Mosaic Monday/ Broken Glass

New Work In Progress

Last week I broke one of my favorite vintage drinking glasses. It bummed me out that I was so clumsy, however I quickly consoled myself by adding it to my mosaic stash. I have started on this dapper fellow, and the print on this glass is looking really cool on his face. The yellow area will be filled in with a light lime green glass. He was going to be a dod trading card, but I am loving him so much I may have to add him to a larger piece. 

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This morning I got an e-mail from an old pal that is new to mosaics and he was crabbing about the higher cost he paid at an on-line shop I had referred him to for a tool that he later found at a hardware store for less.  It made me stop and think about mosaics in general and the amount of money I have spent on supplies to support my hobby. You can spend a fortune growing your mosaic stash, and I have along with most of my pals spent a good amount of money on materials, but mosaic work can really be as affordable as you want to make it. Thrift stores have tons of cool dishes for as little as a quarter that you can smash and nip into tessera. I often find rusted washers on the street that I pick up to save for my robot series.  If you let your friends and family know what type of materials you like to use they will often start saving stuff to give you for your work. If tile is your thing you can also find great deals on seconds and if you know a contractor or other people in construction you can develop good relationships with folks that will cheaply sell or give you their left overs when a project is done.

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I have heard about folks finding great deals on mosaic supplies by watching craigs list and sometimes good stuff will turn up at garage sales. Sometimes you can even find people liquidating a large supply of glass or tile when they decide to either abandon mosaics or move on to new materials.

If you are a mosaic person reading this please leave a comment and share your favorite cheap resource for supplies, or your favorite found objects that you use on your work.