Glass mosaic for crafts. Glass mosaic - types, manufacture, installation

Among the various creative directions in recent times, the top ten has been supplemented by the composition of mosaic glass. Modern methods and materials make it possible to create mosaic canvases that are durable, colorful and practical. It is worth turning your eyes to mosaic glass, which is used to create panels at home. of varying complexity. As a result of an exciting creative process, a waterproof coating will be created that can be safely used for interior or exterior decoration. The production of such a coating can be established from ordinary glass waste.

By the way, if you suddenly solve a scanword and the question comes up - what are the names of glass for mosaics, 7 letters - know: smalt.

Mosaic, as a form of creativity, has more than 6,000 years.

This fact is confirmed by fragments of the floor and walls found during excavations of Sumerian temples.

V Ancient Greece the mosaic was laid out using river pebbles. Despite the meager color scheme, craftsmen created beautiful patterns on the floor of dwellings even from gray stones.

A special love for mosaic tiles was nourished in ancient Rome. It was in this country that they began to willingly create bright pictures from broken glass, which were distinguished by their strength, dullness and multi-coloredness. The name of this mineral is smalt.

Description of mosaic glass

When the term “mosaic” is mentioned, many people imagine the beautiful stained glass windows of foreign cathedrals. But we hasten to immediately dissuade readers that the technique for creating stained-glass windows and colored glass mosaics differ significantly.

Colored mosaic glass can be of two types:

• glass modules;
• smalt.

The appearance of the smalt is disc-shaped. Immediately before the creative process, the disc is split into pieces. Smalt is used mostly by professionals to create high quality mosaics. It is not transparent, but rather, matte structure. Broken glass tile has a pretty decorative and colorful look to fit in with a modern bathroom décor.

For those who are just joining this creativity, it is worth turning your attention to the modules. These are colored fragments pasted on paper base or packaged in plastic containers. Fragments of glass can be of various geometric shapes and sizes. It is more convenient and safer to work with such modules. You can cut the paper base with ordinary scissors or a clerical knife.

Those who wish to make mosaic paintings with their own hands will need materials:

1. glass cutters;
2. liquid nails, PVA glue or transparent silicone;
3. tile grout for joints;
4. smalt or glass modules;
5. marker, construction pencil.

A product made of broken glass should not cause injury, so it is worth using safety glasses and gloves throughout the entire creative process.

Broken glass mosaic technology

Do-it-yourself mosaic from glass modules. The creative process begins with a visit to the store finishing materials and preparation of the work surface.

The surface of the wall should be even, with no recesses or cracks on it. On the wall or other surface that is intended to be transformed, a pattern is applied with the division of sectors by color. Then the glass modules are separated from the adhesive base and they are fixed. You can glue modular tiles directly on the wall front side outward, prudently leaving gaps. If the drawing requires glass is cut with pliers to the desired size. You can make a mosaic. But this will require experience with wire cutters.

After the drawing with the help of glass blocks is laid out, the surface is left for a day for the glue to dry. Then, according to the instructions, the tile grout for the joints is diluted and the space between the image fragments is carefully filled. After one day, wipe the mosaic with a damp cloth, and then dry. To give the picture a complete look, it is recommended to open the glass modules with varnish. This will increase the service life and give the picture a holistic look with a pleasant gloss.

Mosaic laying out technology - "reverse set"

There are several ways to create mosaic paintings. One of them is called reverse dialing. In this case, mosaic glass is glued face down on sheets of paper. At the same time, glue is chosen with a weak fixation, for example, PVA. If paintings of considerable size are created, then there may be several such fragments on paper. The technique for creating a mosaic in this case has the following sequence:

1. prepare the wall
2. fragments, pre-numbered, are glued to the wall with silicone or liquid nails;
3. after all sheets with modules are glued, they wait a day to dry;
4. after moistening the sheets with water, wait and remove;
5. prepare the grout mixture and fill the seams between the mosaic fragments;
6. after 24 hours, they clean the surface of the grout, and give the picture a finished look.

What is remarkable about this technology is that fragments of the future image can be created in advance and in another place. And to the installation site, sheets with mosaic glass should be delivered on the eve of their fixation.

Mosaic glass in the interior

What can be made from glass?

Glass mosaic can decorate not only the flat surfaces of the bathroom, an apron over the working surface of the kitchen or a panel in the living room, this technique can also be used to decorate three-dimensional objects. Examples of this are flower containers, vases, floor lamps, mirrors, garden furniture, bathroom accessories, crafts, tiles, etc.

Broken glass crafts for a schoolchild or loved ones can be especially useful as a gift or a token of attention.

If you want to create a beautiful wall panel using the mosaic technique, then For this you need to prepare the following materials:

• glass modules or smalt;
• the basis for the mosaic (glass, plywood, drywall, etc.);
• transparent silicone;
• glass cutters;
• glass cutter;
• sketch;
• tile grout;
• protective gloves and goggles;
• rag.

As the basis for the mosaic, it is better to choose glass. This is convenient if you use a real-size finished image, which is placed under it and slowly lay out the drawing, exactly following the contour and color of the original. It is recommended to glue colored tiles with transparent silicone; for the convenience of applying the glue, they are filled with a syringe. Along the perimeter of the picture, frosted or dark glass is laid out in the form of a frame. Dried work is treated with grout, wiped with rags and varnished.

Stained glass mosaic also looks original, but its creation technology has some features.

What can be made from broken glass?

Experienced mosaic masters can use not only colored glass as a material. Fragments of tiles, colored pebbles, shells, eggshells, bead, broken glass, etc. are used. Do-it-yourself glass mosaic, laid out around the perimeter of the photo frame, will attract the eyes of all loved ones.

You can make a mosaic of glass with your own hands on the wall, on the basis of raw plaster, smeared with glue. Fragments of the mosaic, previously pasted on sheets of paper, are simply pressed into the wall. After the solution has set, the paper is removed with a damp sponge. To seal the seams, gypsum or tile grout is used. To give more expressiveness to the picture, you can add the color of the desired color to the grout mass.

If there is no desire or opportunity to purchase ready-made glass fragments for mosaics, they recommended to do it yourself. To do this, armed with a glass cutter, prepare pieces required size and shapes (triangular, square, rectangular, diamond-shaped). The glass should be about 3 mm thick. It is best to paint white glass modules with spray paint.

Mosaic always looks very impressive and magically transforms any interior, the ode even has some resemblance to the art of creating stained glass windows. At home, you can use glass mosaics in a whole palette of works to decorate an apartment: from decorating flower stands to decorating exotic wall panels.

Raw material for glass mosaic

In the process of creating a mosaic, you can combine colored glass with a variety of materials:

• glass waste
• fragments of tiles and facing ceramic tiles
• shells
• stones
• colored pebbles
• beads
• beads, etc.

Sketch for glass mosaic

Glass mosaic is almost impossible to make without a pre-prepared drawing or sketch of the future finished work. They can be represented by the following types:

• strictly geometric sketch
• copy of painting
• abstract drawing
• classical composition
• whimsical fantasy painting

The shape and color scheme of the material is always chosen in accordance with the plan.

glass mosaic

Mosaic is created from broken, broken or cut glass.

