Mosaic Journey - Learning How to Mosaic a Pot

Spring time brings with it my desire for gardening and this cold, cold winter (yes, even here in Florida!) had me dreaming of mosaicing garden pots.

I did my first pots last December (as gifts) and this was a bit of new territory for me. I did what I usually do and turned to books and the Internet for some how-to. And wow, lots of variations to be found on prepping the terracotta pot: 1.weldbond/water on outside penetrating sealer on inside 2. weldbond/water on outside yacht varnish on inside 3. house paint inside and out 4. weldbond/water inside and out...

I decided to go with variation #2 and to use thin set mortar to attach the ceramic pieces to the pot.

I painted the inside of my terracotta pot with spar varnish. This would seal the interior and prevent water from penetrating and soaking through to the mosaic which would compromise the mosaic's thin set mortar bond to the pot.

The outside of the pot I painted with a mixture of five parts water/one part weldbond glue. This soaked into the terracotta. I chose this method of sealing because it would reduce the water absorption from the thin set mortar. Unsealed terracotta is so porous that it will absorb water from thin set quickly, which weakens the thin set. I also suspect that the weldbond softens a bit from the thin set moisture and then bonds with the thin set resulting in a stronger bond of the mosaic to the pot.

Why thin set mortar? Another common choice would be weldbond. But, I know from experience (glass on glass project) that if moisture gets down to the weldbond- and we are talking about an outdoor pot here! -that the weldbond will go soft and white again. Additionally the weldbond is best for attaching flat surface to flat surface. A silicone type glue would work but I feel the thin set attaches more firmly to porous surfaces. Thin set also excels at bonding irregular tesserae (mugs!) to curved surfaces.

So many choices on what to use to create the mosaic design with. I decided to go with broken plates. (In my location I do not need to worry about freeze/thaw but if you do, look for hardier choices or bring your garden pot inside for the winter.) So I checked my local thrift stores for goodies and also etsy.

These lovely mugs came from ceramic artist Judy B Freeman.



Many ceramic artists on etsy will occasionally offer for sale a box of broken rejects specifically for mosaic use.









To the left you can see that I used thin set under the top brim to even out the surface. And you can see more of Judy's awesome butterflies.

After attaching the design with thin set, I grouted the mosaic as usual (use caution with the ceramic edges- SHARP!) and applied a sealer after the grout cured for three days.

And below are three views of another pot also made with Judy's butterfly mugs as a design inspiration.




I create original design silver jewelry too!! 
https://www.mosaicsmith.com/collections/all   or
https://mosaicsmith.etsy.com

Thoughts on how to choose a grout color, or colors

What color(s) to grout a mosaic is a common dilemma. And a personal decision each artist needs to make based on their vision for the finished piece. This post is just some of my thoughts and by no means comprehensive.

I have a general rule that often helps me make the choice: blend the background, fracture the focal.


But, I break this rule regularly. Usually on realistic pieces when I feel that all the careful shading I have done on a focal will be lost if I choose a grout color that breaks it all apart.

That was the case with this little mosaic I did recently:

"My Shadow" (Print available)

I even briefly considered skipping the grout on the kitty herself but rejected that since I could see the substrate through the spaces. Additionally, my glue was weldbond which I don't feel would be lasting in Florida humidity if not protected by grout. As an aside- I am looking into smalti as this material is not traditionally grouted.

So, for kitty herself I actually used three colors of grout. Tea green for the irises, black for the nose and right eye pupil, and a natural grey for the fur areas. The natural grey is in between in tone to the light and dark fur tones and provided subtle contrast so she is still clearly mosaic but the pieces blend.

For the background of kitty, first decision was glass color and flow. I chose the pink as a compliment to her eyes and to emphasis that this sweet kitty is a she. The squares are a contrast to the irregular pieces used in the fur. Because of the blending of kitty with her grout, I felt I needed a grout color in the background that did not completely blend but that provided a very subtle contrast as well. Warm grey was my choice here.


To help with my decisions, there are a couple things I do.

First, I keep a box full of little cups and their wood stirrers that I have used previously to mix up grout. I label both the cups and sticks and use them to do a squint test.
Second, I will sometimes sprinkle a small amount of dry grout in an area to test the effect. The color of the dry powdered grout is about the same as cured grout in a finished project. You just have to remember to use safety precautions as you do not want to in-hail any of the grout powder!

There are a couple of online resources that can help to visualize different grout effects too:

Mosaic Mercantile, http://www.mosaicmercantile.com , has the grouterizer.
Choose the mix of color tiles similar to your mosaic, 16 choices, then choose from ten grout colors to see their effects.

http://www.thejoyofshards.co.uk has a Grout Colour Simulator.
This one has seven different mosaic choices including a variety of different mosaic types. Then choose from 20 different grout colors including black to white shading in four different directions, fun!

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"My Shadow" is in my private collection but a print is available on my page at Fine Art America:

 http://fineartamerica.com/artists/19+linda+smith

I create original design silver jewelry too!! 
https://www.mosaicsmith.com/collections/all   or
https://mosaicsmith.etsy.com