Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art

If your piece is an interior one now you may want to hang it.   People often ask me what is the best way to hang this because it is so heavy?  Not all pieces are that heavy even though they were made with tile and grout.  The Beginner Mosaic pieces are 12″x12″ and weigh approximately 5 lbs.  The best way to hang this piece is with eye screws and wire.  The 15lb. picture wire packet you can get at the local hardware store work just fine.  It is important you make the screws be perfectly even across your board and that your wire is low enough you don’t see it when you hang the piece on the wall.   Another route to go if the piece is not that heavy is the sawtooth hanger.  This requires only two small nails that should come with the sawtooth hanger kit and a nail in the wall.   You can also use D rings.  This works well if the piece is a little heavier and you want to stabilize it against the wall.

 If you have a heavier piece getting into the 20-30lbs you would want to consider a couple options.  One option is interlocking brackets, they are a newer method for hanging pictures. These hangers do not use picture hooks or wire, but mount one bracket on the frame and one on the wall, with the frame bracket fitting onto the wall bracket. To install the frame bracket, center it on the top back. The lip of the
bracket will slide under the lip of the frame. Nail the bracket in place with nails provided. Then install the wall bracket onto the wall with wall anchors, or screw into studs.  Lastly many people also use the  Z Hanger, another great example of interlocking brackets. Z Hangers are also known as French Cleats.
These are just a few options for putting the finishing touches on all the hard work you have put into creating your mosaic art. 

Now that you have grouted your piece the next step depends on if your piece is to be an interior or an exterior one.  If it is interior you can consider yourself done,  pat yourself on the back for a job well done and enjoy all the compliments you will receive from it’s beauty in your home.  If you have an exterior piece you have one more step, sealing the grout.  The job of the grout sealer is to keep out moisture and stains.  Mostly as a mosaic artist I care about keeping the moisture out so the tesserae does not stand a chance of ever popping off. 

There are two schools of thought for sealing grout.  Some very well known and accomplished mosaic artists believe you don’t need to seal your piece because the grout is like a breathing organic material and to seal it will not allow it to do so and can trap in moisture, which grout sealing is meant to keep out.

I, and many other mosaic artists believe that sealing a piece for exterior use is important.   

You want to make sure the grout on your piece has cured or dried for a minimum of 48 hours.  Once that has occurred you will want to clean your art of any dust or dirt.  Then using a tile grout sealer (available at most hardware stores),  and a clean and hardly damp sponge, soak the sponge with  the sealer,  then begin to apply the grout sealer very generously.  It is ok to get the sealer on the tesserae but more importantly get the sealer into all the interstices or grout joints.  Once the piece is covered using a clean dry rag begin to buff your art work.  The sealer can leave a film like residue on the tesserae so make sure to really rub each piece of tesserae  well.  If you live in a very damp area that gets a lot of rain you may want to do a second coat of sealer which can be added 30 minutes after your first coat.     

Your mosaic is now complete and you too can enjoy the compliments on a job well done. 

If you are hanging your piece stay tuned next month for tips on proper hanging for mosaic art. 

 Tips and Techniques

Now that you haven chosen your grout color and style it is time to apply the grout.  Grout is my favorite part of mosaic.   It is when the piece comes to life and reveals itself.

The first step before grouting is making sure the piece is clean of any mastic, glue or thin-set on top of the tesserae.    

Grout since it comes in powder form needs to be mixed with water.  Depending on the size of the piece will depend how much grout to use.  Once it is decided on the amount add water till the grout reaches peanut butter consistency.
Once it is mixed it must “slake” much like thin set it needs to “set up” for 5 minutes.  Once it has slaked stir entire batch one more time then you are ready to grout.  Using a damp tile or kitchen sponge (no scratchy sponges) pick up a small amount of the grout out of your bucket on to your sponge and begin to apply with medium pressure by smearing the grout all over the piece.  Continue this over the entire piece.  Using a clean bucket of water wring out a second sponge as much as possible and begin to wipe off the excess grout.  Once it is cleaned off let it dry for a few minutes till there is a light film of grout over the piece.  Using a very clean rag wipe off the rest of the grout and begin to buff it till it shines.  
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stay tuned next month for techniques for sealing your piece  

Now that you are coming in on the finishing touches of your piece the grout can make or break your art work.  Many aspects of grout are important.  First and foremost is color.  Grout comes in a rainbow of colors as well as mixing different colors to make your own.  Grout also comes “sanded” or “non-sanded”.  What this means is grout that has sand in it and grout that does not.  Grout with sand is good for grout joints of 1/8″ or bigger.  If you have grout joints smaller you can use the non-sanded.  Personally I like the look and texture of sanded grout and prefer to only use that type of grout.  It is not a hard fast rule to use non-sanded with the smaller joints it is just what is suggested on the box or bag.     

I like to call grouting the “reveal”.  It is when your piece comes together with a beautiful and clean look.   

When choosing your color of grout you want to really study your piece and decide if it needs more drama or if there is enough going on with the tesserae that a lighter grout will do.  You will also want to decide if your piece will be an exterior piece, than a dark grout would be suggested due to the amount of dirt your piece may get on it.  If you are looking for the dramatic effect you will want something dark, like a charcoal grey or dark brown.  If your tesserae is busy and dark you may want to choose a light grout, like an antique white or snow white.   There are few rules in mosaic art and experimentation is extremely important.  As these are my tips and techniques that I have learned over the years and am happy to share it is important to experiment with your own pieces and styles to see what best suits you…….   

stay tuned next month for techniques on applying your grout! 

Reminder if you want to purchase many of these tools they are for sale at the SBSMA supply store. 

Now that you have broken your tesserae it is time to fit them back together.  This is the magic of mosaic.  It is always a wonder how certain pieces of tesserae of many different colors and textures all of the sudden fit together like they were meant to be.  I love to watch my students feel such accomplishment when their fittings are spot on.  It takes a lot of practice and patience to get there but the gratification is great.   

Fittings are where two pieces of tesserae sit next to each other with the same amount of space between them.  Whether you are working with tile or stained glass it makes a piece look more cohesive when the consistency is there.  To accomplish that you must first start with a generous amount of tesserae. You will always have left overs and you need to account for breakage but to have choices for your fittings is very important. 

It is always a good idea when first starting a piece to layout without gluing down a portion of your piece to see how your fittings are going.  Once you feel confident your pieces are fitting nicely then you can begin to glue down with which ever adhesive you have chosen.  

After you have finished gluing down your mosaic it will be time to grout and you will see in your final reveal how great your piece is because your fittings are very purposeful and you did not try to squeeze a piece of tesserae into a space that was not meant to be.

A side not when working with Smalti, the fittings are a little different.  Grout traditionally is not used in a Smalti mosaic therefore your fittings are much tighter or closer together as you do not want to see your substrate in between  your Smalti pieces. 

Reminder if you want to purchase many of these tools they are for sale at the SBSMA supply store.