The "negative" technique

• Cement or gypsum can be used as a filling compound for glass mosaic.
• To fix your drawing on the surface intended for glass mosaic, it is important to prepare a strong and reliable support. Most often, a thick sheet of glass is used, but you can also use strong plywood, or even a special construction mesh, which will later allow you to transfer and fix the resulting mosaic pattern, for example, on the wall in the bathroom or kitchen. Sheets of metal should not be used for this purpose. It is important to fulfill only one immutable rule: the carrier plate should not warp from dampness.
• Initially, you need to prepare a drawing that mirrors the desired result. Using high-quality decoupage glue or PVA (which can sometimes be replaced with egg white, but the work will dry longer and hold on worse), fix pieces of glass on the sketch from which your mosaic will be created. The surface should be smooth, because you stick the material on the paper with a smooth side.
• This is the name of the technique that is most often used when working with decorative glass mosaic decorations. This method allows you to get a comfortable flat work surface.
• As you understand, there must be small gaps between the fragments, which will then be filled with grout. At large drawings it is better to disperse small details to improve the perception of the finished multi-colored glass mosaic.
• It is very important to take care in advance that the adhesive mass does not spread over the surface. This can be done using restrictive strips, which are removed after the adhesive has dried. The height of the slats depends on the height of the slab.
• Thickening retarders can also be used if, for example, the mosaic is very large and it will take longer to fully process.

Glass mosaic technology

1. The adhesive mass is applied in an even layer on the carrier plate.
2. The prepared drawing is pressed together with the material attached to it.
3. The adhesive layer is left to dry completely. Do not press the mosaic too hard, because the seams must remain clean.
4. After setting, the paper from the finished panel is removed with a sponge moistened with water.
5. To finally seal the remaining open seams, you can use gypsum, cement (simple or marble), putty. The embedding mass can be colored to obtain a contrasting effect.
6. It remains only to wait for the mosaic joints to dry and carefully separate the mosaic slab from the carrier.

Depending on your ideas, the finished glass mosaic can be hung or laid down. The mosaic can also be enclosed in a metal, wooden or plastic frame.

"Positive" variant of glass mosaic

With "positive work" pieces of glass are immediately installed where they will be located. It is most convenient to use this method when decorating the floor.

First prepare the surface and all the necessary materials.

If the mosaic will take very large surface, then it is plastered in parts.

The moment of laying the mosaic on the still fresh plaster requires special attention. The work is very painstaking and long, requiring patience and attention. With all this, you will have to try to hurry, because when drying, the plaster loses its adhesive ability and hardens. Sometimes it is worth adding a retarder to the plaster solution in order to delay the setting time of the composition.

Pieces of glass or mosaic are placed in a fresh cement or plaster bed while maintaining the positivity of the image. Quality work should demonstrate perfectly flat surface. You can close the seams in the same ways as with the "negative work".

Important: Of course, mosaics can be made not only from glass. For example, a do-it-yourself eggshell mosaic will perfectly decorate the interior of almost any room.

Look at the photo - what delightful panels you can create yourself from fragments of broken glass:

Video with examples of the work of mosaic masters working with glass

Most interesting articles:

Glass mosaic - original and beautiful view needlework. Using a little of your imagination, you can build such a masterpiece that will decorate your entire home.

Mosaic can be purchased in two types:

Such simple materials can be used to compose such beautiful compositions that you will not see anything like this anywhere and cannot buy it for any money. And most importantly, the work will be considered, as it is called, the author's, and there will not be a similar model. It all depends on your desire and imagination.

Of course, you should start with the simplest sketches, and only then you can move on to more complex compositions.

Starting easy

An ordinary mosaic can be not only a beautiful element of decor, but also very useful in the life of any family. For example, use mosaics in the places of switches and sockets. Sometimes it often happens that it is these places that eventually acquire a gray and dirty look. So the mosaic came to the rescue, which can be easily wiped if necessary.

In the same way, you can make a frame for stained-glass windows.

Second option

Step-by-step instructions for making crafts.

First of all, you need to make a stencil. You can draw it yourself, or you can print it. Let's cut it out.

Here is the template you should get:

The surface must be treated with a construction primer, after which we draw a rectangle measuring 66 cm by 62 cm on it.

We cut out small pieces from the tile with a special device. Let's start laying the mosaic with smaller details, such as antennae. We do the same as shown in the photo:

The butterfly was posted. Here is what a beauty turns out.

Now we begin to lay out a small square behind the butterfly itself.

We decorate the wall with a mosaic of sea glass

And we make a frame.

So that the black frame does not look like a black spot in the picture, you can dilute this color, for example, with white or any other suitable color.

We are waiting for the glue to dry completely. After we grout the finished picture.

That's all, on this picture is completely ready. Now we take it and hang it on one of the walls of our house, you can make a metal frame.

Third lesson

From pieces of multi-colored glass, you can decorate both a bathroom and an ordinary wall in an apartment. Today we will analyze how to make a beautiful fish in the bathroom.

In the same way, you can make a picture for the kitchen. Having picked up a beautiful template and a mosaic, you can start creating masterpieces with your own hands.

We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the video tutorials that will help you understand in more detail the process of making such paintings, as described above.

Video on the topic of the article

Overview DIY glass mosaic for the kitchen and bathroom with photos and videos.

Glass mosaic - types, manufacture, installation

Glass mosaic: how to glue colored glass

Tools and techniques for making mosaics and smalts

An artistic mosaic is a picture made of hundreds or thousands of tiny pieces of glass. Mosaic is a real work of art, which requires perseverance, attentiveness and a desire to create. We managed to see the process of creation in one of the workshops of the Alexandria stained-glass studio, which started with stained-glass windows more than 20 years ago.

When creating stained-glass windows, a large amount of opaque glass was used, the remains of which accumulated quite a lot, after which the studio decided to try to put them into action - to start laying out the mosaic. Six years have passed since that moment, and now the mosaic can be safely called the second main specialization of the studio. For such important work, craftsmen were trained and workshops were equipped.

In one of these workshops, a spacious room with high ceilings, mosaics are assembled. The light pouring from the high windows illuminated the huge tables on which were laid out paintings of varying degrees of readiness. At the edges of each table, among the scattered pieces of glass, were all kinds of tools: glass tongs, mosaic cutters, professional glass cutters and other mosaic tools. Masters were working on two mosaics, bending over.

The walls are lined with high shelving with bathtubs, each of which contained ready-made modules - small rectangular pieces of glass. A narrow staircase pressed against the wall led to a small balcony. With each step, pieces of glass creaked and crunched underfoot - the craftsmen, in order not to break away from work, threw the pieces right on the floor.

At first glance, the mosaic did not differ much from the stained glass window - the same pieces of glass that need to be cut out and fit into the picture. But if you look closely, a whole sea of ​​​​differences opens up. “Everything starts with cardboard – a drawing of a future mosaic. Only if he comes to stained glass with marked colors - here it will be yellow, here - blue, then we just see common lines and a sketch.

