Mosaic is an art form which brings together various materials and at times, even cultures. Stones, glass pieces, ceramic, tiles etc, can be used to create beautiful mosaic art within your home. You can use it in almost every room. All you need is some glue and random pieces of interesting material.
The history of mosaic art is said to go back some 4,000 years. From the 5th century onwards, the rise of the Byzantine Empire turned mosaic art into a new form. Their pieces of art included Eastern influences with the use of special glass tesserae called Smalti. Smalti was made from thick sheets of coloured glass and had a rough surface with tiny air bubbles. Besides Smalti, there are innumerable new types of materials used today to create mosaic art. Experiment with as many materials as you can to create the most expressive art forms in your home.
Walls
There’s no better canvas for mosaic art than your wall. Start with a small pattern and move on to bigger designs. To stick objects directly on your wall, you can use a sprinkling of cement and create a mosaic design on top. Copy patterns from books if you don’t want to experiment too much. There are several types of patterns, textures, colours, and shapes you can create with mosaic. A combination of ceramic, glass, and stained glass looks best on walls. Terracotta lends an earthy feel to mosaic patterns. It can be cut into cones, square blocks, or any other interesting shape to give the designs a unique look. Patterned pebble art is a great way to spruce up the look of any room. You can use different coloured pebbles, interspersed with glass pieces to create interesting art.
Tables
The top of a table is one of the most preferred surfaces for mosaic art. Being flat and evenly shaped, it can accommodate a wide variety of materials, thus giving you room for experimentation. Fine cut Italian glass tiles are perfect for creating brilliant mosaic art. The finest Italian mosaic glass tile is fired at high temperatures in the presence of mineral salts to give it an iridescent finish that shimmers like mother of pearl. In the case of metallic glass mosaic tiles, there are tiny metallic flakes that are swirled throughout the glass to give an overall stunning effect to the tile. In the case of swirled glass mosaic tiles, the tiles are marbleised with swirls of different coloured glass. A combination of these stunning materials will make your table exquisitely unique. Almost any kind of material, from stone to glass, can be used on a tabletop to create mosaic art.
Bathrooms
Mosaic has always been used in bathrooms to a large extent. Mosaic tiles offer wide room for creativity. Almost any kind of design can be created on bathroom walls and floors with these tiles. Make it colourful to bring your bathroom decor alive. You can create interesting mosaic patterns by yourself in your bathroom. You can be bold and experiment here rather than in your living area.
Accessories
Regular household articles and accessories can be made interesting with mosaic art. Stick a few glass beads on a pen stand to make it look interesting. You can create art on vases with broken glass and pieces of terracotta. Wall hangings made of an assortment of light materials will add colour to your walls. Make a regular lamp shade stand out with pieces of coloured glass and create interesting patterns of light and colour. Stick pieces of colourful tiles and glass on a large mirror to create your own masterpiece. Cupboard doors can also be used as a surface for mosaic art. In the kitchen, you can theme your mosaic art on various kitchen appliances like cups and saucers, plates, forks and spoons etc. It will add colour and intrigue to regular kitchen decor.