Debbie Travis: Mosaics add majesty to design

Tag : pattern paper

King Features Syndicate
The beauty and artistry of mosaic design is seen throughout historyas a favored decorative style. Architecture is enriched by wallsand floors decorated with mosaics employed on interior and exteriorsurfaces. The enduring nature of the craft is witnessed incenturies-old public buildings, court houses, spectacularcathedrals and town squares that continue to shimmer with theresonant colors and intricate patterns of mosaic work.
Today we are witnessing a resurgence of this tiny tile style in ourown homes and gardens. Mosaic-tile detailing has now become astaple in bathrooms, on floors and walk-in shower compartments.Nautical and water motifs -- jumping fish, seashells, sailboats andanchors -- can be drawn with tiles to become the focal point amidsimple, larger tiles. The kitchen backsplash is another focal areato cover with a striking background of mosaics -- a solid strip ofmetallic bronze or silver looks strikingly rich and contemporary.Mosaic tiles make an excellent border detail for floors in ahallway.
Applying mosaic tile to a large area, wall, floor or ceiling is ahuge undertaking that is expensive to install. But mosaic tiles canbe employed to decorate furniture and accessories. This is a craft-or artform that takes as much patience as it does skill. Here's aperfect summertime project for you (and the kids). A mosaic gardentable is just the right size to start, and chances are good thatwhen the table is finished, you will have a family heirloom filledwith memories that you have woven into the design.
Mosaic patterns can be produced with a vast assortment ofmaterials, including glass, ceramic and metal tiles, pebbles,shells, even semi-precious stones. For a tabletop, you will wanttiles with a smooth, flat finish so that your top will be even.Save uneven and textured tiles for walls and accessories. You canbuy bags or kits of colored glass tiles at arts and crafts stores.For covering larger surfaces, mosaic tiles are sold in blocks forfaster installation. These are sold at flooring, tile or buildingstores.
For me, the most fun bit is making up the design. You canincorporate ancient patterns and modern motifs, your favoritecolors, abstract shapes and familiar designs to create your ownwork of art. The Internet is a great place to explore designoptions. You'll find illustrations of ancient patterns for theGreek key and the guilloche pattern (twisted rope), along withdesigns for cats, fish, people ... most anything you can draw. Twohelpful Web sites are mosaic-tile-design.com andthejoyofshards.co.uk.
To make the garden table shown here, I started with a piece of1-inch plywood cut to fit over an existing table, and primed thewood. If you are working on an old tabletop, sand it smooth firstand then apply a high-adhesion primer. Do some sketches on paper ofthe overall design until you are satisfied with the result. Usecolored pencils to mark where you want each color block of tile.Then draw the design outline onto the primed surface with a penciland ruler, using your design as a reference.
Assemble the tiles in place on your design, cutting tiles to fitwhere necessary. Tiles can be set at random angles, mixing colorsand shapes. Leave a small space between each tile for the grout.
Working in small sections, as the adhesive dries quickly, removethe tiles you have set into position, spread an 1/8-inch layer oftile adhesive on the tabletop and a dab on the back of the tile andpress into position. When the tiles are all on, let dry for severalhours. Spread exterior grout over the whole surface, pressing itinto the cracks between the tiles. Let dry for about an hour, thenuse a wet sponge to wipe the grout off the face of the tiles.