BIRD BATH

One of my favourite designers is the Victorian, William de Morgan.-- Reproduction of his tiles are still manufactured and are widely avilable. The cost of these exquisite pieces would normally be beyond the pocket of the average mosaic artist, but I was lucky enough to get hold of some seconds.
In designing this project, I wanted it to be obvious that I had used the William de Morgan tiles, so I tried to keep the overall feel of the piece in keeping with the designs on the tiles, grouping the different motifs-the peacocks, ships and fish - together in their own area.
This method is quicky by comparsion to ordinary mosaic. The individual pieces can be quite big and large areas can be coverd in a relatively short time. This project was completed by Sylvia and me in just one day. Using broken tiles or china is an excellentway of recycling an attractive material that would otherwise be thrown away.
There are 'ceramic dumps' where you can pillage such trophies. There is no specific list of the requirements here since, for obvious reasons, it will not be possible to reproduce this design exactly.

            Overall Dimensions: Bird Bath: 42 * 42 * 5 cm (16 * 16 * 2 in)
                  Plinth: Mosaic area consists of four trapeziums:
                     13 * 27 * 47 cm (5 * 10 1/2 * 18 in) high
                        Designer: martin cheek
             Makers; Martin cheek and Sylvia Bell

1 Using the tile nippers, break up some of the tiles and arrange them in an interesting way on the top surface of the bird bath. (You may want to wear rubber gloves to do this as the tiles can be sharp.) Use some of the most attractive tiles for this surface as this is the one that is seen the most. YOu will get a neater finish if you use the straight glazed machine edge of the tile for the edges of the birdbath. When you are happy, transfer these tiles to a board and put them aside.

2 The William de Morgan tiles are very thick (6 mm[1/4 in]) and as you mosaic each surface you leave the thickness of the tile showing on the adjacent surface. In order to disguise this as much as possible, it is important to start on the underside, then the sides, and finally the top surface of the bird bath, mosaicing over the edge of the tiles in each successive case. So, beginning on the bottom of the bird bath, cut the tiles to size and butter each piece with the rapid set floor and wall tile adhesive before finally placing it down. Leave to dry.

3 Now mosaic the four sides, making sure that you cover over the edges of the tiles on the underside. The William de Morgan ship designs had dolphins swimming along the bottom edge. If you are extremely skillful (or lucky!) you will be able to cut these out and place them on the corners of the bird bath.

4 Bring back the board with the presorted tiles on and stick these down. Once again,cover the edges of the tiles on the sides. You will be aware that the gaps between the tesserae are much bigger than in any other type of mosaic, this is the nature of working with broken tiles and/or china.
Continue until you have covered the entire top surface. We tried to keep the colours together for certain areas, such as reddish tiles with peacock feathers for the inner edge contrasting with darker blue tiles on the uppermost inner edge.

5 Grout the completed bird bath. Because the gaps are large, use a wide gap grout. You may find it easier to squidge the grout in with your fingers than use the grout spreader. Be generous with the grout, filling in any crevices,as this will strengthen the final piece. Wipe off the excess grout. The next day, use a piece of broken tile as a scraper to remove any excess grout that is obscuring any glazed area of tile. This is easier and quicker than it sounds.

6 Now start on the plinth. our plinth had attractive fluting on it which I didn't want to lose. There were also ribbed bands with tight curves that would have proved difficult to mosaic. I decided to leave the areas unmosaiced and blend the grout into the curves to incorporate it into the overall design. If your bird bath is basically square and plain, it may well be better to mosaic over the entire surface.
  Once again, I chose a large blue flower as the centrepiece for each side and the poppies for the corners of the central panel. Try to create contrasts between the neighbouring areas.

7 Continue in this way until you have covered all of the mosaic areas. Grout and clean up the plinth in the same way as the bird bath. Rub some grout into the untiled areas to blend them in with the tiled areas. In this case the grouting process goes a long way towards achieving a harmonious whole to the finished piece. Allow to dry for at least two days before cleaning off the surface scum with the liquid floor cleaner and abrasive pad.
     
        

     

FISH DISH

1 black (3 tiles)
2 marbled pink (4 tiles)
3 brown (2 tiles)
4 yellow (26 tiles)
5 softpink (75 tiles)
6 scarlet (32 tiles)
7 tangerine (32 tiles)
8 orange (60 tiles)
9 white (3 tiles)
10 bright red (44 tiles)
11 mauve (8 tiles)

1 I started this project by mosaicing the fins of the fish. Because the tesserae here are thinner, these areas will take longer to mosaic. I like to start on the slowest part of the mosaic and get that bit done, so that I can finish on a 'home straight'. By cutting the tiles into long thin strips you can emphasize the delicacy of the veil-like fins compared to the more solidly mosaiced body of the fish.
   Because the plastic surface is slippery, initially lay a few key lines and allow them to set. For the same reason, place the centre of the eye in position, nibble a circle, cut in half and wedge a thin white triangular highlight between the two halves. You may find it helps to use a cocktail stick to finely position the pieces. Nibble a tiny circle for the fish's nostril and glue it in position.

2 once fast,the key lines will act as buffers against which you can place the adjoining rows of tesserae. Fanning outwards from the centre, mosaic the top dorsal fin in the various reds, orange, tangerine and yellow. Repeat for the other fins. Mosaic the key line that forms the jowl of the fish.

3 To run the yellow ring around the eye, cut a large circle out of the tile, cut it into quarters and then nibble the centre out of each quarter. Arrange these tesserae around the black centre to re-form the circle. Keep working outwards adding a brown, then white and finally a red and orange ring to the fish eye. The brown ring will delineate the yellow one, the white ring will make the whole eye stand out from the red body,and the red and orange ring will act as an opus vermiculatum stopping the tesserae of the body from 'crashing' in to the white ring.

4 Continue to mosaic the head of the fish. Try to get a good, strong, clear line between the line of the red upper lip  and the line of the white lower lip which form the mouth. This will help give the fish its particular expression. Run the white key line along the middle of the fish's body and allow to dry.

5 Fanning outwards from the centre, mosaic the fish's upper body. As you work upwards with each row, use a little less yellow, replacing it with tangerine, then a little less tangerine, replacing it with orange, and so on, slowly blending in each colour as you go. By the last row you should be using predominantly scarlet with the occasional piece of bright red.

6 Mosaic the lower part of the fish's body using a predominance of soft pink tiles. Pepper the pink with the occasional yellow and mauve tessera. The final few rows where the plate slopes up are particularly tricy to mosaic. The remaining gaps always appear to want larger tesserae than they actually need. Be patient and, if necessary, spend time nibbling each tessera to fit.

7 Continue in this way until you have finished the fish's entire body. Leave to dry until the PVA goes clear, taking up to four hours. (This is longer than usual because whereas MDF is absorbent which helps the drying process, this plastic plate isn't).

8 When the glue has set, grout and clean the mosaic in the normal way. Although the squeegee is useful for applying the grout to the flatter areas of the plate, you will find that you have to use your fingers (wearing rubber gloves) to grout the curved edges. When you have finished cleaning and wiping off the excess grout, prod with your craft knife to check there are no tesserae
hidden beneath the bed of grout( pay particular attention to the curved sloping sides during this operation). Then allow to dry for at least two days before cleaning off the surface scum as usual.
   When it is cleaned and dry, you can, if you wish, hang your plate on an interior wall. Glue a large 'D' ring to the back of the plate using fast-setting two-part epoxy resin in a well ventilated room. Scratch the surface with your craft knife first so that the glue will key to the plastic surface.

FROG SPLASHBACK

1 Stretch some brown craft paper onto the waxed MDF board. Leave to dry for 3-4 hours, depending on room temperature. Then transfer the frog design onto the paper . Remember that the design will eventually be reversed, so you need to trace down the image the 'wrong' way round. Colour in the frog so that you are happy with the tonal values within his body. Try to create a good clear contrast between his dark back and his soft underbelly. Begin to prepare the tesserae.

