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)
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)
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