Visit Fizziwig’s, an old-fashioned sweet shop in Brighton in the UK, and you might be tempted to eat the mosaic on display – as it’s made from 10,000 Jelly Belly beans.
But that mosaic is just one of many weird and wonderful tiled creations you can find around the globe, as mosaics have been made from everything from apples to Easter eggs.
Antoni Gaudí, the Spaniard behind the colourful ceramic architecture in Barcelona’s Park Güell, might be the world’s best known mosaic designer at the moment, but the art dates back much earlier.
The earliest mosaics – patterns traditionally made from glass, ceramic or stone fragments – found date back to a temple in Mesopotamia, in modern day Iraq, circa 2000-2500BC. The Greeks then developed the art, followed by the Romans who developed grout to make their artworks more durable.
These days, you’re most likely to see mosaics on the floor of your local swimming baths – as well as in the studio of L’Atelier des Arts, in Marks & Spencer Mall.
Maie Salah Mansour is the art and craft centre’s mosaic teacher. Maie has been making mosaics for 10 years, so it’s safe to say she’s passionate about her art. She says, ‘The Romans preferred pictorial mosaics, and during the Renaissance mosaics were copies of existing paintings – they weren’t original. So really, it was Guadí who brought mosaics back to life. Mosaics were no longer just a craft; he made them into an art form.
‘Like Guadí, I love making mosaics. I find it relaxing. I like to vary the materials I use, so I make mosaics with beads, seashells, broken mirror shards or porcelain. I use tiles from the Italian island of Murano or marble tiles from China, because they’re easy to cut. It’s best to apply them to wood, but you can also decorate plastic or a floor, ceiling or wall directly.
‘Pebbles are ideal for garden mosaics as they’re durable and difficult to cut, so they’re usually kept in their original form. You often find ceramic tiles are used for swimming pools, because they have a smooth surface.’
Maie holds mosaic-making classes upstairs in L’Atelier des Arts every Monday from 10.30am-12.30pm and on Sundays 7-9pm. Students learn about the history of the art, then pick a piece of medium density fibreboard (MDF) to decorate with their chosen design. Those taking a course rather than a one-off class can opt to decorate larger pieces, such as jewellery boxes, drink trays or mirrors.
Maie adds, ‘As a guide, it takes about four hours to make an A4-sized drinks tray or four coasters.’
A swimming pool might be a bit ambitious for a beginner, then.
Dhs180 single group class, Dhs250 private class, Dhs1,450 for five sessions. Open Mon-Thu 10-10pm, Fri 2-10pm, Sat-Sun 10am-10pm. Fotouh Al Khair Centre (Marks & Spencer Mall) (02 639 7104).
A step by step guide to making mosaics
1 Choose a design and draw it on to MDF
2 Using PVA glue, apply the tiles
3 Once dry, apply grout until all gaps between the tiles are filled, then scrape off the excess
4 Once dry, buff the tiles until they shine
5 Apply two coats of wood primer to any exposed MDF around the tiles
6 Varnish the tiles
7 Paint the MDF
8 Admire your artwork
Learn the lingo
Clipper = mosaic cutter, also known as a pincer, which typically has two small wheels
Crazing = fine cracks in glazed tiles or china
Opus certum = a mosaic with tiles which are cut and laid uniformly
Opus circumactum = the technique of arranging tiles in fan-like patterns, usually used as a background
Pique assiette = pieces of broken pottery, china, glass, buttons, figurines or jewellery cemented onto a base to create a new surface; the term derives from the French term for ‘stolen from a plate’
Smalti = opaque glass tiles cut by hand, which makes them irregular and expensive
Tessera = an individual tile; the term derives from the Greek word for ‘four-sided’
Vitreous tile = glass tiles with a smooth top and ridged bottom for better adhesion
The best thing since sliced bread
Jumbo Schreiner, a TV reporter from Germany, holds the record for the largest mosaic made from toast! He made the 10.35m by 14.52m mosaic of Albert Einstein with the help of 28 volunteers in Munich in October 2011.