2 Mix up the wallpaper paste or use any water-soluble paper gum. As the pasting down is only a temporary measure, only use a small amount of paste. The paper will eventually be soaked off by dissolving the glue. In this sort of mosaic it actually helps if you allow a small gap of, say, 1 mm (1/16 in) between each tessera. When grouted, these gaps will delineate the tesserae and emphasize the flow of the design. Begin by mosaicing the frog's eyes. Then, working outwards, put in the key line along the frog's back. Try to get this
line neat because it is the outside edge and it will give the frog its shape.

3 When you have finished the frog's  dark green head, mosaic the line that describes his underbelly. Try to describe the roundness of the belly by working in neat, curved rows. Continue to mosaic the frog until he is completed.

4 Place down the opus verniculatum. the line of tesserae that surrounds the frog. It delineates the subject and is very important as it prevents the background tesserae from 'crashing' into the subject, in this case, our frog. Now mosaic the border using dark green and copper tiles.

5 Finish off the splashback by mosiacing the surrounding white background area. Echo the 'line of action' of the frog's movement. This is called opus musivum and is one of the most dramatic and striking of all the forms of opus. Leave to dry for three hours or so, depending on room temperature.

6 Take the 53 * 36 cm (21 * 14 in) piece of MDF and 'seal' it with a coat of PVA diluted 50:50 with water. Leave to dry for an hour or so, depending on room temperature. Then cut the mosaic from the waxed board using a scalpel; it will slide off easily if you have waxed the board properly. Keep the board, it can be reused.
  Mix the cement with the trowel so that it is the consistency of thick cream. The cement should not be too thick as it needs to fill the gaps between the tesserae. With the grout spreader, carefully butter the surface of the mosaic, tyring not to disturb  any of the tesserae. Position the buttered mosiac, cement side down, onto the sealed MDF and leave to dry for 24 hours.

7 The next day soak the paper off the mosaic using warm water. Wipe the water onto the paper and give it a few minutes to soak in. The paper should peel away quite easily, but do this slowly. If any tesserae are loose and come away, put them to one side and glue them back into place using the fast setting two-part epoxy resin mixed in a well ventilated room. Finally, grout and clean the mosaic in the normal way.

TO FIX A MOSAIC ONTO A WALL

First prepare the surface of the wall where the mosaic is to be fixed. Clean it so that it is free of dirt and grease and then seal it with a coat of PVA diluted 50-50 with water. Leave to dry for 1-2 hours, depending on room temperature.
  Then render the area of the wall where you want the mosaic to be with a coat of cement. Use the trowel to smooth the rendering, getting it as flat as possible - the mosaic is only a skin and will only be as flat as the wall. When satisfied, key the surface and leave to harden for 3-4 hours.
  'Butter' ther ribbed side of the mosaic with cement. The cement should not be too dry as it needs to fill the gaps between the tesserae. Apply the mosaic to the rendered wall. Use a builder's float to push the mosaic and flatten it against the wall.
    Leave the mosaic to harden for a few days and then soak off the paper and grout the mosaic in the normal way. Two days later, polish off any scum on the surface using floor cleaner and a damp cloth.

FISH DISH

 The durability of mosaics means that they are suitable for kitchens and bathrooms and, because of this, fish are an ever popular choice of subject.
  I bought this plastic, fish-shaped platter many years ago, attracted to the way it looked in a shop window. These days, many department stores sell similar ones as picinicware. when I decided to mosaic the dish, I chose a warm, fiery red fish: the lyre-tailed sea bass. The white underbelly is in stark contrast to the deep red back of the fish. It is important to harmonize the top and bottom by gradually blending in yellows through to oranges and finally to the reds.
The eye was made to stand out from the strong red behind it by separating it with a dark ring of brown followed by a light ring of white.If you don't like this effect, then an alternative idea would be to make the colour of the fish's body a softer colour so that there is a good tonal contrast and the features stand out better. We cut along, thin tesserae to achieve the delicacy necessary for the fins.

                   Size of plate: 40 *30cm (16 * 12 inches)
                        Designer: martin cheek
                     Makers: martin cheek and alan welcome

             YOU WILL NEED

          Vitreous glass tiles as shown opposite
          Plastic fish-shaped picnic plate
            Mosaic nippers
          125 ml(4 fl oz) wood adhesive in a dispenser
          Cocktail stick
          Safety spectacles
          Face mask
          Rubber gloves
          450 g (1lb) of powdered grout
          Bowl of water
          Mixing board for the good
          Trowel
          Plastic grout spreader
           Rubber gloves
            Craft knives
           Cleaning cloth
         Liquid floor cleaner
         Abrasive cleaning pad
         Large 'D' ring with screw
         Two-part, fast-setting
               epoxy resin
          Piece of card measuring
           15 * 10 cm (6 * 4 in)

SUNDIAL

1 The base of the sundial 1 bought was cast concrete which had brickwork effect indentations on the side. To create flat sides, I filled these groves with a rapid set floor and wall tile adhesive. Use a grout speaker to achieve a smooth flat surface and leave to set.

2 Using patels or chalks, divide the octagonal top surface into its eight segments. Colour each segment in orange and yellow alternatively. To break this up 1 made the central line of each segment the opposite colour, ie. a yellow strip through the centre of each orange band, and vice versa.

3 Mix the waterproof tile adhesive with water to the consistency of smooth porridge. Begin mosiaicing by applying an even layer of the adhesive to a segment with the metal modelling tool or a lollilop stick. Lay the two diagonal outer lines and the vertical central line of smalti first. The lines on either side of the central line are also vertical, mosaic these next. If a piece of smalti does not fit exactly, trim down the last piece to size, it looks better if this smaller piece is in the middle of the line and not at either end. Now work from the diagonals inwards to meet the central lines. Nibble the angle of the two end tesserae of each diagonal line to the same angle as the sundial.

4 Continue in this way, alternating the colours on each successive segment until you have completed the top surface of the sundial. Then mosaic the sides by running vertical lines of smalti down the edge of each segment. Try to match the vertical lines to those on the top surface of the sundial.
     Continue on each successive side until the sundial is completely covered in smalti. Leave to harden for 24 hours, then place the sundial in the middle of your favourite flower bed, where it can catch the sun.

BROKEN CHINA TERRACOTTA POT

Even the simplest shapes can be useful to the mosaic artist. By using china, which has a very intricate design, you can get away with using quite large tesserae as the pieces are intrinsically interesting. Indeed, if the pieces are too small, you can't appreciate the delicacy of the patterns or the subtle shading of the colours within the china itself.

You do not need to grout the finished mosaic since the adhesive is forced up between the pieces of crockery and so 'self grouts' as you work.
 Once again, this is a project that looks complicated, but isn't. we completed the entire mosaic in a morning. Before attempting a larger, more complicated structure using broken ceramic, as, for example, the bird bath, it would be a good idea to have a go at a small pot with a simple shape like this one.
Having finished this pot, we thought that the white adhesive looked a bit stark and did not set off the pieces of crockery. To remedy this, I stained the adhesive with a waterproof blue ink. It did the trick. It would, of course, have been better to colour the adhesive at the dry stage with powder paint!


      Overall Dimensions: Back semi-circle:  21 * 16 cm (8 * 6 1/2 in)
      Distance from front to the back of the pot: 13.5 cm (5 in)
      Designer and maker: Sylvia Bell

        YOU WILL NEED
       Assortment of broken plates and china as shown right
                  Plastic bag
                   Hammer
         Mosaic snippers
         5 kg (11 lb)rapid set floor and wall tile adhesive
                  Bowl
                Trowel
              Rubber gloves
            Cleaning cloth
            Liquid floor cleaner
            Abrasive cleaning pad
            Waterproof blue ink

1 Roughly break up the plates by putting them in a plastic bag and hitting it with a hammer. Then use the tile nippers to break up the pieces still further. Sort out the darker, stronger colours in one pile and the more delicately shaded ones in another. Mix up the rapid set floor and wall tile adhesive with water until it is the consistency of porridge.

