Mosaic Shed Art

I spend so much time making mosaics as commissions, for galleries or exhibitions that I very rarely make a piece for myself. However, when I got my birthday garden shed, I knew I would be making a mosaic to go onto it. Initially I was going to make a ‘welcome’ sign with the shed name but as I couldn’t decide on the final name, that piece remains on hold.

As I was planting the new garden beds around the shed I suddenly spotted the perfect place for a mosaic,  a long triangular inset just above the door. I knew instantly the style of mosaic I wanted and could picture it in my mind. The problem was transposing that complicated idea into such an odd shape, keeping my original concept of the image but making it suitable as a mosaic.

Alan was in charge of cutting the exact size board, it would be wedged into the inset so no room for any error whatsoever – no pressure then! We used Wedi Tilebacker Board (the lightweight cousin of Hardie Bakker Board) which is a very flexible compound that can be cut with a Stanley knife but is meant to be robust enough to go outdoors and is weatherproof.  It is the first time I have used it so we shall see, best to experiment on myself rather than a clients commission!

Once I got going I really enjoyed making the piece. It was done in two sections initially and then we used wooden kebab sticks inside to join the pieces together, plus lots of glue and then gaffer tape. The whole structure was very precarious but I needed to mosaic continuous lines and not have an obvious join.

Here is the finished piece in situ – I am delighted with it and am looking forward to having the winter sun shine on it as there is a lot of ‘sparkle’ potential.

REQUEST: Let me know what you think – could ‘shed art’ catch on?

COMING SOON: Mosaic Mishaps!