Mosaics are designs and images made of small regular or irregular pieces of stones, ceramics or glass called tesserae, held in place by an adhesive to create a decoration on a wall, floor, ceilings and precious objects. Mosaics started in Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BC where they used painted pebbles, shells and ivory to create images and patterns.
I came up with this idea after researching online. I started by collecting the materials which were; different shades of ceramic wall tiles of the same thickness, an MDF board, tile adhesive glue and white cement. The mosaic is done on a 40 by 60 cm MDF board which I sanded down to remove the factory water resistant coating. This is to make the glue stick and hold the tesserae strongly on the board. I then cleaned the board to free it from dust then carefully made my sketch on it maintain the correct proportions.
I then prepared the tesserae from the ceramic wall tiles and by using tile adhesive glue, I stuck them on the board following the sketch I created maintain small interstices in between the tesserae. After sticking completion, I left the mosaic piece to dry then brushed it to remove dirt from broken tiles. After cleaning, I made a paste from white cement mixed with black oxide. the use of black oxide is to give the white cement a matte black finish. I applied the paste on the mosaic piece to fill in the interstices using a brush then polished it using a dry cotton cloth and leaving it to dry.
After drying, I did a final polishing where I brought back the glass shiny finish of the ceramic wall tiles leaving the mosaic piece clean and shiny.
Morris Wanjau Mwingi
Am a friendly self-driven abstract nature mosaic artist based in Nairobi Kenya pursuing a Diploma in Technology in Design at the Technical University of Kenya. I am passionate in my line of work and one focus on my clients needs to meet their different desires. I love challenging myself into doing complex arts and trying new techniques. Am very careful in my work and perfection is what I love bringing out. I work from home or on site i.e. where the art work is being installed.