2 Begin by mosaicing the stronger the bands at the top and bottom of the pot. As you break up the plates, you will notice that some pieces have cut sides and others, the ones taken from the edge of the plates, have a rounded side. It looks neater and gives a better finish if you can place the uncut, rounded edge along the top and bottom of the pot.

3 Mosaic in the flower. Place the centre first and then add the petals around it.

4 Continue mosaicing this remaining centre band until the entire surface is covered, apart from the flat area at the back of the pot where it rests against the wall.


FROG SPLASHBACK

This design is derived from a series of frogs that Sylvia and I made for a swimming pool. Sylvia liked him and thought he would make a good splashback. This project was made indirect so that the final mosaic surface would be flat and easy to clean. The finished surface of the mosaic is the one that touches the paper, so remember to lay the tesserae flat-side-down. This is very important when making an indirect mosaic using vitreous glass, which has a 'right' and  a 'wrong' side.

Make sure that the pale underbelly of the frong stands out well enough from the background. We have chosen a white background to ensure this, but you may prefer to use various blues to create a watery-effect. If so, make sure that you use a dark blue tile against his light green underbelly and a light blue tile against his dark green back when placing the opus vermiculatum to achieve significant contrast.

    Size: 53 * 36 cm (21 * 14 inches)
    Designer: Martin cheek
    Maker: Sylvia bell

           YOU WILL NEED

   Brown craft paper
   Roll of 5 cm (2 in) wide gummed paper tape
   Wooden board measuring 80 *60 cm (31 * 24 in), waxed
       Tracing paper
        Pencil
       Template
       Carbon paper
      Wallpaper paste or water-soluble gum
       Bowl
      Vitreous glass tile as shown oppostie
         Mosiac nippers
      Safety spectacles
       No. 8 paintbrush
        Craft knife
        Cement
   Rubber gloves
   Building sand and cement
   MDF measuring 53 * 36 cm (21 * 14 in)
   Two-part fast setting epoxy resin
   Piece of card measuring about 15 * 10 cm (6 * 4 in)
    Lollipop stick or modelling tool
       Grey grout
     Trowel
     BUilder's float
     Squeegee
     Cloths and sponges
      Bowl of water
      Liquid floor cleaner

1 copper (30 tiles)
2 black (3 tiles)
3 pale pink (8 tiles)
4 green (30 tiles)
5 emerald green vein (4 tiles)
6 dark green (30 tiles)
7 sage green (63 tiles)
8 pale green (13 tiles)
9 white ceramic (320 tiles)
10 white (2 tiles)
11 marbled white (7 tiles)
12 brown (2 tiles)

ROMAN PAVING SLAB

3. Working outwards, mosaic the four central rectangles. Look at where the bands overlap and aim your mosaic line to that it lines up with where it reappears. This is easier said than done! It is helpful to use a ruler to make sure that you are still on line when you come out on the other side. If the lines are wobbly here the final effect won't be as good, so it is worth  taking care and spending time to get the lines heat.

4 Put in the next eight pearl tesserae. If you have worked nearly so far, these will line up, forming a near grid. Working outwards, continue to mosaic the knot until it is completed.

5 Finish off 'papering' the mosaic by laying down the black and pearl border and the surrounding black background area. When you have finished the mosaic, make a mould around it to contain the concrete. Prepare the surface with a releasing agent.

6 Sprinkle a small amount of fine silver sand onto the top surface of the mosaic and carefully brush into the interstices. The sand acts as a barrier and prevents the concrete from flowing under the tesserae onto the surface of the mosaic. Make sure that there is no sand left on the top surface of the mosaic as this will prevent the cement from keying.

7 Cut a piece of chicken wire to the same size as the slab. Place it in the mould to make sure it fits snugly. Any extra wire can be bent over and squashed down. When you are satisfied, remvoe the wire from the mould. Then mix the sand and cement in their dry state. Make a well in
the mixture and gradually add the water until the sand and cement are well mixed and of thick mud pie consistency. Slowly, pour this into the mould and when you have covered
the surface of the mosaic, add the chicken wire. Top up the mould with the remaining sand and cement.

8 Leave to harden for at least a week, then unscrew and remove the wooden battens by gently tapping them away with a hammer. Because they are only glued to the brown craft paper they will come away quite easily. Turn the slab over and remove the MDF board.
  Soak off the paper (if the board has been properly waxed, the paper should peel away very easily), and using a toothbrush sweep away any excess sand that is still lying in the interstices. Grout and clean.

SUNDIAL

Smalti are beautiful, both to work and to look at. The rippled surface of this hand-made glass catches and plays with the light that falls on it, so what better thing to make with it than a sundial? I wanted to show how even when used very simply, it still enlivens and enhances the piece. The octagonal shape of the slab suggested that all I needed to do was to radiate alternating bands of orange and yellow smalti around the top surface of the dial and over the sides to create a jolly sunburst effect.

  Overall Dimensions: 40 * 40 * 8 cm (16 * 16 *3 1/2 in)
  Designer and maker: Martin cheek

1 yellow tesserae 1.5 kg (3 lb)
2 orange tesserae 1.5 kg (3 l1b)

    YOU WILL NEED

   Sundial and base
   1 kg (2 lb) rapid set floor and walltile adhesive
            Bowl
   Grout speaker
   Orange and yellow pastels or chalks
   1 kg (2 lb) waterproof tile adhesive
   Lollipop stick or metal modelling tool
   Smalti mosaic tiles an shown above
   Mosaic nippers
   Safety spectacles
   Rubber gloves

PEBBLE MOSAIC PAVING SLAB

4 Lay a second line of pebbles alongside the key line. Try to choose pebbles that fit snugly between where the first row of pebbles touch. Pack the pebbles as tightly as you can. You will find that the process of inserting the pebbles gets progressively easier as they begin to prop each other up. You can check that the depth of the sand is consistent by using a cocktail stick as a simple depth gauge. You will find that you can work surprisingly quickly, covering a large surface area in a relatively short space of time.

5 Continue mosaicing the knot. Try to blend in grey pebbles with the black ones so that you achieve some shading. This is especially important where the curves cross over and under each other. Wetting the mosaic will make it easier for you to judge the subtle differences in the shade of the pebbles. Mosaic in the dark centres with black pebbles and, working inwards, fill in the remaining loop with brown pebbles. Mosaic the outside edge with dark pebbles.

6 Continue to mosaic the border. We managed to get two rows of brown and one row of dark grey before touching the knot. Fill in any gaps with thin pebbles of the same colour. Then complete the mosaic by filling in the small triangular areas with brown pebbles.

7 Mix a 1 litre (1 1/4 pints) solution of cements and water only, to the consistency of thick cream. Pour slowly and evenly over the pebbles. This is to fill any small gaps that the sand and cement would be too think to flow into. Leave the cement solution to dry to the consistency of putty. (About an hour or so depending upon the temperature.) This will also help to hold the pebbles in place when the heavy and cement mixture is poured on top of them.

8 Thoroughly mix together the sand and cement 3:1 at the dry stage before adding any water. Make a volcano and slowly add the water, mixing thoroughly with a shovel. The final sand and cement in small quantities to the mould using a trowel so as not to disturb the pebbles. Level out the surface with the trowel. Leave to harden. The concrete will take about three weeks to fully harden. After a week it is set hard enough for you to unscrew the walls of the mould and knock them away from the slab with a hammer.

