Making Mosaics With Found Objects

Materials

You don’t have to go very far to find cool materials and quirky found objects you can use in mosaics: old keys, jewelry, knick-knacks, medals, buttons, small toys, game pieces, old china, ceramic tile, and stained glass, just to name a few.

Tesserae n. pl. (tes-uh-ree) A standard mosaic tile term that describes all of the bits and pieces that are applied, with an adhesive, to a base or surface.

Vitreous glass tile is a very popular glass tile that comes in thousands of colors. The tiles have a flat top face and ridged back. Vitreous glass tiles are durable, stain resistant, and a good choice for projects that will brave the elements.

Stained glass comes in thousands of colors, textures, and sizes. Most people remember beautiful stained glass windows adorning houses of worship and cathedrals. Adding stained glass pieces or shards to your projects will provide a magical visual touch that sometimes cannot be captured using anything else. One caveat to working with stained glass is that its thickness doesn’t match that of china or tile in most circumstances.

This glass-on-glass project, one of the many projects that can be created using stained glass, won first place in an annual recycled art contest.

Smalti are handmade irregular rectangles of opaque glass in brilliant colors. They have irregular pitted shapes with a very reflective surface.

Ceramic tiles are available in hundreds of colors, sizes, and shapes; they come in glazed or unglazed styles. You can purchase ceramic tile by the piece or by the sheet with either paper or mesh backing.

To remove the paper backing from tile sheets, soak the tile sheet until the paper floats off. Make sure to recycle the paper so you don’t clog your drain. Tiles with a mesh backing can be pulled off the backing, or you can glue sections of the tile to your surface with the mesh still attached to the back.

Stones are another interesting addition to a mosaic. You can choose to use polished stones, pebbles, river rocks, marble, granite, or slate. Semi-precious stones, such as turquoise, lapis lazuli, alabaster, quartz, and agate, are also wonderful additions to a mosaic.

Do not attempt to cut stones with basic tile tools. Check with a local tile store or rock shop to seek out assistance in cutting stone.