Left to right: Jane, assistant Shonagh Fullarton, and Julia at the studio. | Jane’s garden mosaic
As a child of the Fifties, one thing that sticks in my mind was that my family was always making do and mending. I come from a farming background and lived on a farm of 100 acres run just by my dad, my granddad and my mum. Dad never bought a new piece of farm machinery. He would buy two old machines and use them to make one good one. Or he would tie the machine together with baling string and hope that it would last to the end of the harvest! |
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My grandmother on my mum’s side was a dressmaker and my clothes were often made from cut-down adult dresses and coats. We would also spend the evenings making peg rugs from the leftover materials. Nothing much was thrown away. This policy has stayed with me into my adult life and I am still loath to throw anything away that might come in handy. I have stacks of tiles, buttons, beads, stones, glass - anything, in fact, that might be useful one day. Hence this mosaic garden sculpture, which has been created from car boot purchases. |
Many mosaic projects are well within most people’s capabilities and this sculpture is one. I used a piece of slate, bought from a local garden centre. Pieces with a nice flat bottom and an interesting shape are best. For the mosaic I chose a chipped plate that I bought at a car boot sale. |
You could do this... |
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Try this yourself. It isn’t difficult, but it does take a bit of time. The finished result looks really good and is worth the effort. Thanks to Shonagh Fullarton for her help.
You will need:
MATERIALS
• Stones or slates (£4.99 for two)
• Plate or saucers
• Glass beads (I used an old necklace)
• PVA sealer
• Waterproof tile adhesive, ready mixed (£3.49)
• Waterproof white grout (£2.99)
• Acrylic paint to colour the grout
• Newspaper
• Piece of white paper, A3 size
TOOLS
• Apron
• Goggles
• Tile snips (£9 to £11)
• Small knife or palette knife
• A plastic container with a lid
• Dishcloth
• Thin rubber gloves
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| Here goes...
1. Give the stones a good scrub with a soft brush and water and leave to dry. Look at them carefully and decide which of the rock faces you want to decorate. |
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2. Mix one part PVA to two parts water and paint onto the surfaces of the stones to seal. Allow to dry.
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3. Choose your plate. Remember you want it to stand out in your garde, either in the greenery, on gravel or by the pond. Put on goggles, apron and gloves and make yourself comfortable at a table with the piece of plain paper in front of you. I use my apron to catch all the bits - it saves on cleaning up afterwards. The jaws of the snippers should face inwards.
Hold the snips at the ends of the handles not in the middle as you will be able to apply much greater force. Make yourself a lap in your apron, pick up the plate and you are ready to go. Place the snips on the rim of the plate with jaws pointing to the centre. |
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SAFETY TIP:
Anyone watching you should also wear a pair of goggles as pieces of plate can easily splinter. |
4. The jaws of the snips need only to rest an eighth of an inch (3mm) on the rim of the plate. Squeeze the snips and crack! - you’ve made your first break. |
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5. Put the first piece of plate onto the paper and continue cutting off the rim. Arrange the pieces in an exploded formation on the paper as you cut them. |
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6. Cut up the rim into regular sized pieces, keeping all the edge pieces together. These will form the edge of your design. Roughly arrange the pieces of plate into your design on the paper. |
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Cracked a plate?
I stuck the motif from the centre of the plate together with sticky tape so the pieces won’t get lost. It will come in useful for another project, sometime! |
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7. I have chosen to use a ready-mixed adhesive. Pick up a small amount of adhesive with the tip of the knife and apply to the back of the piece of plate (buttering). Press into place on the slate. Remove any adhesive that squidges out over the edge. |
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8. Continue positioning the pieces of plate, leaving a 2mm to 3mm gap between each one. Spread the adhesive smoothly over a small area at a time, as it can dry quite quickly. |
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9. I used some shiny glass beads from a necklace bought on a bric-a-brac stall and arranged them from top to bottom. As before, apply adhesive to a small area and push in the beads. About a third of each bead should be in the adhesive. |
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10. Cut up the remaining pieces of the plate into irregular shapes. |
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11. Use the shapes to cover the rest of the stone. Fit the pieces together like a jigsaw leaving even gaps between them. |
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12. Take the plastic container and mix a small amount of grout. I have used white, all-purpose, waterproof powdered grout. Add water sparingly. The mixture should be softer than the adhesive. |
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13. Add acrylic paint to make desired colour grout. I’ve used black paint to make the grout a slate colour. |
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14. Thoroughly mix the grout and black paint together. |
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15. Make a spreader but cutting out a piece from the lid of the plastic tray. An old credit card also works well. |
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16. Rub grout into all crevices between the shapes. Spread in all directions. |
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17. When all cracks are filled, wipe off the excess grout with a damp, not wet, cloth. Rinse out cloth and wipe clean again. Leave the mosaic to dry overnight. |
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TIP:
Throw the dirty water in the garden, not down the sink or drain as the grout can set in the pipes and cause problems. |
18. This is the best bit. Take a dry cloth and buff your mosaic. Loosen any tough bits by scraping with a wooden lolly stick or something similar.
Your sculpture is now ready for positioning in your garden for your friends to admire and for you to feel really proud of! |
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| Caring for garden mosaics
Our winters can sometimes be too severe for the majority of mosaics, especially those on a wood or plywood base. During the winter months, either cover with polythene or take them indoors. |
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This striking alternative design was made from a single decorative plate. |
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