9 With a strong friend to help you, carefully turn the slab over onto its back. Remove the wooden board - this should come away easily because it was waxed - and brush away the sand. This is the most exciting part as it is a bit like archaeology as you brush away the sand to reveal what lies beneath the surface.
  Finally, wash and scrub the mosaic with a scrubbing brush. If the cement has 'seeped' through onto any of the pebbles, you could scrape off the offending cement with a chisel. However, don't worry too much about this, once in situ, the overall effect will be wonderful - especially when it rains!

Roman Paving slab

This geometric paving slab is based on an ancient design. The Roman loved interlacing patterns, and this one can often be seen as part of a border or elsewhere on a large Roman mosaic floor.

This mosaic is made indirect, in other words laid in reverse and fixed onto paper with awater-soluble glue. By using a simple wooden mould to contain the sand and cement, a paving slab can be made. The sand and cement, once hardened (this takes at least a week), is ideal for any patio or garden.Size 46 cm (18 in) square
Design: Martin cheek based on a traditional roman design
makers: Alan welcome and martin cheek

        YOU WILL NEED

Brown parcel paper
Roll of gummed brown tape
MDF board measuring 80 * 60 cm (31 * 24 in), waxed
Tracing paper
Pencil
Carbon  paper
Template
Colouring pencils
Cinca ceramic tiles as shown opposite
safety spectacles
Wallpaper paste
No. 8 paintbrush
PVA wood adhesive
one 2.5 m (8 ft) length of 5 * 2.5 cm (2 * 1 in) timber
Cupful vaseline and white spirit mixed together in equal parts
12 mm (1/2 in) paintbrush
Four 5 cm (2 in) no. 8 screws
Drill
2.5 mm (1/16 in) drill bit
Screwdriver
Toothbrush
Cup full of the silver sand
Trowel
Chicken wire
Wire cutters
Rubber gloves
Building sand and cement
Hammer
Grey grout
Squeegee
Cloths and sponges
Bowl of water
Liquid floor cleaner

1 dark grey (24 litres)
2 pale grey (23 litres)
3 dark yellow (24 tiles)
4 pearl (95 tiles)
5 rose (23 tiles)
6 pale yellow (2 tiles)
7 gold (75 tiles)
8 brown (24 tiles)
9 black (273 tiles)

1 Stretch some brown parcel paper onto a waxed MDF board. Draw the design to size on tracing paper. The design is symmetrical about two axis,so you onlyneed to trace a quarter of the full design. Transfer the design to the paper as templates. By drawing a horizontal and vertical line through the centre, the design can be traced down onto the paper in four stages, turning the tracing through 90 degrees at each stage. Then colour in the design  can be traced down onto the paper in four stages, turning the tracing through 90 degrees at each stage. Then colour in the design using colouring pencils as close in colour as you can get to the Cinca tiles. This may seem unnecessary, but it allows you to concentrate on the mosaicing without having to constantly worry about whether you are using the right colour.

2 Begin by gluing down a pearl tessera in the middle of the design. Remember that the finished surface of the mosaic will be one that touches the paper. Cinca tiles don't have a right and wrong side so you can flip them over if you wish. Add the four black lines that spin off this central tessera. Place down complete half tiles where you can; where this is not possible, cut down one tessera and place it in the middle of the line, where it will not be so obvious. Leave a small gap of 1 mm(1/16 in) between each tessera. When grouted, these gaps will delineate the tesserae and emphasize the geometric quality of the design.

CIRCUS PODIUM POT

  This simple but attractive pot clearly demonstrates how even the simplest everyday item can be transformed by using mosaic. The shape reminded me of a circus podium - hence the design. However, we chose vivid greens and blues as opposed to circus colours (ie. reds and oranges) to echo the natural colours of the plan which it will contain. Dark viridian was chosen for the top and bottom bands so that the design would be 'contained'.

     OVERALL DIMENSIONS
     14 * 12 CM (5 1/2 * 4 3/4 IN)
     DESIGNER: MARTIN CREEK
     MAKER : SYLVIA BELL

      YOU WILL NEED
    
    Wall-hanging terracotta put
    Coloured pastels or chalks
    Vitreous glass tiles as shown right
    Mosaic nippers
    125 ml (4 ft oz) wood adhesive in a dispenser
      craft knife
        Safety spectacles
     Face mask
   Rubber glove
  450 g (1 lb) of powdered grout
   Bowl of water
   Mixing board for the grout
   Trowel
   Plastic grout spreader
   Cleaning cloth
    Liquid floor cleaner
    Abrasive cleaning pad
    Pair of 'D' rings or mirror plates and screws
 
1 dark viridian (43 tiles)
2 mid-green (12 tiles)
3 lime green (23 tiles)
4 cyan        (15 tiles)

1 Draw the design on the pot using the coloured pastels or chalks. Drawing onto a three-dimensional objects is always quite different from a flat piece of paper. You may find that you have to space out the design further than you think.

2 Begin by mosaicing the top rim of the pot with dark viridian tesserae. Leave to dry for an hour or so and then mosaic the top and bottom bands, also in the dark viridian. This may well take time and patience. Our pot, being so small, proved to be a bit tricky. When we turned it round, gravity did its worst and some tesserae dropped off. The obvious, though frustrating, solution is to work in stages, allowing the glue to 'take' for about 30 minutes each time before you turn it.

3 Mosaic the cyan zigzag. The opus is diagonal here, so you need to nibble the end tesserae to the correct angle.

4 Fill in the remaining triangles alternating the mid-and lime greens. Mosaic in horizontal rows, nibbling triangles where necessary to fit. When finished, leave to set for three hours and grout and clean. Fill the pot with a suitable plant and hang in on a wall in the sun.

PEBBLE MOSAIC PAVING SLAB

Simple designs work best for pebble mosaics. One of the difficulties is getting the pebbles to sit close enough to each other to get the detail you require. For this reason I have chosen the broad curves of a Greek knot commonly used in Roman mosaics. It also has the advantage of being a repeat pattern, so that if you wish, you can mosaic as many as you wish and line them up to form an attractive border to your garden.

We used a large bag of Arran pebbles from Scotland, bought from a builder's merchants. If you live near the coast, it is, of course, possible to use pebbles off the beach, but you should ask permission from the local authorities first.

Pebble mosaics look their best when wet. You will soon find yourself looking forward to a downpour so that you can go out into the garden to admire your work!

Once again, this looks at first glance, to be a very complicated project. In fact, we were able to complete it to the stage of pouring the concerete in just one day. One of the thrilling aspects of this type of mosaic is that you are never quite certain how the finished piece wil look. We had to be patient for a whole week before turning out the mould to find out. The temptation to cheat is always great, but once you have and if,like me, damaged days of work, you soon learn to be patient and let chemistry do its work.