Today, the mosaic is laid out in two main ways. With one, glass is cut exactly to the size of some area - a flower petal or a dragonfly wing - akin to a Florentine mosaic. With another, closer to the Roman mosaic, the picture is assembled from small rectangular pieces. “I don’t like cutting glass – you immediately depend on the colors that are on the finished sheet. Smalt is closer to painting - each module is like a brush stroke. And here we have much more freedom - we are our own artists. Suppose I decide that the hair on the mosaic should be golden - and I make them golden.

But this is far from the only difference between mosaic and stained glass. The work here is much thinner - sometimes you have to lay out modules a little larger than an eyelash. And they still need to be cut out of glass and, if necessary, sanded. It is necessary to adjust the modules to each other tightly, with the smallest gaps. It is not for nothing that the masters call such work jewelry.

Bohle glass cutters are used to cut glass. They have a convenient platform for fingers to rest as close as possible to the head of the glass cutter.

If necessary, the module can be sanded to special machine for glass edging Kristall 2000S

“We usually lay out modules, starting with a specific element. Here, for example, is a berry, - and Andrey showed me a sketch of a new mosaic and began to run his finger around an angular stylized berry, - I will lay it out at the beginning, then a row around it, then another row. But sometimes it happens differently - look how Andryukha works, - and Andrey nodded in the direction of another master who worked on the mosaic icon of St. Nicholas, - he first laid out the face and brushes, fixed them and inserted them into a common panel. And now he is building everything else around them.”

Most of the mosaicists in the workshop have an art education, but when asked how he started doing mosaics, Andrei answered with a grin: “I came here to work in the garage, I have no artistic education. I come, and they ask me: “Have you ever laid out a mosaic?” Well, I answered no. Nothing, they say, we will teach. So they taught me that I have been working here for the sixth year.”

The modules are laid out on a mounting film - a self-adhesive sheet that holds the pieces of glass in place.

Original do-it-yourself mosaic: decor from broken dishes

When the whole picture is assembled, an arakal is glued on top of it, another self-adhesive sheet. After that, the mosaic is turned over and the mounting film is removed, and in its place they put the base - a special fabric, on which the mosaic elements connected with the arakal are finally glued. When the modules are firmly fixed on the base, the arakal, which has become unnecessary, is removed.

Mosaic based on the painting by Gustav Klimt "Water Snakes". Andrey worked non-stop on this mosaic for three months

Such cunning manipulations are done so that the artist, when typing, sees the front part of the mosaic - the way it will become after mounting on the base. True, there is also the so-called reverse set, when the mosaic is assembled in a mirror image right on the arakal. But glass for mosaics is a whimsical thing: often one side can be strikingly different from the other in pattern and color, and you can predict it. It will be very difficult to predict how the mosaic will look like in the end, with the reverse set.

“And after that, the most interesting thing begins - rubbing the seams. The grout is selected according to the color of the modules and, if necessary, the desired color is mixed. But after that, the work may change beyond recognition: some areas will brighten, others will darken, and some colors may merge. And nothing can be done about it - it remains only to imagine every time what will happen in the end.

The work went on as usual - small pieces of glass, one after another, lay on the table, folding into a future picture.

How to make a mosaic of broken tiles with your own hands

DIY glass mosaic

Do-it-yourself items are becoming more and more popular. With the help of handmade items, you can decorate the interior and make it unique and inimitable. One of the options that can be implemented at home is the manufacture of glass mosaics.

Master class - glass mosaic

Before you start making glass mosaics with your own hands, you need to decide what we will decorate in this way. Let's give an example with decorating a flower pot.

This is what our flower pot will look like when finished.

As you can see, making a glass mosaic is very easy, you just need to have a little time, patience and materials at hand. And the result will exceed all expectations.

Mosaic is one of ancient species arts and crafts. The first examples of mosaics are known from Ancient Sumer, IV millennium BC, see fig. below. In our time, there are also many amateur mosaicists who create highly artistic compositions with their own hands, often from seemingly the most inappropriate materials.

It should be immediately noted that independent production mosaics and laying mosaics with your own hands are things, in general, different. The manufacture of a mosaic involves the production of all its components - the base, the soil, the binder, the elements of the set, plus the development of a template pattern. By laying, we mean creating a composition from a factory-made kit, which includes everything you need.

Laying is more popular among amateurs who are not endowed with artistic abilities. Mosaic is an extremely labor-intensive form of art, therefore mosaic paintings based on ready-made scenes from a set cost tens and hundreds of times cheaper than the same panels made to order by a master. There is a huge variety of ready-made kits for sale. Some small firms, using computer technology, complete kits to order according to the drawing presented by the client. It costs a little more than a set industrial production, but uniqueness is guaranteed.

There is also a sufficient number of people who want to make a mosaic completely with their own hands. And not only for the sake of increasing personal reputation. Mastering mosaic techniques (and there are many of them) can lay the foundation for your own well-being. One of the author’s relatives, who worked in a supermarket for 22,000 rubles, having mastered 3 or 4 techniques, quickly went through some kind of master class for formality, received a “crust” from there (more precisely, a card) and now a month with a net income of 200,000 considers it not very successful. Although it is in a city with a population of one million, it is still in the provinces. Plus - no bosses, no shift schedule and work schedule, and the workload is three times less.

What is a mosaic?

Mosaic - a type-setting pattern of small solid elements, fixed with a binder, on a solid basis. Therefore, compositions from scraps of fabric (patchwork), straws, pencils, self-adhesive films, threads, etc. cannot be considered mosaics, these are applications. In the same way, beaded designs on fabric and leather are not mosaics, but embroidery. Although there is also a beaded mosaic, and we will talk about it.

Note: art historians tacitly imply that the mosaic is very durable. An oil painting without restoration lives 200-400 years, and the Sumerian mosaics have come down to us in their original form. Hence the unspoken condition - the materials for the mosaic must be strong and durable.

Unlike intarsia, inlay, each element of the mosaic does not carry a separate semantic load; in fact, a mosaic is a pixel art. Its fragment is just a piece of something of a certain shape and color, and it is impossible to determine from it separately whether it is a part of a butterfly wing, a leaf of a tree, or a piece of schnitzel. And finally, the mosaic is made from non-metallic materials. Metal technologies - granulation, filigree, filigree - are fundamentally different from mosaic and require a separate discussion.

From the history of the mosaic

The Sumerians typed their mosaic patterns from tall narrow tetrahedral pyramids of baked clay, a kind of clay needles. They were pressed into the base of not yet hardened unbaked clay, and the ends were painted with ocher, natural bitumen, etc.

The next step was taken by the Greeks. They invented smalt, a very dense and viscous glass. Due to the high viscosity, the smalt could be chipped using a special technology (see below) without cracking. Depending on the method of smelting, smalt is obtained in the following types:

1. Transparent - glass dyed in bulk with oxides of iron, chromium, cobalt, cadmium.
2. Opal (deaf) - the same, but with the addition of tin dioxide or antimony monoxide; glass turns milky, opalescent.
3. Spotted and sinewy - from glass of several shades by sintering fragments; most often fights and crumbs.
4. Golden and silver - two layers of glass sintered into a "pie" with a metal foil between them.

