Horse, Mountains & Tree Mosaic
The mosaic walls of the quest room are covered completely in various tiles, rocks, and stones. As you lay in bed relaxing, all three walls are there for inspiration and tranquility, giving an environment of peace. Horses on the left wall, mountains on the front wall, & a tree representing the famous angel tree in South Carolina, is on the wall to the right.
Step by Step
Creating the horses took several months. Time is very important in creating a wall. I will explain why as I walk through the scenes below.
The Beginning
The horses on the wall represent our horses. In the beginning of starting any wall I break tile & categorize shapes and colors of all materials I plan to use.
On this wall I started with the stone for the eye and then determined the size of the horse in proportion with the eye. The shapes of the horses look like our horses but the colors are different because it is hard to find the exact colors needed.
The nice thing about working on sheet rock is the surface does allow you to take anything off if you change you mind later. You will notice that the blue tile around this horse’s head is changed as I continue with my work. A piece of a broken plate with a flower was placed in the beginning of this wall and later removed. Decorative plates are used a lot in mosaics, but didn’t seem to fit in this wall.
Liquid nails is used on each piece applied on my walls. I spread it on with a butter knife. If a piece is too heavy I use duck tape to hold the items on the wall until the adhesive has dried enough.
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Full Body
Here is the full body of the first horse.
I would like to point out here how big broken pieces of tile were used to break up the monotonous look of small pieces. And gives a more interesting look.
Your eye focuses in on his hind quarters as you observe the large pieces and seems to give the horse strength.
It is also hard to look at a wall when it is so big. Your eyes travel to all the different areas.
I look at each individual area and try to determine if the stones placed are interesting enough to almost keep you in the one area. I want to achieve a visual affect where moving on to anew area gives a different, yet another interesting focus of the same horse.
I also started trying to figure out the background in the picture. Notice I started adding more color.
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Fellow Horses
As I began to add the other horses to the wall, I realized I could use the background in a way that actually made the horses manes look fuller, while adding interesting color.
I have to explain how I came upon all these different shapes and colors of tile. A tile shop was changing out their displays of tile samples and asked if I wanted to purchase them for very little money. If I had not happened upon this miracle, I would never have tried or even thought of this wall. All the different shapes and colors inspired my imagination to the point I couldn’t sleep! This was truly a Divine gift in my eyes!
But, I must admit that pulling the tiles off the sturdy cardboard was very difficult and at times even hurt my hands. And even though I used tools to pull off the tile, it was still very hard on my hands!
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Horses + Corner Wall
In this picture I would like to show how the mountain wall and the horse wall coordinate so well. It’s as if the horses have run down from the mountains into this open area.
I will mention here the time involved in putting up stones is not a problem but, the grouting is a big problem. Once you start a grouting process you can not stop and come back later. You have to finish the process by having the acquired time needed or you will ruin the whole wall. And it can not be fixed!!!! Everyone in the family has to understand you can not stop and have to finish the grout once you have you started.
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Getting Close
In this picture you can see I have grouted most of the wall. I grouted each hose as I finished them because it gives me an assurance I am working in the right direction. Also, taking the time to grout in some of my placed and secure stones helps others see what I am trying to accomplish.
When others can get a feel for what you are trying to accomplish they often suggest ideas or may ask a question that will spark an idea I haven’t thought of and will actually help me.
Also, here I started adding acrylic paint to the grout to have variety in the landscape. The colored grout also gives dimension to the picture.
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The Flower
In the beginning of creating this mosaic I pictured a field of beautiful flowers with the horses running through them. I taped a flower from a broken vintage plate to the wall for inspiration. A lot of mosaic artist look for plates to break or plates that are really old or unusual to use in their mosaics. After creating the horses, the piece of broken plate just wasn't right, so I created only one flower from the modern tile I had found in a local tile shop. Vintage just didn't work in this picture of horses.
The rest of the background would represent sky, water, and grass. Tilting tile in different directions gives the sensation of horses running, wind blowing, or rays of sunshine beaming down on them. Any sense of movement you can create helps with a piece of art not feeling monotonous.
Mountains
This mountain wall was the first wall to be installed in the guest room. The inspiration for this wall came from our rock and fossil hunting adventures.