  Size 66 * 48 cm (26 * 19 in)
  Designer: martin cheek
  Makers: Alan welcome and martin cheek
  
   YOU WILL NEED

Piece of brown craft paper measuring                                25 kg (50 lb) bag of sharp sand                            Rubber gloves
 76 * 56 cm (30 * 22 in)                                            wooden levelling tool                                      Trowel
MDF board measuring 80 * 60 cm                                      Builders float                                             Scrubbing brush
(31 1/2 * 23 1/2 in). waxed (see on previous)                       paper
Roll of 5 cm(2 in)wide gummed brown paper tape                      Pencil
  Template                                                          12 kg (24 lb) bag of pebbles varying in size
Two 2.5 m (8 ft) lengths of 10 * 2.5 cm (4 *1 in) timber            and colour as shown below
PVA wood adhesive                                                   Large pair of scissors
Drill                                                               Cocktail stick
2.5 mm(1/16 in) drill bit                                           Plant water atomizer
Four 5 cm (2 in) no. 8 screws                                       25 kg(50 lb)bag of cement
Screwdriver                                                         Metal bucket
Tub of petroleum jelly (vaseline)                                   One 1m (3 ft) square board                                
500 ml (1 pint) white spirit                                        shovel

MAKING A SIMPLE MOULD

Making a mould and laying the pebbles indirect (upside down) into a shallow bed of sand ensures taht the final surface of the slab will be flat and therfore easier to walk on.
   Stretch some brown craft paper onto the waxed MDF board and secure with 5 cm (2 in) wide grimmed brown paper tape. Leave it to dry (see on previous). Cut the 2.5 m (8 ft) length of 10 * 25 cm (4 * 1 in) timber into two lengths of 76 cm (30 in)and two lengths of 56 cm (22 in). Run a bead of glue down the end of each batten where it touches the adjoining piece of wood and glue down the batten onto the area where the brown tape overlaps the brown paper on the board. Screw the adjoining walls together with the 5 cm (2 in) long screws. Run more glue generously along the base of the batten where they touch the board and rub it into the joins with your index finger.
  When the glue has set (up to an hour), paint the inside walls with the release agent made from a 50:50 mixture of petroleum jelly and white spirit. You have now made a simple mould.Because the paper is temporarily fixed to the board, the whole mould is easy to dismantle and will fall apart easily when necessary.
  Pour sharp sand into the mould to form a bed 12 mm (1/2 in) deep. The final depth from the top of the pebble to the top of the cement is called the rebate and this is determined by the depth of the sand you initially pour into the mould. Obviously, as you push the pebbles into the sand, so the sand is forced up between the pebbles. Thus the rebate on your mosaic will be about 2 cm (3/4 in) deep, depending on the size fo the pebbles.
   Take the levelling tool(seen on previous) and sit on the adjacent sides of the mould. By running the tool across the top of the mould you can level out the bed of sand.

1 Use the builder's float to make the sand compact and flatten out any tough areas in the top surface of the sand. Then draw the design on templates to size on paper. carefully cut out the shaded areas: the middle circle, the two semi-circles on either side and the four circular triangles between the rings and the border. Keep the smaller cut-out pieces and place on one side and place the larger cut-out piece of paper into the mould. Trace down the design onto the sand using a scalpel, a sawing action will ensure that the surface of the sand stays undisturbed.

2 The smaller cut-out pieces can be used to tidy up the scalpel lines once the main cut-out piece of paper has been removed. Use the sharp edge of the builder's metal float to cut the straight edge lines into the sand.

3 Sort out the pebbles into piles of their various colurs: here blacks, greys and browns. Within each pile, separate the larger pebbles from the smaller ones. Using the large black pebbles, lay the key line that describes the outer edge of the knot. Be positive in your choice and in the placing of the pebbles into the sand. Try to avoid repositioning as this disturbs the sand and results in the pebbles
being not so well supported. It helps if the sand is kept moist; use a plant water atomiser and occasionally give the surface of the sand a quick spray. If you do disturb the surface of the sand, use the trowel to repair the damage, sprinkling in a little more sand if necessary. Push the pebbles into the sand until they are touching the brown craft paper. Remember that the surface of the paper will eventually become the top surface of your pebbles mosaic.

COCK CLOCK

 It seemed entirely appropriate to design a clock based on a cockered crowing loudly at sunrise.
We have chosen a beautiful sunburst to go behind the cockerel, so it is very important that the cockerel doesn't get lost next to such strong bright yellows. For this reason, dark colours were used for the body, and brilliant white for the head of the cockerel, both of which have strong tonal contrast against the yellow background.

Re-assemble the clock by placing the hands back on to the mechanism. To make the hands stand out sufficiently from this busy background, spray them with gold spray paint before assembling.

                  Size:  53 * 36 cm (21 * 14 in)
     Designer : Kim Williams
   
      YOU WILL NEED

   Wooden clock kit             
               (see suppliers list)                                    Rubber gloves
  Two sheets of A4 carbon paper                               450 g (1 lb) of powdered grout
   Template                                                      Bowl of water
   Sharp pencil                                                 Mixing board for the grout
   Tracing paper                                                 Trowel
   Sheets of newspaper                                          Plastic grout spreader
  Vitreous glass tiles as shown right                     Cleaning cloth
  Mosaic nippers                                                Liquid floor cleaner
  125 ml (4 ft oz) wood adhesive in a dispenser                 Abrasive cleaning pad
   craft knife                                                   Black ink
   Safety spectacles                                             Gold spray paint
   Face mask                                                      Pair of 'D' rings or mirror plates and screws

1 russet vein (3 tiles)
2 gold-leafed (2 tiles)
3 copper vein (15 tiles)
4 pale grey    (3 tiles)
5 orange (3)
6 black (45 tiles)
7 tangerine (6 tiles)
8 bronze vein (12 tiles)
9 bright yellow (51 tiles)
10 lime green (6 tiles)
11 lemon yellow (36 tiles)
12 green (12 tiles)
13 pale bule (6 tiles)
14 white (12 tiles)
15 blue (8 tiles)
16 bright red (14 tiles)

1 Transfer the design onto the face of the clock. Colour in the design as this will help you attain good colour contrast between the cockerel and the background. Begin by mosaicing the 'key line' from the cockerel's throat, down his breast to his feet. Try to get a good clean flowing line that will clearly define the cockerel from the bright yellow background.

2 Next, add the cockerel's comb and wattle in bright red, followed by his beak and legs in tangerine. Finally, set the blue tesserae that will form the inside feathering of his tail feathers.

3 Fill in the cockerel's face and head. Lay the black key lines that makes up his tail feathers and the blue one that forms the base line of his wing.

4 In making the eye we chose a tile of copper vein. You, too, should be able to find a similar tile to this. By carefully nibbling around this line, a tessera that looked like a closed eye was made. Continue in this way to fill in the body and tail of the cockerel.
  Mosaic the hillcock on which the bird is standing. Remember that things get lighter towards the horizon, so make the horizon line pale green.
5 Introduce more of the darker green tesserae as you add each successive in the two shades of yellow. Try to make the tesserae form lines that radiate out from the vanishing point, in this case, where the sun is. Finally, add the row of black tesserae to make the border, leave to set for three hours, then grout and clean in the normal way. When the mosaic is complete, use black ink to paint the fluted wooden edge of the clock, blending it in which the black border. Reassemble clock components.

WAVE PICTURE FRAME

  What better way to show off your favourite picture than to mosaic a frame to go around it? Remember that the strong mosaic colours make for a very rich effect which can overpower or even clash with your picture if it has a lively composition. So if your picture is a busy one, choose quieter, softer colours and vice versa.
  Here I have chosen a classical Roman 'wave' border based on a traditional Roman design. It was often used to frame huge scenes with swirling fish of all weird and wonderful manner and description. I have used this border many times and have always found it tricky to divide each side into an exact number of waves. Like a lot of the geometric patterns used in Roman mosaics, the look is deceptively simple until you try to do it yourself.
                    Size:  External dimensions
                           29 * 23 cm (11 1/2 * 9 in)
                           Internal dimensions
                            19.5 * 13 cm (8 * 5in)
     Designer and maker : Martin Cheek
    
      YOU WILL NEED

        15 mm (5/8 in) thick MDF measuring 29 * 23 cm               Face mask
               (11 1/2 * 9 in)                                     Rubber gloves
  Two sheets of A4 carbon paper                               450 g (1 lb) of powdered grout
   Template                                                      Bowl of water
   Sharp pencil                                                 Mixing board for the grout
   Tracing paper                                                 Trowel
   Sheets of newspaper                                          Plastic grout spreader
  Vitreous glass tiles as shown above right                     Cleaning cloth
  Mosaic nippers                                                Liquid floor cleaner
  125 ml (4 ft oz) wood adhesive in a dispenser                 Abrasive cleaning pad
  craft knife                                                  Pair of 'D' rings or mirror plates and screws
  Safety spectacles