The most valuable is artisanal smalt. It is precisely the instability of technology that gives it internal overflows of color, and the whole picture - a shimmering brilliance. The color range of smalt is unlimited, and the durability is millennia. For example, mosaics from the palace in the Macedonian capital of Pella (see Fig.) have survived to the present without any signs of dilapidation.

The Romans, having adopted the mosaic from the conquered Hellenes, appreciated it so highly that they called it opus musivum, i.e. a work dedicated to all the muses at once. Hence and modern name. The Latins also began to collect mosaics not only from smalt, but from square pieces. natural stone. This made it possible to make mosaic floors. The point here is not only that smalt is scratched by sand, but also that it is very slippery. Agree, in terms or a banquet hall-triclinium, this is completely useless.

Unfortunately, the artistic level of most Roman mosaics cannot be compared with Greek ones, see fig. below. The reason is the extreme laboriousness, which is why the mosaicists (mosaicist is an ignorant-amateurish expression) in Rome were mainly artists of a slave state. They, of course, had no time for such masterpieces as the Fayum portrait or the Pompeian Poetess.

Byzantine mosaic “Boy and donkey”

The next step in the development of mosaic art was made by the successor of Rome, Byzantium. Before the onset of Islam, the streets had just not been paved with gold, and artists - free people could count on decent pay for their work, which gave rise to exceptionally expressive compositions that were included in the world treasury of art, see fig.

The Byzantines also made an important improvement in the technique of calculation: they began to gain background and extensive details of the image from intersecting arcs, see fig. left. When viewed from a certain distance, the drawing lost its "pixel" character and looked completely alive.

Byzantine mosaics are inseparably linked with Old Russian ones. Although smalt was very expensive (Byzantium strictly kept the state monopoly on its export), ancient Russian mosaics of world significance are known. But the Mongols completely destroyed it, and only foreign masters were occasionally engaged in the mosaic in Russia, reviving before M.V. Lomonosov.

During the Renaissance, mosaics returned to Italy. She reached the highest level of skill in Florence (see the figure below; the right fragment is a modern panel based on the Florentine technique). The Italians introduced perspective into the mosaic, which in ancient world did not know. In addition, they developed a binder composition (see below) that held the set to the stone much more firmly than before.

During the Rococo period, mosaics received an impetus from France. There they began to widely use seashells for a set, and since 1837 colored porcelain and faience beads, these are the so-called. mosaic Emo de Briare (Emaux de Briare), see Fig., by the name of the porcelain factory, which still exists. "Pixels" of a uniform shape and very small size made it possible to lay out a very accurate drawing with soft tints of halftones. And, more importantly, according to the French technique, small curvilinear surfaces could be decorated with mosaics.

However, back in the middle of the 18th century, in 1750-70, Van Zelow's manufactory produced mosaic panels from beads by the method of reverse laying (see below) on waxed paper with subsequent transfer to the base. The secret of this technology was lost after the death of the founder (it is not clear how they fixed the beads with wax without losing its adhesion to the binder), but today it has been revived on the basis of adhesive tape and silicone, see fig. on right.

Islam

Muslim artists, under pain of impalement, were forbidden to depict anything alive. Instead, they brought the pattern to incredible sophistication. Muslims introduced new materials into the mosaic. First, the tiles, which we call tiles. Ceramic mosaic today is the most common and in demand. Secondly... eggshells. The shell mosaic technique is simple, we will tell you about it, and painted shell mosaics last for centuries, see fig.

Note: picture in fig. above was made in the period 1905-1915. M. S. Prokudin-Gorsky, a student of D. I. Mendeleev and one of the pioneers of color photography. His life and work is a separate topic, but it is noteworthy that in the process of creating a color image, a microscopic mosaic of starch grains (crystalline starch is transparent) was used, painted in the basic colors - red, blue, green. On fig. on the left - a photo portrait of Leo Tolstoy by Prokudin-Gorsky.

Russian mosaic

Before Catherine II, mosaics in Russia were made extremely rarely due to the high cost of material and work. M. V. Lomonosov, not only a brilliant scientist, but also an outstanding artist and poet, developed original technologies for melting smalt and founded a mosaic manufactory. Many of his works have survived; the Poltava battle entered the world fund, see fig. Unfortunately, after the death of Lomonosov, the mosaic business died out until the middle of the 19th century, when Nicholas I ordered the icons of Isaac to be transferred into mosaics.

Mosaic by M. V. Lomonosov “Poltava battle”

I had to attract Italians from the Vatican studio, and sent their own there to train. In 1851, the Mosaic Workshop of the Academy of Arts was opened, which still exists today. Many panels of outstanding merit came out of it, but the work on Isaac dragged on until the revolution, and after the revolution - to the present day.

Modernity

Artistically, modern mosaic widely uses the findings of pointillism, impressionism and various abstract modern trends in the visual arts. Cubism seems to have been deliberately created to look like a mosaic. There is even a term - art nouveau mosaic (art nouveau, new art).

As for technology, porcelain stoneware immediately confidently entered the everyday life of mosaicists. They work with him the same as with smalt and tiles. Traditional mineral binders on the egg are increasingly being replaced by PVA and silicone adhesives. They are unlikely to hold out for millennia, but houses are now being built not for centuries.

Glued mosaics have an important advantage - maintainability, up to complete disassembly and assembly in a new place. If the Chinese bring their giant 3D printer to serial production, then a revolution of unprecedented proportions will take place in construction. And glued mosaics will organically fit into it as an exquisite way of decor, giving the dwelling a uniqueness.

Laying

Mosaic laying is necessary for both branded ready-made and home-made. Therefore, we will start technological topics with it, especially since this process is not complicated. In essence, a mosaic is laid out in a direct way in the same way as a tile.

Straight

In the direct method, the image fragments are laid out face up/out. Mosaic on the floor is laid out, as a rule, in place. Panels on the walls are now often laid out on a fiberglass mesh, and then transferred into place; the image is more convenient to type in a horizontal position. Mosaic on the grid is assembled only on glue. Grouting is done after gluing the entire panel onto the base.

Note: laying on a grid for transferring to curved surfaces is unsuitable - when bent, the set cracks. The curved mosaic is laid out only in place.

Materials for direct glass and ceramic mosaics are ordinary tiled ones: mortar or glue, grout. For glued mosaics in the bathroom, you need to take silicone glue. Firstly, it is not only waterproof, but also waterproof; secondly, when frozen, it has the consistency of dense rubber. Both are important for a set of small fragments, often of an irregular shape. When laying ordinary tiles of a regular shape, the seams also hold the coating, but not in mosaics.

For the same reason, the surface of the base must be completely even and somewhat rough in the first place. Smoothing down a grinder with a bowl-shaped circle is not enough, sandblasting is also needed. Secondly, the base must be perfectly degreased; if greasy stains from old oil paint show through there, it is better to choose a different finishing method. And, finally, there should be no traces of rust, rubber, cement laitance, etc. on the base. At the end of the preparation, the base is treated with a deep penetration primer on concrete or stone.

Grout, especially if a set of glass and mirror pieces, is needed without sand, otherwise it will scratch the fragments. After the grout has set, its traces are removed from the face with a soft (flannel, calico, cotton, felt) damp rag without pressure; the same, but completely new and clean, polished after complete curing of the binder and grout.

