Farm Living

Green acres is the place to be
Farm living is the life for me
Land spreading out so far and wide
Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside

New York is where I'd rather stay
I get allergic smelling hay
I just adore a penthouse view
Darling I love you, but give me Park Avenue

The chores, the stores, fresh air, times square

You are my wife, goodbye city life
Green Acres we are there

OK, this piece is my ode to the Green Acres TV Show.  I used to love this show.  I haven't seen it in a while.  But anyway, I got to thinking about farm living and how it might be a nice change of pace.  This piece is the result.

As always, I started with a rough sketch.

Rough Sketch

And then I created a more detailed grid drawing to refine everything. The biggest addition was the windmill.  I was afraid it might be too much detail for the tile work, but I thought it was worth a try.

Grid Drawing

Next, I transferred the drawing to my already prepared frame.

Transferring Grid Drawing to Frame

So this is what the backing looks like before I start gluing on all of the pieces.

Farm Living transferred to Frame

I usually throw a few handfuls of tiles on the board just to make sure that the colors work together.  And then I start with the cutting and gluing. 

Farm Living Gluing

And after many hours, the gluing is finally done.

Farm Living Gluing Complete

And then it is time for grout.  For this piece I am using a grout color called "Harvest" which is a neutral sandstone color.  This piece  is 1' x 2' and requires about a half pound of grout.  Mix the grout until it is the consistency of peanut butter.

Farm Living Preparing Grout

And then we apply the grout using a float.

Farm Living Applying Grout

And after the grout has been worked into all of the nooks and crannies, it is time to clean off the excess.

Farm Living Cleaning Grout

And then at last the piece is complete.  I give you "Farm Living".

Farm Living Complete

Check out some of my other mosaic art pieces in my Gallery.

I Was Framed

How to make mosaic frames

A few people have asked me where I get the frames that I use for my mosaic art projects.  I make them myself.  They aren't very fancy, but they look nice and are very sturdy. Around the studio, we euphemistically refer to them as "Rustic".

It all starts at the hardware store.  I usually buy about eight frames worth of material at a time.

Frame Lumber

Once I get home, I start with the outside edges of the frame which is made of some 2 x 2 firing strips.

Raw Lumber

First I cut a 1/4 inch slot down the middle by making a few passes with a Rockwell RK3440K VersaCut Circular Saw. You could also use a table saw for this task, but I don't have room for one in my studio, and the VersaCut is very to use.  It comes with an adjustable guide, so I just set the depth of the cut and the distance from the edge of the board and I am off and running.

Firing Strips with Slots Cut

I then use a 1/4 inch wood chisel to remove the remaining material. I also run a sander along the cut edge.

Removing remaining material

Next I cut the 2 x 2s to length and put a 45 degree angle on the sides of each piece.  I use a miter saw for this task.

Cutting pieces on Miter Saw

And then I am done with the individual frames sections.

Finished piece

After I have all of the pieces cut, I dry fit everything together first to make sure that they fit nicely.  Then I use wood glue on all of the touching pieces.

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Once everything is glued and fitted together, I use a strap clamp to hold the entire thing in place while the glue is drying.  I've tried a few different clamp systems, but the strap clamp is ideal for this sort of thing.  It provides even pressure from all sides.  The system I am using is the Bessey VAS23 Vario Angle Strap Clamp.  I certainly endorse it.  It beats the heck out trying to line everything up with multiple standard clamps. Oh, make sure you wipe off all of the excess glue before it dries.

After the glue has dried for a day or two, I sand down all of the surfaces.

Sanding Frame

And then I apply some color of stain to the outside of the frame.  

Applying Stain

And there you have a nice canvas for your mosaic art work.  

  Check out how I use these frames in my Gallery.

Buzz Bee

Ok,  In keeping with my recent living creatures theme, here is my latest piece titled "Buzz Bee".  You all know how I work by now.  I do a doodle.

That then translates into a slightly more detailed drawing.

And then I start madly gluing bits of broken glass onto a frame.  I say broken glass, because that is exactly what they are.  Tiny little slivers of extremely sharp glass that lay in wait for me to jab myself to the extent that I have to go running to Mary for a bandaid.  And Mary is not very sympathetic to my plight.

And after I have finished bleeding for my art, I then slather the whole thing up with a liberal application of grout.  For this piece, I decided to go with a nice sandstone grout.