1 purple vein (6 tiles)
2 dark blue vein (50 tiles)
3 dark purple vein (27 tiles)
4 navy blue (18 tiles)
5 Purple (4 tiles)
6 blue (40 tiles)
7 dark viridian (3 tiles)
8 cyan (16 tiles)
9 pale blue (50 tiles)
10 ice blue (7 tiles)
11 mid-pale blue (13 tiles)
12 grey blue (5 tiles)
13 Sorrento blue (5 tiles)
14 sea green vein (2 tiles)
15 blue (37 tiles)

1 Mark the vertical centre line and cut the inner rectangle out of the MDF. To do this, drill a hole 1 cm (1/2 in) diameter to get the jigsaw blade through. Transfer the design onto the MDF board. Then mosaic the outer edge of the frame. Place a sheet of paper under the frame to protect your work surface. Cut the various shades of dark blue tesserae in half and run a head of glue along one side of the frame. Fix the tesserae to the side of the board making sure that they adhere firmly.
  Continue on the other three sides - do not move the board around as this will allow the tesserae to come away. Repeat this process for the inner frame using the various shades of light blue tesserae. Leave to dry for about an hour.
   Run a bead of glue along the crest of each wave and mosaic down to where it touches the edge of the frame. Repeat with the next wave, then finish off the tail of the previous wave to where it meets the new wave.  The reason for doing this is because the crest of the new wave is more important that the tail of the old wave, so mosaic that first.

2 When the inner and outer edges have dried, peel off the backing paper and discard. Cut off any excess glue with the craft knife. Continue to mosaic the waves as described in step 1 until you have gone all the way around the frame. Fill in the triangular areas under the waves - try to echo the flow of each wave as you do so.

3 Now mosaic the sky. Once again, start at the crest of a wave and run a bead of glue along the side of it. Mosaic this line, finishing off underneath each crest in a circular movement.

4 continue all the way around the frame. Fill in the triangular areas above these sky lines, echoing the flow as you do so. Leave to dry for three hours and then grout and clean. Fix the 'D' rings or mirror plates to the back of the frame, glue your picture in place and hang the mosaic.

Beadbox

2 Coat the box with white primer and then leave to dry as instructed on the pot. As well as priming the wood, the white colour will give a greater luminosity to the top coat. If the white looks patch when dry, give the boxa second coat of primer and leave it to dry again.
  Paint the box with a coat of the sailor blue paint and leave to dry as instructed. Once again, if the finished blue looks patchy when dry, and not very smooth, give the box a second coat and leave to dry.
Finally, sparingly apply some of the gold and silver paints with a dry brush and then rub it into the top surface with the cloth until you feel satisfied with the effect.

3 Replace the beads and glass tesserae as before, but this time butter each piece with PvA as you position it.
  It is important to use sufficient glue to hold the beads and tesserae, but be careful not to use too much or it will squidge out from underneath them and onto the painted areas between. Remember that the finished mosaic is not going to be grouted this time so any excess glue will show.

4 When you have finished the top of the box, put it one side and start on the sides. Don't rush it. It is advisable to allow each side to dry thoroughly for an hour or so before turning the box round to mosaic the adjacent side.

5 In the areas where you know you are going to put glass tesserae, you can, if you wish, run a bead of glue onto the box. Continue in this way unitl you have mosaiced all four sides. Leave to dry for three hours. Fill the bead box with the remaining beads and replace the lid. Your bead box is now finished and ready to use.

GECKO PLAQUE

In hot countries, it is believed that there is a gecko in every happy home and it is regarded as a symbol of good fortune. In Malaysia, for example, where 'chic chic' means 'good luck', it is nicknamed chee cha.
Because a lizard's scaly body looks a bit like a mosaic anyway, they are particularly suitable for this art form. The sensuous movement  within their bodies is very appealing and a delight to try and capture. This modern mosaic is tipping a wink at the Romans, who also loved to include lizards in their mosaics.

            Size:  40 * 20 cm (16 * 8 in)
     Designer : martin cheek
     Makers: Alan welcome and martin cheek

    YOU WILL NEED

  15 mm (5/8 in) thick MDF measuring 40 * 20 cm               Face mask
               (16 * 8 in)                                    Rubber gloves
  Two sheets of A4 carbon paper                               450 g (1 lb) of powdered grout
   Template                                                      Bowl of water
   Sharp pencil                                                 Mixing board for the grout
   Tracing paper                                                 Trowel
   Sheets of newspaper                                          Plastic grout spreader
  Vitreous glass tiles as shown above right                     Cleaning cloth
  Mosaic nippers                                                Liquid floor cleaner
  125 ml (4 ft oz) wood adhesive in a dispenser                 Abrasive cleaning pad
   craft knife                                                  Pair of 'D' rings or mirror plates and screws
   Safety spectacles

1 gold-leafed (2 tiles)
2 black (3 tiles)
3 pale blue (6 ties)
4 blue (4 tiles)
5 pale green (98 tiles)
6 purple (33 tiles)
7 pale green (240 tiles)
8 dark green (66 tiles)
9 mauve (36 tiles)
10 emerald vein (10 tiles)
11 Sorrento blue (6 tiles)
12 lizard green (53 tiles)

1 Using carbon paper laid ink-side down on the surface you are about to mosaic, transfer the gecko design and the background lines onto the MDF board.

2 Begin by mosaic the edge of the board. Place a sheet of paper under the board to protect your work surface. cut some of the green and dark green tesserae in half and run a bead of glue along one side of the board. Fix the tesserae to the side of the board. Fix the tesserae to the side of the board making sure that they adhere firmly. continue on the other three sides and do not move the board as this may dislodge the tesserae and they may come away from the MDF. Leave to dry for about an hour.

3 Now cut the mauve and purple tesserae for the border. The edge tesserae will be standing proud of the surface of the MDF board, but as you complete the mauve and purple border you will see that the tesserae around the edge become flush with it.

4 Cut the tesserae for the gecko, keeping each colour ready to one side on a separate sheet of paper. Start to mosaic the key line of th gecko's tail, back and neck by buttering the ribbed face of each tesserae with glue and fixing it down on the board. Make a clear, flowing line as this will define the entire mosaic. It is rather like a jigsaw puzzle in that you need to select a tessera which fits well. Compare the angle made by the side of the tessera with the outline of the design and select the tile to match that angle. If you can't find a suitable tessera, then nibble one to fit.

5 Continue to mosaic the gecko. When you come to mosaic the toes, nibble a curve onto the tessera. Try to match the design as closely as possible but don't worry if it comes out slightly differently. when finished, cut up a pool of tesserae ready for the background and keep them on one side. Put in the line of background that surrounds the gecko, using the background colour. This opus vermiculatum is very important as it delineates the subject and separates it from the flow of the background. Then mosaic the rest of the background.

  Once you have finished, leave the mosaic to dry for at least three hours; then tear off the newspaper and, using a craft knife, cut away any excess glue. Pour out the grout onto a board or into a bowl and add just enough water to make a fairly sloppy 'mud pie' mixture, mixing it thoroughly with the trowel. Put a small quantity in the middle of the plaque. Beginning with the sides, spread out the
grout evenly, pushing it gently into the gaps.

6 Next grout the top of the mosaic, running the grout in all directions to ensure that the gaps are thoroughly filled.
   Wipe off with a damp cloth and, if necessary, remove all excess grout with a craft knife and make sure that no part of any tessera is submerged beneath the grout.
   Allow to dry for at least two days before cleaning off the surface scum with the liquid floor cleaner and abrasive pad.
  'Fix the 'D' rings or mirror plates to the back of the board and hang the mosaic as a picture.