Starting at the bottom of this wall I used very large pieces of broken tile to try and give the appearance of a long, tall, interesting, climb to get to the mountains.
There are spaces between the large pieces of tile that can be filled in with grout. But instead I used rocks, square, oblong, or rectangular tile to fill in the gaps. Using all these different kinds of tile gives variation, dimension, and interest to a flat service.
Using large pieces of tile makes the whole mosaic process faster. Filling in the gaps with different kinds of tiles or rocks is fun because its almost a surprise before your eyes as you see the process progressing and also proves your idea is a great idea!
Also, filling in the large gaps results in very little grout needed to fill in the gaps, making the whole process faster.
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In trying to create walking paths on the mountain enticing people to climb the mountain, I used the same rocks or tile over and over to look as if it really is possible to climb to the top.
Longer white pieces of tile represent sow and ice. Medium sized gravel rocks represent boulders.
Having three mountains in various colors give dimension and a sensation the water is really flowing around, through, and in between the mountains. I was so fortunate to have so many varieties of blue tile to use for the water. Creating consistent patterns and then angling the tiles looks as if there are rapids in the flowing waters.
The sky is various colors of blue, yellow, gray, gold and brown. the darker colors are meant to create a stormy sky, needed to make rivers.
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In this scene is a hidden object only I can probably see. I describe it to my grandkids and they appreciate it because they know their grandad so well.
It is hidden where the water flows over a tall group of rocks and cascades down.
If you look closely you may see that there is a round rock on top of s pointed rock.
Any guesses to what this represents besides an elevated boulder of rocks that water passes over?
It is me waiting for grandad to come back from exploring!
He always ends up going ahead of me and finding something wonderful!
Look again for along with a round rock for my head I have white hair, arms, and a dress on!
Ok, I know its difficult, but it is a hidden image, representing something special for me!
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Finally, I wanted to show how the scene even continues in the limited space above the doorway.
Tinier mountains above the door make the picture seem far away and traveling.
Also notice how in the corner you can see the nest mosaic.
I love the corners of mosaic walls!
The top of the tree trunk is symmetrical. In trying to create balance and a sense of peace, I copied each side as best and as much as possible.
I have been told by several people that there are around three different faces in this area.
I agree there are faces, they remind me of totem poles, since we live in a log house. I would like to create a totem pole one day.
When you aren’t for certain what you are creating in a mosaic and your having trouble creating a pattern, start in the center and just copy what ever you are doing on one side to the other side. This works really well for me.
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When decorating a room, sometimes you have to include a piece beyond the mosaic, like this light switch panel. Choosing a complimentary panel really helps enhance the details of the room. By matching the more intricate light switch to the surrounding stones, even something as simple as turning on a light becomes an artistic experience.
All through the tree there are pretty stones and tile that represent the beautiful, wonderful growing times in our lives.
And there are some ugly stones in the tree which represent our disappointments, accidents, failures, griefs, or maybe even sins.
But all through the tree are the Angel Wings that show no matter what happens in life, God is with us, helping us from above, with his chorus of angels!
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What’s a great tree without some great birds? Appearing here and there across the mosaic, I included a variety of birds. This first one is in the upper branches. Notice how here the bird isn’t just flush with the wall. It’s wing is actually raised one level above the wall for an added sense of depth and realism.
This bird also represents one of my sons, who walks to the beat of his own drum.
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All of these birds in the tree are made with rocks and sliced agates that were a surprise from my husband. One day he came home with a sack of rocks he purchased from a friend. The friend’s mother had recently passed and these were her rocks.
I hope she is proud that her rocks are an important part of my angel tree!
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The bird in the upper left corner is flying so fast hoping you won’t see it.
He represents how fast we move in our daily lives.
Also it represents how much in life we look down, forgetting to look up.
Life is to short and beautiful birds help us to remember to stop and see the trees and sky. Feel the wind and sun, and watch the clouds in all their forms.
There are a lot of angel wings all through out the tree.
Small golden tile that represent the Angels in Heaven watching over and guiding us.
The small wings are also there to remind us of our accomplishments and victories.
The large angel wings are slice agate pieces. they are showing the age of the tree and how we will continue to grow as we continually work and just try as we too grow older. The limbs of the tree are so old and large that they grow back down to the earth to again receive strength to reach high!