Finally, The Masterpiece

Five years in the making, I’ve come to a critical point with the angel mosaic. This is not a kit, btw, it’s made from scratch with pieces of old tiles I had on hand, a wet saw, tile nipper, and tons of patience.

I’ve finally glued all the tiles in place over the mesh and am ready to grout it in. The reason I glued them on a mesh instead of directly onto a piece of plywood backing is I intended to hang it on a shower wall but changed my mind. So the extra step here is separating the mesh (I used a strong tulle) from the template I drew on a poster.

First I painted a half inch piece of plywood with primer so the liquid from adhesive and grout wouldn’t warp the wood. Then I applied about a quarter inch of adhesive to the plywood and sunk the mesh with tiles onto that surface.

I hammered the pieces into the glue with a board so all the tile surfaces would be flush.

And let that dry for a day.

Now it is time for the grout. I used premixed unsanded type and worked it into the empty spaces with a two sided grout sponge which is a dense sponge on one side and a scratchy surface on the other.

This part goes fast. Once the entire surface of the mosaic is covered and grout is in every space, I splashed about a cup of water on it and used the scratch pad to loosen the grout on the tops of the tile. This part also helps make sure there are no air pockets in the grout spaces. 

And now my favorite part of all. It reminds me of those old movies when someone has plastic surgery and their face is all bandaged up and it is time to unwrap them. The moment of truth.

I took a sponge (a new white one, dyes in sponges can color the grout) and make only two passes over each area.

Unfortunately, the moment of truth for me was a cold and hard one. I screwed up by choosing white grout.

And that is where I am with this thing right now. I do believe I can fix it with a grout dye, I’m just worried that it won’t be uniform in color. Also some of the tiles are porous stone and may take up the dye. 

Once that is sorted out, I’ll jigsaw the wood, following the edges of the mosaic.

I’ll make a frame out of metal strips to make it look like a ribbon framing.

The saga continues…

Remember This?

The mosaic tile angel I pulled out two years ago to work on again?

Well I didn’t work on it that day or even for another two years. Today I felt like doing something artistic and pulled it out. I almost didn’t get to it as I couldn’t find the tile biter. I persisted and didn’t stop until I found everything I needed.

These are the ceramic tiles in all the different colors I have planned out for the entire project. I used a wet saw to precut long thin strips of tile so I could use the tile nippers to “bite” each little square. Most of the hard work for this has actually already been done.

And here is where I started today:

See that blank face staring at me? That was the problem. All that time I was afraid I’d fail. So far the thing was beautiful and I didn’t want to mess it up by doing a bad job on the face which I consider the focal point in this piece.

It is unusual for me to have a fear of failure. I fuck up all the time. I don’t dwell on it though because I truly believe the best things in life come from taking the biggest risks.

Which is why today I went straight for the face and finished that part. No practicing on the scrolly parts to get back into the groove of how to do it.

And look:

Just a quick snapshot, the angle is off, making his head look too small for his body. I’ll get better photos once it’s all grouted in. The thing is, I’m on my way. Hopefully you’ll get to see it finished by Christmas.