The Mosaic Process

This ia a close up of one of my larger pieces that I call "Waiting Angel". It won 3rd place in the Delphi Glass Festival. It stands about 4 feet tall. Since I do not do mosaics full time it took me about 3 months of working a couple hours most every day to complete.

I work with the same glass used for stained glass. Some nights when I am not feeling very creative I just nip glass into tear drop or leaf shapes for use in later projects.

I start by drawing my idea on paper and then enlarge it with my copy machine to be transfered to the working surface. I usually prepare the surface by paining it white so the glass looks more colorful. Then I transfer or draw the design on the surface. From that point I begin kind of painting with glass. I often will have a lot of glass pieces just sitting in place. This allows me to try out different colors or glass shapes. Once I am happy with a section I start to glue it down.
I use the clear liquid nails on all my projects. The last step is to apply the grout. It is like a cement that holds every thing together. Grout is not my favorite part and most of the time my husband Marco will grout things for me. Grout comes in lots of colors and the color can greatly change the look of the piece. Most of the time I use one grout color on Waiting Angel I used several grout colors.

Anyway I have been doing mosiacs now for about 3 years. In doing them I find hope that no matter how shattered or broken our lives may become, in the hands of the Creator, the master artest, it becomes full of new possibilities. He can take our brokeness and make something beautiful. Isaiah 61:3...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and the garment of prise instead if a spirit of despair.