Christmas Ornament Mosaic

This was a post made last December but I thought I would post it again. These mosaic Christmas ornaments are easy to create and make great gifts.

Christmas ornaments make great Christmas presents especially when they are handmade. Mosaic ornaments are beautiful when done with glass tiles. They reflect light and really twinkle.

Materials Needed:
1 plastic ornament
Glass tiles
Wheeled Cutters
Liquid Nails or silicone adhesive
Grout kit

The plastic ornament can be found at various dollar stores. They are usually covered in a ribbon like material. This can be pulled off easily.

You can choose to use Art Tile Minis or any other tiles. If you use larger tiles they will have to be cut down to smaller sizes to fit around the curves of the ornament.

The adhesive you use depends a lot on the tiles. If the tiles you use are translucent then use silicone. If they are completely opaque then use Liquid Nails. Don't use too much so you don't have glue squishing up around your tiles.

Attach the tiles in whatever design you choose. You will find it easiest to lay the ornament on a towel so it won't roll while working. You will probably have to attach one side of tiles and let these set up before turning the ornament over to do the other side. Always check back to make sure your first tiles didn't slide down.

After the glue has completely set, you will grout as normal. You will need to clean off the hanger part well when clearing the grout. Use cotton swabs or something similar to get it out of the grooves.

These ornaments are heavy but still hang on a tree nicely with no worries of falling off. Whoever receives this as a gift will love and cherish it forever.

Orange - The Color of Warmth

With fall here, the color orange pops to mind. Orange leaves, pumpkins, Thanksgiving, etc. bring warm feelings to most people. Orange is made from combining yellow and red. Yellow is a happy color while red is a firery color. Put the two together and you get the rich orange that is neither boring nor high strung.

Orange is versatile and should be used in mosaic art. Use it to create amazing flowers, autumn trees, and of course holiday gifts. You can also use it to show the setting sun over a field or heat radiating from the sun.

Since orange is created by mixing red and yellow, you can do just that and mix the two other colors with the orange glass tiles to give the illusion of varying shades of orange. You can use orange as a shading color for yellow or red areas too.

The orange tile can help create and define your mosaic pieces. This color is perfect for the start of the holiday season.

Featured Artist - Judy Mayberry

If you haven't visited our Featured Artist section, you really should. There is a ton of inspiration around every corner.

Judith Mayberry creates some amazing work. She actually made my favorite mosaic piece ever. It is Mums Vase shown on her artist page.

Judy Mayberry lives on Lake Pennessewasee in Norway, Maine with her husband Don (who is a Congregational Minister) and two daughters who are in college. She graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and considered herself a fiber artist (weaving and needlework) before taking up Mosaics about six years ago. Both forms of art are very tactile which is why it was such an easy transition.

In her Mosaics she uses mostly vitreous glass and her favorite mosaics to make are rural scene murals. She makes small objects like trivets and plant pots, but tends to gravitate towards kitchen and bathroom back splashes, shower surrounds, mirrors, small murals and tables. Making "permanent" artwork in homes has been a new adventure but a hard way to show off her work! Most of Judy's artwork is by commission, but she usually has a variety of mosaics available for sale from her studio located in her home.

Judy is so talented and I am thrilled that she uses our products in many of her custom works of art.

Mosaic Murals - Ken Pirtle

Ken Pirtle is a genius! He created his own system to take an image and turn it into a mosaic. Not just any mosaic though...his are huge! His last one covered an exterior wall at Amarillo College.


Ken takes a scenic image and uses 3/4" vitreous glass tile to pixelate the image. He then hand selects the best color matches for the glass tile. He uses the 3/4" tiles since there are so many color options available. Using tile grids and mounting paper, he then meticulously lays out the mosaic by his computer diagram.

You can see his work in progress here. He shows the steps they took to install it. This is fascinating. The cool thing about this type of mosaic installation is that it doesn't look like much when you are right up on it but from afar the image is clear.

His latest project is another scenic landscape that will soon be installed at the Amarillo Botanical Gardens. It will be 9ft x 22ft. This equals over 38,700 vitreous tiles! I can't wait to see finished pictures!

http://web.me.com/kenneth.pirtle/Ken_Pirtles_site/Welcome.html

The Color Blue

Blue...what a great color to mosaic with. We have more tiles in blue shades than any other. There is cobalt blue, aqua blue, denim blue, metallic blue, iridescent blue, and on and on.

So why so many blues? Blue is one of the most popular colors in our culture. It is very calming while reminding us of sky and water. It is so soothing that blue makes a great color for bedrooms (to help you sleep). However it is not recommended for kitchens as it supposedly decreases appetites.

So what can you do with blue in a mosaic...anything. There are so many shades of aqua that you can create a gorgeous watery scene that shows all of the waves and unrest of an ocean or lake. Then there is the sky. Using the rich cobalt blues will create an evening sky scene that will take your breath away.

The great thing about the aquas is that you can blend them with blues and greens to give your image some movement. The cobalts blend very well with purples for a majestic tone. While the denim blues move towards gray so they can be used together to give some umph to your gray scenes.

Whether it is the Art Tile Collection, AfterGlow, or Brushstrokes, you will certainly find enough shades of blue to make your next project breath taking.