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.
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.
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