut or Break Glass Does it Matter ?
Making wonderful glass mosaic tile art is easy! Let me show you how. Ever wonder what glass actually is? Do we cut it or break it (is there a difference)? Why and how does scoring a line allow us to control the way glass breaks? To fully understand why we cut glass the way we do, we should first understand a bit about glass itself. There are two types of solids: amorphous and crystalline. (Huh? Amorphous? Wasn"t he a character in the movie series The Matrix? No, that was Morpheus.) As you"ll learn in my eBook in the chapter on Tessera Types, glass is an amorphous solid (the chapter explains what glass is to help the mosaic artist understand how to make better cuts and breaks, and to help reduce wasted glass).
Glass Mosaic Tile Art: Mixing Grout
Making wonderful glass mosaic tile art is easy! Let me show you how. The amount of grout for your mosaic project depends on two basic variables: 1) the size of your piece, and 2) the width of your joints. Obviously, smaller joints require less grout. It"s important to mix more than you think you"ll need to ensure you don"t run out. This is especially true when using colored grout to ensure color consistency unless you intend for your piece to have varying shades of grout. If you have a brand new box of grout, you"ll probably use only a small portion of it. Don"t dump the whole box into a bucket of water! If this is your first time grouting a mosaic, put what you think is enough into your mixing container and then add at least half that amount (i.
Glass Mosaic Tile Art: Hanging Your Heavy Mosaic Masterpiece
Making wonderful glass mosaic tile art is easy! Let me show you how. You"re so anxious to hang your first masterpiece that it seems like the frame store is taking forever finish the frame. Finally, they call to tell you it"s ready for pickup. Wow, they did a great job and the frame makes your mosaic look even better. You can"t wait to hang it on the wall and show it off. It weighs a ton and you"re nervous wondering whether a 10-penny nail in flimsy drywall can hold all that weight. You wisely decide that the nail must instead go into a wall stud. The last thing you want is your heavy mosaic crashing down, popping off tesserae, breaking the custom frame, and cracking the ceramic floor tile.
Glass Mosaic Tile Art: Is Weldbond Really the Best Adhesive for Mosaics?
Making wonderful glass mosaic tile art is easy! Let me show you how. Which type of adhesive is best for mosaics? It depends on your base material, mosaic method, whether you"re working horizontally on a table or vertically on a wall, whether your mosaic is exposed to moisture, and personal preference. Many websites and articles say Weldbond is the best adhesive for indoor mosaics and that it"s the preferred glue of professional mosaic artists worldwide. I"m the kind of guy who likes to ask, "Why?" I"m compelled to dig deeper, so my question is: What makes Weldbond so much better than other polyvinyl acetate (PVA) glues (commonly known as white glue), such as Elmer"s Glue All?