SHELL DOOR NUMBER

I think that shell mosaics can look very tacky if the whole area is encrusted with tiny sea molluscs, all vying for attention. My solution here is to minimize the use of the shells, creating a hard sand bed for them to sit in. Sand is mixed with PVA, and as the PVA goes clear when dry, the end result looks like sand alone. Sharp sand has a beautiful, soft white colour.It is important that you do not use sand taken straight from the beach, as the salt content is corrosive which affects the finished mosaic.

At first glance, the procedure opposite looks complicated but in fact, this is the quickest and easiest project. Once you have assembled your materials, it should be possible to make the whole piece in half a day. If your house number runs into three digits, you may wish to make the plaque into an
ellipse instead of the circle shown.

     Size:  22 cm (8 1/2 in) square 
     Designer and Maker: martin cheek
     variation: Paul Hazelton

    YOU WILL NEED

15 mm(5/8 in) thick MDF                           Cocktail stick
measuring 40 * 20 cm (16                        Sheets of newspaper
           * 8 in)
                                                 Craft knife
Large compass or a plate                         Two-part, slow-setting epoxy resin
22 cm (9 in) diameter                            small plastic mixing bowl
                                                 Sharp sand
Electric jigsaw                                  One 'D' ring with screws
                                                 Assortment of small sea shells as shown right
1 m (1 yd) of 20 mm (3/4 in)
 thick yachsman's rope                           33 large periwinkles
 (available from ship's chandlers)               37 small periwinkles
pencil                                           18 'bleeding teeth'
Two-part, fast-setting epoxy resin                1 starfish
piece of card measuring
about 15 * 10 cm (6 * 4 in)
Lollipop stick or modelling tool

1 Draw a circle 22 cm (8 1/2 in) diameter using a compass or a plate for a template. Cut this disc out with a jigsaw. Take the rope and run it around the outside edge of the disc and tie a half knot at the bottom of the disc, as shown. Draw around the two crescents made by the knot then untie and remvoe the rope and cut out these arcs. Replace the rope as before. It should now fit snugly around the MDF disc.

2 In a well-ventilated room, mix up the fast-setting epoxy resin by squirting out equal amounts onto the piece of card. Work on the reverse side of the rope and MDF disc (one side may look more pleasing than the other so choose that one as the top). Place it on a sheet of paper to protect your work surface and check that the two ends of the rope are sticking out equally from the disc. Then, using the modelling tool, run the epoxy resin into the gap between the disc and the rope. Leave to set (15 minutes).

3 Remove the backing paper and, using a scalpel, cut off any hardened glue that has dribbled through the gap. Now mix up the slow-setting epoxy resin by squirting out equal amounts into the small mixing bowl. Mix together the two parts thoroughly and then slowly add the sharp sand. Spread an even layer of the sand and resin mix onto the board, trying to get it as even as possible.

4 Divide the periwinkles into two piles, large and small. Place a row of the larger periwrinkles around the rim of the disc. It is best if you can be assertive in the positioning of the shells and place them firmly into the sand and resin bed and then leave them. However, if you need to, you can use the cocktail stick to finely twweak the shells into place.
  Run a second row of smaller periwrinkles inside the outer one. Then, with your modelling tool, mark out your house number (I live at Number 21) and carefully form the numbers with the 'bleeding teeth'. I have placed a starfish at the bottom to add a little colour. Finally, fix the 'D' ring to the back of the board and hang the mosaic on your front door or wall.


VARIATION

Paul Hazelton's alternative design, below, shows how to adpat to an elliptical base. Paul has chosen to omit the rope and simply coat the edges of the MDF with sand and glue. Larger shells have been incorporated into the design to give a bigger, bolder finished effect.

BEAD BOX

Beads have their own natural beauty and so I thought it best to not completely encrust the box with them, but rather to use them sparingly. However, this makes for a 'knobbly effect', so to comprise Incorporated ordinary vitreous mosaic tiles to meet them half way. The beads are very rich in colour so it is important that the vitreous should be limited. I have chosen only two colours: a dark blue and Sorrento blue which has a metallic veining running through it that echoes the stripes of the beads and sets them off.

Grouting would have been possible, but it seemed somehow inappropriate and would have added unnecessary weight to the box. Instead, we painted the box before gluing down any tesserae so that the areas between would look harmonious. The simple addition of some gold and silver wax gilt, dry brushed onto the surface, complements the sparkle of the beads.

      Size:  9 * 9 * 9.5 cm (3 1/2 * 3 1/2 * 3 3/4 in) square 
     Designer : martin cheek
     Marker: sylvia Bell

     YOU WILL NEED

   Mosaic nippers
  Beads and vitreous glass
   tiles as shown right
  MDF box 9 * 9 * 9.5 cm (3 1/2 * 3 1/2 * 3 3/4 in)
     (see suppliers)
  500 ml (1 pint) pot of white, quick-drying wood primer
         Paintbrush
  250 ml (9 fl oz) pot of sailor blue high gloss paint suitable for wood and metal (toy paint)
     jar of white spirit
  Small pot each of gold and silver
    non-tarnishing wax gilt
       cloth
   125 ml (4 fl oz) wood adhesive in a dispenser
     Safety spectacles
      Face mask

1-4 various beads
5 Sorrento blue (25 tiles)
6 dark blue (6 tiles)

1 Using the mosaic nippers, break a few of the beads in half. If some shatter, keep the fragments, they too can be used. Play with the beads, arranging them on the lid of the box and use vitreous glass tesserae to help set them off. When you are happy with the result, place the beads and tesserae one by one to one side, keeping the pattern that you have made.

FINGER PLATES

To have mosaics around the home is a real treat, but owing to their richness, too many can easily overpower a room. This does not necessarily have to be the case. The understated design for this project is more suggestive than descriptive and the subtle colour scheme makes for an harmonius, quietly pleasing result and makes an ideal gift. We have mosaiced the second fingerplate in a slightly different colour scheme, so that you can see what a difference a subtle change makes.

If you wish, you can ignore the screws and simply glue the fingerplate to the door with quick-setting epoxy resin. Use masking tape to keep it in place while the glue sets.
       
                  Designer and maker: Rebecca Driscoll
                      Size: 30 * 7.5 cm (12 * 3 in)

                YOU WILL NEED

         Sheet of skim ply 30 cm         Sheets of newspaper
          (12 in) square * 2 mm          Safety spectacles
        (1/16 in) thick
                                        Face mask
      Sheets of A4 carbon paper
       Template                         Rubber gloves
     
       Sharp pencil                     450 g(1 1b) of powdered grout
       Tracing paper                    Bowl of water
                                        Mixing board
       Jeweller's saw                   Trowel
       craft Knife                      Plastic grout spreader
       Metal ruler                     

      Drill                             Cleaning cloth
      3 mm (1/8 in) drill bit
      Vitreous glass tiles as            Mosaic nippers
                                         Liquid floor cleaner

        shown right                     Abrasive cleaning pad
                               
    125 ml (4 ft oz) wood               Eight 2 cm (3/4 in ) screws
         
    glue in dispenser 

1 Transfer the design onto the skin ply. Cut off the fingerplate using the Jeweller's saw for the curves; on the straight sides you will be able to manage with a craft knife and metal ruler. In each corner, drill a small hole 3 mm (1/8 in) diameter to accomodate the screws. Mosaic the main leaf, trying to get a smooth, clean, flowing line for the leading edge. Continue to mosaic the remaining green areas.

2 When you have finished the floral motif, lay a line of the soft background pink tesserae right the way along the edge of the fingerplate.

3 Fill in the background. Pepper the soft pink with the occasional mauve tessera to add a little texture. Once you have finished, leave the mosaic to dry for at least three hours, or until the glue becomes clear.

