a mosaic experiment
August 27, 2016
One of the pleasures of creativity is experimenting with a material - in this case glass - in a new way.
I love having a birdbath (or 3) in my garden and during the summer months it comes alive when surrounded by the colour in the garden.
Loving glass as I do I found myself in possession of many small pieces left over from leadlight adventures and decided to see how it could be re-purposed to add that splash of colour to the winter garden.
Using glass posed a number of challenges:
Challenge Solution
The pedestal is round and the glass flat Cut glass pattern into smaller pieces
Glass is see-through Test glass on pedestal surface to ensure it
keeps its colour
Glass has very sharp edges Grind the outer edges
Small glass pieces move Use contact adhesive to hold the pattern
in place
Attaching the glass to the pedestal Use clear outdoor silicon
Press the contact adhesive onto to outer surface of the design
Turn over and spread clear silicon on the glass
Ensure good coverage
Position the flower and apply to pedestal
Keep the contact adhesive in place while positioning and smoothing the the glass to the surface
Slowly peel off the contact adhesive
Use a pointed tool e.g. satay stick to carefully remove excess silicon
Ensure all parts of the flower are in position
Cut stems, grind edges
Score contour cut lines and snap apart
Place on contact adhesive and apply silicon
Position on pedestal, apply gentle pressure to fix in place, remove contact and clean edges
Position all other pieces ensuring a balanced design
The base is covered in grout.....under is a mosaic of glass
Closer view of the mosaic base
Initially the irises and leaves seemed to float in mid air so I decided to paint part of the base to give a more balanced look
