Mosaic Building

This is how we built Erin’s mosaic. First we scanned and reversed her design. Then we put transparent contact paper over her design sticky side up. Next many hands cut, selected and Erin placed (top left and center) small pieces to build up the stuck down reverse mosaic (top right). The glass was pushed to the contact paper to ensure a good bond (center left). Then the support board coated in glass glue (weldbond) was placed on the mosaic and the sandwich flipped and allowed to dry. This process brings all the glass faces to the same level as the contact paper, which formed a nice level top surface. When dry she carefully removed the contact paper to reveal the mosaic in the proper orientation (center). However, at this point all the glass was sticking up with a myriad of sharp edges. After building a temporary wood frame, she pressed grout into the spaces and completely covered the glass (center right). After letting the grout set up the endless cleaning began (bottom left). Care had to be taken to remove the grout from the glass but not from the grout lines so no sharp edges were exposed. This is where the whole reverse process pays off with all the glass faces at the same level. Finally the finished mosaic is fully revealed (bottom center). After sealing to minimize staining from spills the mosaic was framed in a tray (bottom right).