Reverse

Artistic mosaic on curvilinear surfaces of small size is laid out most often in the reverse way. For him, first of all, a pattern-pattern in a mirror image is needed; when laying in a direct way, with some experience, you can work by eye.

The original drawing is scanned or photographed, in Photoshop it is displayed in right size, broken into A4 pieces and printed in color, this will make laying out much easier. The margins of the fragments are cut off on both sides, forming the upper right corner, and the following sheets are glued to the lower left, see fig. When printing on a conventional home printer of any type, the contours along the edges of the sheets will not converge by 1-2 mm, so you need to make sure that the discrepancy does not exceed half the size of the set element.

Note: it is better to first lay out the sheets on a dry one, reduce the contours, and, without disassembling the sheets, glue them with stationery glue-mazilka.

Next, the drawing is covered with a transparent self-adhesive film with butt sheets, adhesive side up. protective film remove gradually (the adhesive layer loses its stickiness in air after 3-10 minutes) and lay the elements of the set face down on it according to the figure; pressed immediately. Each element must be put immediately exactly in place, this requires a sure hand.

Note: the old way of reverse typing - the pattern is covered with ordinary flour paste; through its thin layer, the pattern shines through. But materials do not hold well on the paste, and many do not stick to them at all. Many sources recommend the use of some latex-based adhesives, but specific brands of such cannot be found.

The second way, not so expensive - the drawing is lined on a plastic film (so that the floor or table does not get wet) and covered in parts with egg white. According to the layout, the reverse set on the protein is dried for a day or two. Glass and ceramics on the squirrel do not hold well, so the transfer of the set to the base must be done carefully, and the panel must be broken into pieces the size of a book, which is not always possible.

Then the base is prepared, covered with a binder and the set is transferred to it; both - in parts. When typing on self-adhesive, one part of it can be up to A3 in size. For transfer, the set is cut with a mounting knife into parts of an acceptable size along the intervals between the fragments. Each part is gently but firmly pressed against the base so that the parts of the set are pressed into the binder.

Note: a roller or any method of pressing that creates a side force must not be used. It is necessary to press with the palm of your hand through a pad of microporous rubber with a thickness of 12 mm or more, or with a flat board covered with felt.

After the binder has completely hardened (at least 3 days for silicone and at least 20 days for an old solution, see below), the self-adhesive is removed, and the remaining adhesive tape is removed with a cotton swab moistened with ethyl alcohol or a solvent for nitrolac (646, 647). If the set was on a paste or protein, the paper is soaked with a sponge abundantly soaked in water, and the remaining glue is washed off with a medium damp sponge. Grouting and polishing is done as with direct dialing.

Note: before applying the binder, the stone or concrete base is moistened with a maklovitsa (wide soft flute brush), and with a direct set in place, each of its elements is dipped into water before laying. Each piece of the self-adhesive back set can be sprayed with water from an indoor gardening spray bottle immediately before placing it on the base, it does not give visible spray, but a mist.

Video: laying out the mosaic

About countertops

Mosaic countertops are back in fashion now. Mosaic furniture was extremely popular in Europe at the end of the XVII - early XIX centuries However, only a few copies of it have been preserved in museums, and most of them did not outlive their owners. The reason is simple - the mineral mosaics and the organic base are completely inconsistent with each other in terms of temperature coefficient expansion, moisture absorption and strength.

For countertops and mosaics on furniture, in general, only three methods can be recommended. The first is plastic on liquid nails or mounting adhesive. The technology is elementary, you can paint white PVC with spray paints for graffiti. But plastics keep their appearance for no more than 5-7 years, and then they begin to crack and fade.

The second is a crackle eggshell mosaic. In the old days it was not used, there was not enough resistant glue. Now it can be considered fully tested for the durability of PVA; book dealers already use it without fear for the restoration of books instead of bone or fish. We will talk more about shell mosaics later.

The third is from an alabaster-adhesive mixture. Enough of such a mosaic is good, if for 10 years with careful use, but it is very easy to make and replace. Compound:

• Powdered synthetic wood glue (which dissolves in cold water) - 1 wt. h.
• Pure water at room temperature - 4 parts.
• Construction alabaster - 6 parts.
• Pigment; preferably acrylic - to the desired tone.

The glue is dissolved in water, then alabaster is added in portions with stirring until the consistency of liquid sour cream; after that - a pigment. In a solution of glue, alabaster does not set as quickly as in plain water, but the batch must be closed in no more than 5 minutes and prepared in portions of 200-300 ml.

Next, we take a rubber door mat with square cells and pour the mixture into it, see fig. Smooth out with a rubber spatula. Drying continues for at least 36 hours. After the mixture hardens, the mat is slightly bent, and the "chips" themselves will crawl out of the nests, like ice cubes from a mold.

Such “pixels” are glued onto a smooth sanded wooden surface of PVA for glass and stone (not stationery) or liquid nails. The alabaster-adhesive compound does not get dirty, so additional varnishing is not required, although impregnation with a water-polymer emulsion will not hurt.

Video: mosaic table decoration

Manufacturing

Making a mosaic with your own hands begins with the preparation of the elements of the set. Most often, these are squares from 1x1 cm to 5x5 cm. They can and should be prepared for future use, so as not to be distracted from creative work later.

Here the problem arises: how to cut pieces of the same size? Tips to use pliers, side cutters, glass cutters probably come from people who have not tried it themselves - but what happens?

"Pixels" of the mosaic need to be pricked like smalt. For this, apply special device- zakolnik, see fig. By the way, it can be seen there that this is not at all a hand tool used by sculptors. You don’t need to buy expensive smalt: the tile is also very viscous and prickly in the same way. A tile battle in a construction company or store will be sold for a penny or even given away for nothing, and on the fence you can chop pieces into a tile mosaic that is not inferior to Byzantine ones, there would be a taste.

Note: porcelain stoneware is most precisely and easily pricked. Given its high resistance and durability, it is better to start mastering the “real” mosaic from porcelain stoneware, and choose a pattern according to the color scheme of the material.

They work with the stalk like this:

1. A particle is chipped off the wrong piece to make a straight edge.
2. The movable stop is set to the desired size.
3. Prick strips of the same width.
4. Pieces are pricked from the strips.

At first glance it is simple, but there are subtleties. Firstly, it is necessary to beat not exactly against the tip of the wedge, but with a shift to the stop by about half the thickness of the material, which should work on impact not in compression, but in shear, only then the fracture will turn out to be even and smooth. Secondly, if a glass mosaic is being made (mirror glass can be pierced on the headpiece), it is necessary to take into account the refraction in it, as shown in the inset at the top right, otherwise the glass will crack and crumble, and not break.

Thirdly, wedge. Its point must be sharp; if it is washed (glass and ceramics harder than metal), cracks and crumbs will go again. In the old days, the wedge of the spike was made of heavily carburized tool steel (can be made from a file), it crumbled rather quickly and had to be changed. Now a piece of a guillotine shears blade with a victorious or other hard-alloy soldering will go well on the wedge, such a wedge is almost eternal.

