Mosaic Art
My Mosaic Artwork
When you commission me to create your original mosaic I start with a picture, photograph or design that either you have given me or I have searched for on your behalf, this can be any subject you choose and can be agreed via email if you live some distance away.
From this I will scale the design to the size that you require.
I work in two ways depending on how far we live apart. Either I create the design in my studio, deliver in manageable pieces and assemble on site, or I create some of the most time consuming parts in my studio and create the background or other details on site.
Once the mosaic has set, I have to return to “grout” and finish off with a border of your choice if you require one. This finishing process is a very important part and one that transforms the picture and brings it all together; the use of a border also defines the work in the same way as framing a painting.
The size of a mosaic picture depends on your site and personal choice but it must be stressed that the more detail within the design, the larger the mosaic needs to be and the larger the mosaic the more striking it becomes.
My mosaics pictures start at 50cm x 50cm but can be as large as you wish with the most popular size being 150cm x 100cm (1.5 sqm) or 200cm x 100cm (2 sqm) for larger subjects such as horses or a flamenco dancer for example.
My materials
When I have a commission I usually have to order in specific tiles for the design but also an important part is played by the use of my “reclaimed” tiles. I have built up a “store” of these tiles that I have collected over time from all sorts of places including tile showrooms and skips and tips in the area, they give me a unique range of colours and textures to use.
Often the tiles I collect show little potential straight away and at times I think to myself that they are hardly worth collecting, but that can be a big mistake, numerous times I have brought tiles home and stored them away only to find they have just the perfect texture, pattern or finish needed to add that realistic look to a particular mosaic. Although the collecting takes up quite a lot of time, it also saves me having to search and order so many new tiles from a tile shop, and the re-cycling is definitely good for the environment!
When I start a new project the design will be led by the colour and type of tiles I order plus the ones I have in my store, so it is important to keep collecting tiles to open up the options for a unique creation, and that is what each mosaic is, a unique creation.
Design ideas can come from anywhere and all manner of everyday things can be transformed into mosaic art. It is not important to look too deeply at things, but to remember that it is only the outlines that you really need, the rest is open to interpretation and artistic flare. My designs tend to have a certain amount of pieces that are hand cut to shape, these are used to emphasise specific features within the design, maybe there is a face to create, and this can be built up in realistic sections such as eyebrows, nose, cheeks, lips, chin, neck and hair, whilst with larger blocks of colour or background I use straightforward broken tile pieces mainly as they come to hand.
The pictures I create with tiles are unique and vibrant, needing no maintenance apart from an occasional dusting off and of course they are everlasting, a real showpiece for your home!
Call or email me for further information
Sandi Blake
Tel: 661122211
Email: syrona@hotmail.co.uk