MOSAIC MATERIALS
Mosaic Art is MAGICAL! Any and everything is accepted in making a mosaic art piece. There are no rules or limits in mosaic works. Every kind of material imaginable is used! If your hands, eyes, and heart love it, then use this item. Use anything you want to "express yourself" or even "relay a special message". Any and all things are appreciated in this magnificent world of art. Art that will last many lifetimes, allowing future generations the experience of a legacy left behind, by a caring creative artist.
Tile is my first suggestion to use in the beginning of learning mosaic art. If you are hesitant to break tile, you can always purchase tile that are already small pieces, This type of tile comes on a screen and is made to be place while still attached to the screen as a whole complete piece. I use this type of tile often for variety. You will have to either pull the tile off the screen mesh or cut around the tile leaving the mesh on the back of the tile. Each of these processes to get the tile off the mesh is often difficult, but worth the process. (Please remember to "wear" some form of protection on your eyes) when breaking tile. Also, going outside to a hard surface like your porch, will keep fragments from getting under furniture. Tile fragments can be vacuumed with the hose of a vacuum cleaner. But, keep in mind any tile fragments left behind can and will cut skin. I also, place my tile on top of an old towel. This towel helps with the small fragment pieces from flying everywhere and protects the tile from shattering and damage. Take a hammer and break the tile. I always turn the tile upside down when breaking. If you break the top side of the tile, it may shatter. Any size broken piece of tile will work if you are going to apply the tile to a large area. But, I usually work with the largest piece being about the size of the palm of my hand. The more sizes you have in pieces of tile, the more interesting the picture will be. The tile will break not only into different sizes, but also different shapes. These unexpected shapes that just happen when breaking tile, are what I like the best, and find the most interesting. My imagination and creativity are sparked when I see these random shapes. But, starting with just one size, if you are a beginner, will also work. As you play and arrange the tile you will discover what you like best and soon you will be ready to move on to other various sizes of tile. In placing the tile beside each other, try to keep a similar distance of space between the tile. This will give consistency to the picture. If some of the tile touch, it is ok. If you decide you want to try and fill in with smaller pieces then just break some of the tile into smaller pieces with the hammer. you will be surprised at how you can find a special place for each size piece of tile. Always save any leftover pieces, remember nothing is wasted in mosaic art! There are tiny miniature mosaic art works of jewelry to giant mosaic art scenes on the sides of buildings. In mosaic art work, the sky is the limit!
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