About mosaic tiles: factory and homemade

On sale there is a special mosaic tile. This is the same tile, only small in size, from 1 to 5 cm. It costs much more than usual per square. If you don’t feel sorry for the money, you can buy and not develop the skills of stabbing yourself. However, the elements of the set, made on the spike, are in no way inferior to the factory tiles for mosaics. The size comes out even more accurately, because. there is no firing in the form and the tiles do not lead from heating. And the corners come out very sharp, which allows you to type a seamless pattern. By tilting the stop, you can get oblique pieces suitable for a set of curved lines.

Note: a seamless set comes out strong enough only on silicone. When laying on a mineral binder or other tile adhesive, joints of at least 1 mm must be given. There are almost no ready-made crosses for corners of this size on sale, so you have to lay them out in rows, using a home-made ruler from the PVC box cover and liners from it. But then you need to forget about Byzantine technology.

Binder

Ancient mosaic panels were laid out on a lime-clay mortar with a modifier:

• Lime dough - 1 part.
• Oily clay - 0.3 parts.
• Quarry or mountain clean White sand, washed and calcined - 3 parts.
• Broken eggs with shell - 3-6 pcs. on a bucket of solution.

The sand was sifted through a 1/100 inch sieve, approx. 0.25 mm. After adding the eggs, the solution was mixed until completely homogeneous, the shell particles should not be visible; the shell served as a kind of indicator of homogeneity. The eggs in the mixture did not rot at all, as the ignoramuses think. Organics interacted with clay silicates, forming a very strong and waterproof impregnation of the entire conglomerate. Putrefactive, and any other, bacteria were not allowed to develop lime.

The lime-clay mortar on the egg gained full strength after a few years. Nowadays there is no need to spend valuable food product and for a long time to protect the fruit of hard labor from accidental influences. Cement-based tile adhesive has not yet been tested for centuries, but the tile mosaic laid out on it is held on outdoors for at least several decades.

As for the glass mosaic, it must be laid out on glue without cement. The cheapest is PVA for glass and stone. It can be used to assemble mosaics in living quarters. Ethylene vinyl acetate adhesive (EVA) in the form of a melt of copolymers is more suitable for outdoor use, it is somewhat more expensive. And, finally, for kitchens, bathrooms and other premises where, in addition to resistance to sudden fluctuations in temperature and moisture, complete water tightness is required - silicone construction adhesive. Aquarium is even better, but its 10 ml tube costs about 20 rubles.

A mosaic made of beads or plastic can be put on the same PVA, but it is better to use nitro-glues: assembly, Moment, 88th. By the way, the famous masters of modern beaded mosaics are the Indians of the Huichol tribe, see one of their products in fig. - have long abandoned gluing with wood gum and are using silicone and nitro-glues with might and main.

Video: making and laying out mosaics

Special cases

shells

Shell mosaics are now experiencing a renaissance due to the fact that mosaicists have moved from laying out patterns from shells to creating expressive images, see fig. Shell mosaic decor adds subtle sophistication to any interior. A drawing is typed on any basis on PVA or silicone.

As a material, shells of small marine bivalve mollusks are used - balls, peas, small scallops, venus, venerupis; from freshwater - zebra mussels. The shells of some gastropods are also used, mainly top snails (nassa, Nassa sp.)

The most famous typesetting and bulk techniques, which are discussed below. In both cases, it is possible to include contours of sea sand in the drawing, most of which is a finely broken shell. For a bright white background or, say, the Sun under backlighting (see figure below), coral sand is used, which is actually the same limestone in the aragonite modification as in the shells of warm-water mollusks.

Tool

For processing shells, a special tool is used, mostly homemade, see fig. The file at the top left is not a hacksaw, but a miniature jigsaw, the so-called. amber; handle is held with two fingers. It is not necessary to look for it on sale, you can make it yourself from a bicycle knitting needle.

Material preparation

Already when collecting the shells, you need to roughly sort by color and size. Set aside white and light gray separately, they can be tinted, see below. The sand must be washed with boiling several times until the water above it becomes almost transparent, then calcined in the oven on a baking sheet and sifted through different sieves to separate into fractions. You need to rinse in portions of a glass or two, otherwise the process will drag on indefinitely.

Note: do not neglect the dull shells of the salt sea stalk, see fig. below. Of these, tinted, mosaics of a "fence" type are obtained.

Next, clean the sinks. Large ones with a dark outer layer - periostracum - from the horn-like substance conchiolin (freshwater toothless, barley) are treated with a soft brush with a 15% solution of hydrochloric acid. The softened conchiolin is scraped off with a tool to mother-of-pearl. After acid cleaning the sinks, immediately dip into a solution of baking soda (2 teaspoons per liter) and soak in clean water, changing it at least 5 times in half an hour.

Small shells are processed for half an hour or an hour in a diluted table vinegar; further, if toning is not required, they neutralize the acid and wash it like mother-of-pearl. If you need to tint, then the aniline dye is diluted in cold water, the shell is poured with a solution so that it barely covers it (the solution is unsuitable for reuse) and brought to a boil. The shell is allowed for tinting immediately after the acid, and after the solution has cooled, it is washed under running water, the acid is neutralized, soaked and dried.

Note: It is impossible to tint coral sand in this way, but shell sand is possible. Mollusk shells consist of alternating thin layers of conchiolin and calcite or aragonite. Toning occurs due to the penetration of the dye through the microcracks of the calcareous layers into the conchiolin. And coral sand is a product of the destruction of the skeletons of coral polyps. This is a dense mineral, in which there is no conchiolin.

Kit

For a typesetting mosaic of shells, they need to be sorted cleanly by color and size. This is the most boring and tedious part of the job. more than 5,000 shells are required on a 40x60 cm panel. Gather on glue with pressure. The contours for sand are either fenced off with strips of cardboard removed later, or covered with a template made of the same cardboard or drywall, wrapped in thin plastic wrap so that it doesn't get stuck.

embankment

It is easier to make a bulk shell mosaic. Firstly, one-by-one sorting of the material is not needed, it is enough to more or less accurately scatter it into colors. The filling is led to a fresh adhesive layer, adding different colors and distributing the filling with a finger, as if smearing watercolor. Contours for sand are shielded in the same way.

Glue is better to take silicone, slowly drying. Before pouring sand, the pattern is evenly pressed down with a plank, then sandy areas are smeared with glue, sand is poured in and pressed down. After the glue hardens (3-5 days), non-adhered excesses are shaken off from the panel; if necessary, glue the material into the dips (gaps). After the final drying - ready!

Shell

Training

The technique for preparing eggshells for crackle mosaics (sometimes they say in the English way - crack, from crack) is illustrated in the figure. The shell is first kept for a day or three in a solution of baking soda, this will soften the organic matter. Then the remains of the protein are removed with a brush (pos. a). The inner film from the shell does not need to be removed! Paint in desired colors dye for Easter eggs; it is better to take the shell from the eaten eggs, where the paint holds more firmly.

Next, on a flat wooden board, not necessarily the size of the panel, put a sheet of paper or plastic tracing paper with the rough side up, lubricate with PVA, hold until gelatinization (viscous tack, this is 3-15 minutes). The shells are laid out with a bulge upwards at intervals in their size, the same board is applied and pressed down tightly, flattening the shells, pos. b.