4 Then grout in the normal way. Allow to dry for at least two days before cleaning off the surface scum with the liquid floor cleaner and abrasive pad. When completed, screw or glue the fingerplate to a door.
                                             
SIMPLE MIRROR

An easy project for beginners, this mirror will liven up any bathroom. It also provides worthwhile practice at cutting and laying mosaic tesserae. You can either mosaic around the mirror or fit it in at the end when you grout the finished piece, as shown here.

The blue, green and white tiles which have been chosen here will harmonize with almost any bathroom decor, but do not feel that you have to stick to this colour scheme. Simply choose a range of colours that will match' your own bathroom.

Designer and Maker: Sylvia Bell
 Size:  42.5 cm (16 1/2 in) square

   YOU WILL NEED

    Pencil
    Ruler
 15 mm (5/8 in) thick MDF board measuring 42.5 cm (16 1/2 in) square
  Vitreous glass and gold-leafed tiles as shown right
    Mosaic nippers
    Safety spectacles
    Large tweezers
   Clear PVA wood adhesive
     White grout
      Trowel
     Bowl of water
     Rubber gloves                           
     Grout spreader
     Household cleanser
       Cloths
     Abrasive sponge
     Pair of 'D' rings or
     mirror plates and screws

1 Dark green (52 tiles)
2 white (143 tiles)
3 pale blue (44 tiles)
4 gold-leafed (4 tiles)
5 copper-veined dark blue (44 tiles)

1 Draw diagonals from corner to corner across the board to find the centre and mark out the area where the mirror will fit. Place the board on a sheet of scrap paper or newspaper and organize
your tiles. Cut triangular tesserae from the white vitreous glass. Run a bead of glue along one side of the board and mosaic the edge with uncut white tiles. Continue around the four edges of the board.

2 Starting with the corners, lay out the border tiles on top of the board, keeping to a strictly geometric pattern and making sure the gold-leafed tiles are correctly placed at the corners.

3 First glue down the coloured tiles, buttering the back of each one carefully and placing it symmetrically in position. Work your way around the frame, mosaicing the whole tiles. Then begin filling in the outer and inner borders with the white triangular tesserae.

4 continue filling in the borders until the design is complete. You may like to use large tweezers to tweak the tesserae gently into position along the inner border.

5 Use wood glue to fix the mirror in the centre of the design. When set (up to three hours), mix up the grout and water and carefully grout the mosaic area and between the mirror and the mosaic, taking extra care around the edges. Leave to dry for two days and then clean off and polish the mosaic using the household cleaner and water. Fix 'D' rings or mirror plates to the back of the bound and hang on your bathroom wall.


                 

Peacock Butterfly

Whenever we need inspiration for good colour combinations, we can do no better than to turn to Nature and there are few more beautiful sights than the colours of butterflies. As its name suggests, the peacock is the most multi-coloured of all butterflies and it was therefore a challenge to try to create it in mosaic. Even though my butterfly is many times bigger than an actual one, it was still very difficult to get the smalti intricate enough. If you try to paint a peacock butterfly from life, you will notice that colours seem to be different each time you look at them (it is remarkable to think that is powder that makes up this wonderful effect) - purples transform to blues and then to greens, and, of course the same is true when you try to mosaic one. Although I am still unhappy with the result, I believe that unless we strive to achieve perfection we will never even approch it.
 
                         Designer and maker: Martin Creek
                      Size: 47 * 37 cm (18 1/2 * 14 1/2 in)
                           Method: Direct
                  Medium: Vitreous glass, smalti and broken mirror

Indian Elephant

Sylvia was already a very accomplished mosaic artist before she came on one of my courses. I like to fire my own tiles and incorporate them into my mosaics. This idea appealed to Sylvia very much so she fired the intricate pattern of the elephant's blanket onto a pre-shaped tile. The colours in interior designer jane Churchill's fabric 'Indian summer' inspired  those of this piece.

                    Designer and maker: Martin Creek
                      Size: 50.5 cm (20 in)
                           Method: Direct
                  Medium: Ceramic Cinca with a Raku tile

Dancing Octopus
  'I marvel at thee, Octopus, if I were thou, I'd call me us' OGDEN NASH

This short poem by Ogden Nash was the inspiration for this early work. I think that this piece shows that prior to being a mosaic artist, I was a puppet animator and even now, character and movement play a very important part in my work. In this piece I wanted to try to capture the way that the octopus seems to dance elegantly through the water. The design is also tipping a knowing wink to the  Minoans and Mycaenaens, who loved to show similarly jolly octopuses on their ceramic pots.

                   Designer and maker: Martin Creek
                      Size: 46 * 58 cm (35 1/2 * 16 in)
                           Method: Direct
                  Medium: Vitreous glass

Masticating Goat

Sylvia's goat is inspired by a Roman mosaic which she saw in the Bardo Museum in Tunis. The long ringlets of hair were especially appealing to Sylvia's sense of mosaic design. The few fronds of grass serve to echo the hairy quality of the goat's fleece.

                  Designer and maker: Sylvia Bell
                      Size: 61 * 51 cm (24 * 20 in)
                           Method: Direct
                  Medium: Ceramic Cinca and Vitreous glass

TRIVET

   Liz Sims is a young mosaic artist with a strong sense for simple pattern and colour.
      Geometric designs such as this lend themselves very well to mosaic. The strong contrast between black and white set off by the mid-tone brown make this a very striking mosaic. Although simple, it is very important to be as neat as possible when making this sort of geometric mosaic. For this reason this trivet is an ideal practice piece.

Our trivet had a recessed top means to hold a tile 5 mm (1/4 in) thick. This means that the depth is 2 mm (1/16 in) deeper than the 3 mm (1/8 in) thick Cinca ceramic tiles. To overcome this we cut out a piece of 2 mm (1/16 in) thick skim ply the size of the top and glued it in position with fast setting two-part epoxy resin to make up the difference. The finished mosaic will now be flush with the edges of the trivet.

           Designer and maker: Liz Sims
                      Size: 15 cm (6 in) square

           YOU WILL NEED

          Metal trivet                 Craft Knife

     2 mm (1/6 in) thick skim          Safety spectacles
       ply measuring 15 cm (6
        in square)                       Face mask

     Two-part, fast-setting             Rubber gloves
      epoxy resin
                                        450 g(1 1b) of powdered grout
     Sheet of A4 carbon paper
       
       Template                         Bowl of water
      
       Sharp pencil                     Mixing board

       Tracing paper                     Trowel

     Cinca ceramic tiles as            Plastic grout spreader
      shown left
                                       Cleaning cloth
     Mosaic nippers

     125 ml (4 ft oz) wood             Liquid floor cleaner
    adhesive in dispenser              Abrasive cleaning pad

1 Transfer the design onto the skin ply. Cut a brown tile into quarters and glue one of the four tesserae in the centre of the design on the skim ply. Cut up some black tiles into square tesserae and mosaic the square border around the centre.
Try to keep the tesserae the same size, as this will make the finished mosaic look neater. Allow small gaps of about 1 mm (1/16 in) between the tesserae; these will be filled when the mosaic is grouted and make the whole mosaic stronger.

2 Fill in the area between the brown and black tesserae with white ones. Cotinue to work outwards by mosaicing the next brown border, filling in the triangular corner gaps with white tesserae nibbled diagonally in half to form small triangles. The nibbling process may take a number of attempts before you get neat triangles. Don't worry this is perfect normal.

3 Continue working outwards, revolving the trivet as you work. Mosaic each border in turn. Try to achieve straight lines as you work. Although this design is simple, the lines need to be neat and straight.

4 Finally, fill in the four remaining triangles with white tesserae. Wait for three hours for the glue to dry, then grout and clean in the normal way. Allow to dry for at least two days before cleaning off the surface scum with the liquid floor cleaner and abrasive pad.