In this one-day workshop you will learn how to cut a variety of local stone to make mosaic tesserae using a hammer and hardie. Classical techniques that were used to make the great mosaics of ancient times are practiced for this project.

There are many ways to make a mosaic, but you always need 3 things!

The first is a substrate, a hard surface to adhere the mosaic material to. This could be an inside or outside wall, a rock in the garden, a base made of wood or glass. Cement forms work well along with just about any other hard surface.  Do not use anything that can bend or warp, even slightly.

The second is the choice of materials, and that is wide open from tiles, shells, glass, plastic, beads, wood, even eggshells. Broken pottery and recycled materials, old jewellery and stones of all types can work well, you name it and you will find someone has used it somewhere!

The third, and very important, is the adhesive that attaches the one to the other in a permanent safe way. This may need a bit of experimenting and testing with glues, silicones, mortars and tile adhesives.

In this class we use stone as the mosaic material with tile adhesive to adhere to backer board. Colour from glass and other materials may be added for effect, along with a painted background if needed. 

The principals of andamento, leaving spaces and tesserae cutting are practised as lines are made and patterns form. No set pattern is followed as the materials help guide the formation of the mosaic in a relaxed and creative way.