Note: nitro glues ("Moment", etc.) are undesirable to use. After a year or two or three, the adhesive layer becomes brittle and the pattern deteriorates from the slightest impact.

After 10-20 minutes, the top board is removed and the shells are smoothed with a trowel - a wooden stick with a rounded end, pos. v. Then the same plank is applied again and the package is held under pressure until the glue is completely dry, pos. d. Next, we impose thin paper (cigarette, newsprint without text or the thinnest writing, unglued) on a runny flour paste, pos. d. It remains to cut pieces with scissors under the pattern and proceed with laying, pos. e.

Laying

Spread the drawing also on PVA. After the glue has completely dried, the cover paper is soaked and removed, then the remains of the paste are washed off with a soft, damp sponge. Now you need to wait a few days until the shell is completely dry in order to proceed to the penultimate stage - the manifestation of small craquelure cracks.

Craquelures are shown with ink, dripping it from a pipette. You can immediately see how the ink diverges along the cracks. When the development has stopped, they drip onto the neighboring area, and so on until the end. Now you need to wait a few minutes and with a soft damp sponge remove the remnants of the carcass from the surface; it may take several passes, but the movements should be as light as possible, without pressure! The drawing has not gained strength yet!

The essence of the method is as follows: the composition of the carcass includes shellac and bile. Thanks to bile, the mascara spreads over the smallest cracks, and shellac, polymerizing, gives strength to the set. With free access to air, the shellac layer will come out weak and wash off, but it will stick very firmly along the cracks. Therefore, we are waiting for another day or three, and only now we are starting to complete - polishing.

Polish the shell mosaic with coated paper. Any other abrasives, even as delicate as felt, can rub through a thin shell (especially if the eggs are from factory hens). The composition of coated paper includes chalk and kaolin, minerals softer than the shell. But you still need to rub a little and without pressure.

As you can see, it is simple, but it requires painstaking work. But the result can be a table with an image like that in fig. Did you salivate? And, seized by shellac, it will last at least 15 years, because thanks to bile, the ink will penetrate into the pores of the shell from the inside out.

Work examples

Here in fig. examples of homemade mosaics. The first one on the left is a shell tabletop. The plot is not for gourmet, but for coffee table in the boudoir just right.

Second from the left is a bathroom with a mosaic of factory-made 5 cm tiles. Laying mosaic tiles in this case has some features. The first is pattern selection. Dolphins with naiads looked good in the huge Roman baths, even crudely executed, but modern bathrooms do not give the feeling of spaciousness necessary for the perception of such scenes.

The second - the use of black grout on a white background made it possible to get by with standard 3 mm crosses and conventional tiling techniques. By the way, there is no sense in printing a drawing for such large mosaics by sheets. You need one A4 printout to keep it in front of your eyes. And on the wall, only contours are drawn with a pencil or marker. For greater reliability, you can mark each piece with a tick of the corresponding color, colored pencil or felt-tip pen.

Next pos. - Mosaic shell. Here, too, not without subtleties. Look at any finished sink. There will definitely be curves of a small radius, at least along the edges, on which no mosaic will lie. That is, the basis for the sink must be made by yourself under the mosaic.

Most often, it is advised to use a tree for this. But, firstly, in conditions of constant humidity, it will quickly begin to rot and slip. Secondly, not every carpenter will undertake to make a product of complex shape with smooth contours from wood, not to mention do-it-yourselfers.

Therefore, it is better to take extruded polystyrene foam, XPS, as a blank for a mosaic shell. It is as strong as wood, but easy to process like foam, resistant to moisture, non-porous, and therefore hygienic. Sheets to the desired thickness are glued together with PVA without problems, but the actual mosaic must be laid on silicone. Any other binder will create a favorable environment for microbes.

And finally, the last pos. - a mosaic of broken tiles as it is, only the round ones are turned on a grinder. Thanks to the developed taste of the author and the careful selection of fragments, the drawing turned out to be very nice.

Video: an example of a flower pot mosaic decor

Something special

Sometimes you want to create something completely your own, so that everyone, as they say, gasp. An unusual do-it-yourself mosaic can be created quite simply, and even without any tool. To do this, you first need a board made of soft wood or softwood plywood, and the board needs to be painted black with ink. The ink will give a deep dark background, like the screen of a display turned off.

Pixels will be ordinary pushpins with slightly convex mushroom caps of different colors; they also come in silver and gold. Buttons-pegs with high caps will allow, due to the play of light between them, to achieve fairly thin halftones and expressiveness of the image, as in Fig.

But keep in mind - for a picture of 320x200 pixels, 64,000 buttons will be needed, and for 640x480 - 307,200, excluding the departure of those bent over. The size of the panel will be, considering the diameter of the hat at 8 mm, 2.56x1.6 m in the first case and 5.12x3.2 m in the second. Time to work - figure it out yourself. But on the other hand, it is easy to correct flaws - he pulled it out, stuck a new one.

And the most unusual of the mosaics consists of three or four-sided pyramids, the faces of which are painted in different colors. It is assembled in the opposite way to the Sumerian one: the pyramids are glued to the base with their bases. Depending on which side the light falls on, the pattern changes completely. The complexity of the work and the laboriousness are incredible; there are only a few such mosaics in the world, despite the fact that they were developed on computers.

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The technique of creating a mosaic of colored glass is experiencing a rebirth. Modern materials allow you to create glass canvases colorful, waterproof and durable. Mosaic glass panels are used for interior and exterior decoration. Glass mosaic is a fashion trend with a rich history.

The first mention of it appeared in the ancient East. In the technique of mosaics, they decorated mainly caskets and other small objects. During Roman times, mosaics became very popular and were used to decorate palaces. Masters created complex drawings on the walls, on the floor and ceiling. Very beautiful paintings were created in the Byzantine Empire. Usually the background was golden hues, perfect shapes and perfect lines made drawings and patterns clear.

In the early stages of the Middle Ages (VI-VIII centuries), beautiful patterns were created in Italy, in the city of Ravenna. Palaces, churches and cathedrals were decorated here.

In Islamic states, mosaics were also very popular. It can be seen in mosques, minarets and houses ordinary people. In Russia, it appeared only in the 10th century, but there was no production, and art did not develop. Later in Kiev they began to make smalt.

Mosaic canvases decorate the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev. M.V. Lomonosov was fond of creating glass mosaic panels, the most famous creation is the “Battle of Poltava”. Currently, the mosaic is again at the peak of popularity, it is decorated with metro stations in Moscow. Many people use this technique in decorating apartments and country houses.

Mosaic glass is an alloy of siliceous sand with various components for decoration (gold powder, aventurine). It is of two types:

1. Smalt. It is made in the form of a disc with a matte structure. It is formed from pressing small pieces of glass with oxides (potassium salts and other natural compounds). Smalt mosaic is rich in color and has an inner glow effect. Used by professional tilers to create high quality mosaics.
2. Glass modules. Colored fragments (glass shards) pasted on a paper base. Sold packed in plastic containers. Modules can be of different geometric shapes and sizes. These fragments are more convenient and safer to work with. Therefore, it is recommended for those who are just starting to join this type of creativity.

