Tiki Mosaic Art

We are currently working on a new stained glass mosaic. This time, of a tiki mug who is mad because we've dolled him up in makeup (you can't tell from the black and white, but he has red lips, pink cheeks, and purple eyeliner) and put a pretty flower on him.

Here is the current state of it:

UPDATE:

And this is an example of what another finished stained glass mosaic looks like:

Creative criticism is appreciated!

PS: "E Kipa Mai" means "Come to me".

[ Edited by: kid_dynamo 2011-10-31 13:20 ]

[ Edited by: kid_dynamo 2011-11-01 12:48 ]

[ Edited by: kid_dynamo 2011-11-07 15:48 ]

I just finished a mosaic project, it was great fun (except the glass shards all over the dining room :D )

Looking forward to seeing your finished project. The mermaid looks good.

PS - If you upload your photos to the TC server they will be more permanent - as long as Tiki Central is here the images will be available. If you load them to another image hosting service they may be gone in a year or two when that server either goes under or purges old files.

New update, finished with most of the glass except for the borders. Toying with the idea of filling in the nose, cheeks and around the mouth with black grout.

That's a lot of hard work and its paid off, good job. Black grout may show up defects more than a lighter brown. But maybe you don't have any defects! Wendy

That's some nice opus palladanium you've got there, I like that cherry garnish too. I am just starting to get into mosaic and I've got a couple of questions for you. Are you putting that mosaic on plywood instead of HardiBacker? Could you grout large areas like that or would it be more fragile and susceptible to the grout cracking and popping out?

Thanks

We use Half inch plywood and we've never noticed any cracking or peeling (we have art from over 4 years old). We only get cracking when the grout isn't mixed right, the wood is too thin, or we don't use sealent.

We've never used Hardiebacker on any projects. Wouldn't it be hard to mount and hang?

Because I have very limited exposure to this at form, I have only seen mosaics made on HardiBacker to be glued into cast concrete planters. I guess plywood would be much easier to work with. What do you use to seal the plywood?

We use a sealant for the grout and paint over the exposed wood.

Here is an updated picture:

Almost finished! Letting the glue dry tonight and grouting tomorrow! Decided to remove some of the background and put in flowers near the base of the tiki mug (took forever and glass went everywhere!).

very cool, I would love to see some step by step photos and descriptions on your next project. I have never done glass or tile mosaic before and am very curious how it is done. Beautiful work. :)

Ok, grout is in and drying. Waiting to put sealant on, otherwise it is pretty much done.

Very cool, anything in particular you use as a sealant? Will it make the black grout darker?

We just use a typical grout sealant you can get at any home improvement store. It makes the grout a little darker, but it's mostly to just keep it from getting damaged or dirty.

Awesome job, Mad Tiki looks great! :)

Starting work on more design ideas:

Starting on the next one:

[ Edited by: kid_dynamo 2011-11-04 22:59 ]

[ Edited by: kid_dynamo 2011-11-05 23:24 ]

[ Edited by: kid_dynamo 2011-11-07 15:49 ]

Very cool. Tiki art and mosaic kind of seem naturals, together. Thank you for sharing.