BIG BANG MOSAICS

Although I planned to alternate posts on soft mosaics (fabric, scrapbooking, and quilting) with ones on hard mosaics, here’s a look at another ceramic artist.

I thought you might enjoy viewing some of Cynthia Fisher’s highly detailed mosaics.
Cynthia first came across mosaics in a photograph in the Practical Encyclopedia of Crafts when she was 12 years old. However, she says it took nearly thirty years before she started making them. After filling her home with her creations, Cynthia decided to sell her works under the name Big Bang Mosaics.
“This medium is always challenging,” says Cynthia. Every time I start a new piece, I must solve new problems, such as how to make water look reflective or how to create perspective.”

WHO LET THE DOG OUT? Cynthia made this mosaic for a retiring Latin teacher. “It was fun making this 'beware of the dog' mosaic. I put in lots of Roman mosaic patterns - from the wave border to the Opus Tesselatum of the dog's body, Opus Circumactum of the background, and Opus Vermiculatum which hugs the body.,” says Cynthia. The dog is Echo, a Springer Spaniel owned by the Latin teacher.

TREE OF LIFE: Styled after Gustav Klimt's Tree of Life, this vitreous glass kitchen mural includes special rocks, marble pieces, and pretty bits in the branches.
Her advice to mosaic makers would be to jump right in and try making a mosaic. Get some good books and just do it!
Can’t wait to buy a book?

Here are some MOSAIC MAKING tips from Penny Carlson (you can see Penny’s gorgeous mosaics on my December 16th post).

If you are interested in creating a mosaic piece, your only limits are your imagination. If you are new to mosaics, I would suggest starting with something small, with a flat surface. A good beginning piece would be a silver tray. Although mosaics can look complicated the techniques can be simple and easy to learn.

Materials Needed:
* Vintage plates, stained glass
* A silver tray - or whatever you want to mosaic
* Tile Adhesive,
* Grout - Sanded
* Tile nippers, rubber gloves, blue paper shop towels
* Grout sealer

Instructions:
Gather the plates, stained glass your surface, adhesive, grout nippers and sealer. Breaking the plates and stained glass is simply done, by using the tile nippers to nip away at vintage china plates, stained glass, etc.

After you have your plates and stained glass broken, you begin to apply it to the surface you have selected with the adhesive. This can be in a pattern or random placement. Work on small areas at a time.

Apply the adhesive with a putty knife or a flat wooden craft stick to each piece of china - or apply the adhesive to the surface in small areas and lay the china on the adhesive.

Allow 24 hours after the adhesive has dried, then mix grout according to the package directions and apply with your hands wearing rubber gloves.

Wait about 5 minutes and then remove the excess grout with a blue shop towel. Let the grout dry for 24 hours, buff with a dry shop towel and then apply grout sealer according to package instructions.

You now have a wonderful piece of art that can become a family heirloom.

Note from Barbara:
* You can buy small bags of tesserae (pre-broken shards) at most craft shops or purchase bulk quantities from a wholesaler online. But breaking plates and tiles yourself, however, lets you create more intricate and unique pieces.

Ask a local tile shop or vintage boutique if you can buy their broken goods. Often, they will be happy to let you have damaged goods for free.

*** BLOG DU JOUR ***
I’ll be away for a few days but Mosaik, an amazing blog will keep you amused. You’ll find the best mosaics from all around the world. Donna is obsessed with this ancient art. Be sure to click on faqs to learn more about the “who, what, where and why” of this wonderful site. Have fun exploring.