Working with broken glass is not safe, so gloves and goggles must be worn throughout the process.

​

Mosaic can be laid out not only the walls in the bathroom. This technique is successfully used to decorate many other voluminous objects. From broken glass, you can do the following:

Pools, fountains, jacuzzis are lined with mosaics, arches and columns are decorated. Furniture is decorated with colored products, they are used to decorate balconies and loggias. Glass modules can be purchased as a gift for people involved in creativity.

It is not difficult to make a glass mosaic with your own hands. You can create a decorative panel, lay out a kitchen apron, decorate a mirror frame, make spectacular flowerpots. To make a mosaic, you will need multi-colored fragments. To make multi-colored glass, you will need to purchase some tools: a glass cutter (simple - for cutting glass in a straight line or oil - it will cut glass into pieces of any shape). It is also necessary to take disc cutters and breakers (nippers, tongs).

First you need to create a sketch, according to which the glass will be laid out. Then prepare pieces of glass (broken, broken or cut), you can use additional decorations (beads, shells, beads).

The process of collecting glass tiles with your own hands is as follows:

1. It is necessary to carefully transfer the pattern to the surface (wall, countertop).
2. Then the pieces of glass are smeared with liquid glue and applied to the chosen place.
3. Gaps are left between the elements, so the mosaic will look voluminous and more spectacular.
4. When the surface dries, all gaps are carefully filled with grout, the composition is leveled with a silicone spatula.
5. After the craft has dried, excess grout is removed with a sponge.
6. The finished product can be varnished to get a stained glass effect.

You can create original, decorative products with your children, make useful gifts for friends for any holiday. The technique of creating mosaic decorations has been improved over the course of several centuries; it will serve more than one generation for a long time to come.

Attention, only TODAY!

Mosaic patterns are fascinating - it is difficult to take your eyes off them. Do you want to learn how to create such masterpieces? It's easier than it looks!

Among the various female hobbies, there are those that can bring not only pleasure, but also benefit. On a par with, sewing, and cooking, it is quite possible to put a mosaic. The association that first comes to mind with the word "mosaic" is multi-colored small figures from sets for children's creativity. Plastic circles and squares that give a unique sensation when stepped on with bare feet. A glass mosaic made from multi-colored glass with your own hands is a completely different thing.

From time immemorial: the history of fashion creativity

It turns out that the current hobby is already about six thousand. Samples of the first mosaic ornaments were found in the excavations of the Sumerian temples, which the Sumerians built somewhere in the middle of the fourth millennium BC. The ancient Greeks laid out the floors of their houses with drawings from river pebbles. The color scheme left much to be desired, but the Greek masters had enough shades of gray to create complex ornaments and patterns.

Most of all, the mosaic was loved and revered in ancient Rome. During the campaigns, the ancient Roman generals even carried with them mosaic floors for their field tents. And it was very difficult, in the most literal sense: mosaic floor tiles weighed hundreds of kilograms. In ancient Rome, the first samples of glass mosaics appeared, made of special glass, opaque, multi-colored and durable. This is glass, which is called smalt, and today masters in modern studios and lovers of making mosaics with their own hands use for their work.

What do you need for practice

Almost any material is suitable for mosaics. It can be laid out from stones, fragments of porcelain dishes, old ceramic tiles and even eggshells. But still the brightest, most durable and colorful mosaic is obtained from glass. Colored glass for mosaics (not to be confused with stained glass, this is a completely different type of glass!) can be found in two types:

1. Smalt. It is produced in the same form as it was two millennia ago - in the form of a large glass pancake, which must be chopped into pieces before work. It is used in workshops by professional mosaicists to create highly artistic works.
2. glass modules. These are glass squares. different sizes, or packaged in plastic containers, or pasted on paper or mesh. These are great for home crafting.

Such a mosaic pasted on a grid is used in the work of master finishers. It turns out pretty, but the simple alternation of multi-colored glass squares on the walls is so boring! And if you are planning a renovation in the bathroom or in the kitchen, then it's time to try yourself as an antique master and interior designer all rolled into one. As assistants, you can involve all household members. And even four-year-old children will be happy to collect a drawing from multi-colored glass squares together with their mother.

From preparation to action: the technique of laying mosaic modules

To lay out the mosaic you will need:

• mosaic glass modules;
• glass cutters;
• special white glue for mosaic;
• grout for ceramic tiles;
• pencil or marker.

All these accessories are sold in stores of finishing materials. First you need to come up with and draw a sketch right on the wall, according to which the mosaic will be laid out. Separate the mosaic modules from the base on which they are glued.

Using glue, glue the modules directly to the wall, according to the sketch, face up. If necessary, the modules can be split with wire cutters. When the drawing is ready, you need to wait about a day for the glue to dry, and gently rub the seams with grout. The mosaic picture is ready! Now your home has acquired a unique zest that will attract the attention of guests. It remains only to accept compliments and answer endless questions about how to make a glass mosaic yourself.

There is another mosaic technique. It's called "reverse dialing". Glass modules are not immediately glued to the wall, but first glued to sheets of paper, face down. The modules are laid out on paper in accordance with a special scheme that indicates how to arrange the modules. One piece of drawing is placed on one sheet. The sheets are numbered, indicate the top and bottom and given for installation. Fragments of the drawing on paper sheets are glued to the wall, waiting for the glue to dry, then soaking and removing the paper, overwriting the seams.

It turns out one big picture, and if it is mounted correctly, no one will guess that it was made up of small fragments. This method of mosaic set is used when the pattern is typed in one place, and it is supposed to be mounted in another. Many mosaic studios work in this technique, sending their work to customers even in other cities. If you master the technique of reverse typing well, you can find a mosaic studio and offer your services in typing mosaic fragments at home. This work is not difficult and brings quite real money.

Glass mosaic technique

In addition to decorating walls, mosaics can decorate any piece of furniture: flower pots, lamps, mirrors and even garden tables. It makes original gift paintings and souvenirs. And even if you don’t set a goal to make money on this hobby, the ability to give your home comfort and originality is worth a lot. For decorations, you can use not only ready-made modules, but also pieces of glass.

Before you make a glass mosaic, you need to prepare materials and tools:

• colored glass;
• transparent silicone;
• glass base;
• tiled grout;
• medical alcohol;
• glass cutter;
• wire cutters;
• sketch.

1. First, the drawing is transferred to colored glass for mosaics. To do this, just put the sketch under the glass and circle it with a marker.
2. All elements are cut out with a glass cutter, helping the process with other devices.
3. The same pattern is duplicated on a glass base.
4. Colored parts are neatly laid out on the base, creating the desired pattern.
5. When the desired pattern is obtained, the parts can be glued with silicone. It is convenient to use a syringe for this.
6. The space around the picture is covered with frosted milky glass or other shades suitable for the background.
7. Dried work is treated with grout.
8. They clean the surface of excess grout and admire the beauty.

As you can see, there is nothing complicated in this hobby. You can create a mosaic by creating original decor for home and useful gifts for friends and relatives for any holidays. And if you do crafts in advance, then you will always have presents in stock.

Be sure to read about that, and see what other women's hobbies there are in the world!