And he final result is "Buzz Bee".  Say hello to the nice people Buzz Bee!

Check out some of my other mosaic art pieces in my Gallery.

Mister Ribbit

Happy Labor Day everyone!   What did you do on your Labor Day Weekend?  In addition to a High School Football game on Friday Night, "Go Jets!"  And a College Football game on Saturday Night, "Roll Tide!" And some BBQ, etc.  I managed to work in a little time to finish up a new mosaic piece.

This one is titled "Mister Ribbit".  You know... because that's the sound that frogs make.

As always, I was just doodling on a piece of paper.  Probably during a very important meeting at work, but you'll never get me to admit that in a court of law.  Anyways, Mister Ribbit appeared on my paper.

And I thought to myself, "Self, if you were a frog, would you rather be sitting in this meeting or would you rather be out swimming in a lily pond?"  

So, after I sketched Mister Ribbit, I transferred the design to my already prepared frame and began gluing on the pieces.

Once I completed the gluing, then it was time to do the grout work.  I selected a nice dark grout for this piece.

And this to me is the scariest part of doing mosaic art.  After many hours of cutting and gluing hundreds of little pieces of glass, you slather the entire thing up with a bunch of opaque goop.  And you start wondering if your artwork will re-appear and what it might look like.  

 But alas, your worries are for not.  A little clean up work and here is your finished piece.  Ready to hang on the wall.

Mister Ribbit Complete

Check out some of my other mosaic art pieces in my Gallery.

Snow Mountain

I think I have a tree theme going now.  I did palm trees with "Some Beach".  And then I did a spooky bare tree with "Moon Tree".  Now I am doing some evergreen trees with "Snow Mountain".  I didn't really plan it that way, but that's just the way it works out sometimes.  So, you know the drill by now.

First I did a doodle.

Then a more detailed sketch

Then some gluing.

and some grout.

And the finished product.  And there you have snow mountain.

Snow Mountain Complete

Check out some of my other mosaic art pieces in my Gallery.

Moon Tree

So, unlike my last 2' x 5' monstrosity, I decided to do a decidedly smaller mosaic as I explore this medium. This project is only 1' x 1'.  I figure that if I do some smaller projects, I can explore some different techniques and textures without being committed to a month's worth of effort.

Step 1 starts with a doodle.  I do lots of doodles before something speaks to me.  

Step 2 is a grid drawing that refines the colors and overlays the drawing on a grid

Step 3 is to build the mosaic backing.  I'm not doing anything too fancy.  1' x 1' piece of 1/4 inch plywood.  2" x 2" lumber with a slot down the middle and then cut to 45 degree angles.  and the whole thing glued and sanded.  I usually make a few of these frames at a time.

Step 4 is to trace the drawing onto the backing board.

Step 5 is to start gluing on the tiles.  This piece had a lot more cut pieces than my last project.

Step 6 is to apply the grout.  I went with a much darker grout for this piece.

Step 7 is to finish and clean

And there you have the "Moon Tree"

Check out some of my other mosaic art pieces in my Gallery.

Welcome

Welcome to Jack Mast Mosaics.  I started creating some mosaics earlier this year and decided to create this blog as a place to showcase my creations. If you like my handiwork, please leave me a note.

I got started doing this because I was partially laid off at work and had a little extra time on my hands for the first time in a long long time.  Having extra time was great for a day or two.  But after I had completed all of my job jar projects and reading the books I had been planning to read for a long time, I decided I need something else to fill my time.  I decided to make some art.  But what kind of art.  I've always enjoyed woodworking, but I just wasn't feeling it.  I decided to make some glass tile mosaics.  My first piece was rather ambitious.  It is 5 feet by 2 feet and contains about 5000 glass tiles.  I always say that if you are going to jump in, jump in with both feet.

My first task was to sketch out my project on paper.

Sketch

Starting layout

After building the frame, I copied the sketch onto the backing board and began laying out the pieces.

After gluing on all of the 5000 or so glass tiles, I applied the grout.

Final product

Final Product with the artist.

And here is the final product.  So, if I was starting this new adventure all over again, would I do anything differently?  You betcha!  First, I would have started with something a lot smaller.  I made a few mistakes along the way, but it was a good learning project.  I'll be doing a few more of these mosaics and I hope to continue to improve my technique as I go.  So, stop by occasionally and see what I am up to.  

Check out some of my other mosaic art pieces in my Gallery.