My First Mosaic
Estimated time to read - around 3 minutes
When people ask me what made me want to start making mosaics, I usually tell them the story of how I visited a mosaic exhibition and was inspired by the art there. It was the first time I had visited an exhibition dedicated to mosaics and there were so many different styles of mosaics there. It opened my eyes to what was possible with mosaic art and was the point that I decided I wanted to try making some mosaics and to experiment with different techniques and materials.
However, my very first foray into making a mosaic was a few years before that, when I decided I wanted to make something for my dad’s 60th birthday. He has been a keen gardener all his life and is interested in nature conservation, particularly butterflies and moths. So I decided to make him a mosaic for the garden, based on a photo of a moth that he had taken.
I duly went to the library for a book on how to make mosaics, (there was much less information available on the internet at that time) and worked out what tools and materials I would need. I discovered the importance of using a substrate suitable for outdoors and remember visiting my local tile store for a cement backer board. I clearly hadn’t a clue what I was doing and the man serving me kindly offered to cut the board to the right size for me. I ordered some supplies from an online mosaic supplier and I was ready to get going. Here’s what I made.
I can see so many things wrong with this mosaic. And when I say ‘wrong’ I mean that if I was to do this again, I would do things much differently - after all, there is no such thing as ‘wrong’ in art.
If I was doing this again I would not choose white grout, as this can cause the pieces to appear more fractured. A darker grout would have been better. The andamento could also be improved, and as for the fixings, well, at the time I hadn’t even considered how it would be displayed. I was much more focussed on actually making the mosaic itself. So now there are two screws put through the front of the piece - not the most attractive way of displaying a mosaic!
This mosaic still lives on the wall by my parent’s back door. Each time I visit I am reminded of where I started out and how far I have come. And while it is certainly not my best work, the fact that it is still in one piece after being exposed to the Scottish elements for eleven years, reassures me that at least I got something right in terms of its construction!
So why am I sharing this mosaic with you, particularly when it is one I'm not especially proud of? I suppose it’s really a reminder that we all have to start somewhere. Many years after making this piece, and after lots of practice, I am pleased to be exhibiting my work in juried exhibitions and teaching others to create mosaics. But this mosaic is a reminder of how far I have come on that journey.
In the current world of social media, it has never been easier to see other people's art. And it can be easy to indulge in negative comparisons - to look at your own attempts at making something and think you’ll never be as good as what you see online.
But it's also easy to forget that often what you see online is often the result of years of practice and training. And often people only share art they are pleased with, not the stuff that didn’t turn out quite as planned.
So if you are interested in taking up mosaics, or indeed any other artform as a hobby, do not be discouraged if your first attempt is not how you would like it to be. And the same goes for your second, third and fourth attempts. You will make mistakes and you will make bad art, but these are the pieces you learn from. You learn what not to do, as well as what works well.
Keep going, keep the blinkers on so you aren’t distracted by others, practice, learn, enjoy the process and eventually you will get to where you want to be.
However, I have to say that there is always more to learn, whatever stage you are at. I know my skills have improved a lot since that first mosaic but I am also aware that there are areas I still need to work on and improve.
I have often thought I should make another mosaic, based on the same photo, using all the knowledge and experience I have gained since I made that first moth mosaic. Undoubtedly it would look very different. Perhaps one day I might give it a go, although the idea has been on my ‘to do’ list for a while so don’t necessarily expect to see a moth mosaic any time soon!
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