Poll: Incorporating Artistic Mosaics

[user123]

I'm am trying to judge the interest in artistic mosaics within the tiling world and would be grateful if you all could reply to this poll, thanks

[Sir Ramic]

Where is the Poll ?

[user123]

Where is the Poll ?

It was a learning curve to get it up there, Neale..

[Bri]

G I'm going to say something quite honest. I love your work (and mosaic work in general) when it is in the in the form of an object such as the piece you made for me but, as part of a bathroom or floor etc, I find mosaics a bit fussy and I'm really not a fan. As always I can see the time, effort and skill that has to go into creating these artistic features, it's just not my taste. I would happily install something if requested to but, the situation hasn't arisen yet. I probably shouldn't let personal taste sway me with regards to design but, it's difficult sometimes. Hope this has come across as intended.

[user123]

G I'm going to say something quite honest. I love your work (and mosaic work in general) when it is in the in the form of an object such as the piece you made for me but, as part of a bathroom or floor etc, I find mosaics a bit fussy and I'm really not a fan. As always I can see the time, effort and skill that has to go into creating these artistic features, it's just not my taste. I would happily install something if requested to but, the situation hasn't arisen yet. I probably shouldn't let personal taste sway me with regards to design but, it's difficult sometimes. Hope this has come across as intended.

Absolutely, that what this poll is for! I really like honest opinions, need to know what to put my efforts into, it's called market research.. thanks for replying, Bri, I appreciate it!!

[John Benton]

Hi Mosaic Girl

I've done an 8'x6' mosaic for Salvos Italian restaurant in Leeds. Although it was sheets it's not quite as time consuming, technical or skill requirement as your work, I did enjoy doing it and seeing the end result. It was taken from a photo of the mother of the 2 owners of the restaurant on a scooter in Rome in 1952. They took the photo to my supplier who in turn sent it off the supplier in Italy. It was approved and then printed on the mosaics, we worked out after trimming to fit the wall there were about 26000 tiles in the pic.

Salvos Mosaic.jpg

[user123]

Very effective, John, photographic mosaics work best in black and white, don't they.

[John Benton]

Very effective, John, photographic mosaics work best in black and white, don't they.

They do look well and the photo doesn't really do it justice. They chose the location on a wall through a doorway and you could only really see it from a distance but with the size of it you couldn't really see the whole mosaic. My supplier has one in their reception of Sean Connery as James Bond

Mural Tiles or Mosaics

[hillhead]

It's time that would be the problem in most of my work.
If i had a customer willing to pay me well to do it i'd love that but it's more price per yd2 and get in and out in good times, that is the way at the minute.
I do love mosaics though and will attempt a good one some day.

[user123]

Would those of you who said they would be happy to install artistic mosaics like to have your contact details / website links on my website?

Others passing by, please feel free to vote, it's good for me to know tilers responses. I have put up similar polls in other networking places, but you guys would be the only installers apart from me, so it's good to find out demand once people actually have it in their minds as an idea. All opinions / input welcome, it's all market research, all information that is hopefully useful to everyone involved.

[timeless john]

Artistic mosaics is the oldest and IMHO the most important use of 'tiles/tesserae' that have been incorporated into the world of design and buildings since man became civilised. Anything else has a place but are usually for practical rather than aesthetic purposes.
Nothing can create the individuality that a timeless mosaic produces and be the focus of attention for thousands of years.

[user123]

Artistic mosaics is the oldest and IMHO the most important use of 'tiles/tesserae' that have been incorporated into the world of design and buildings since man became civilised. Anything else has a place but are usually for practical rather than aesthetic purposes.
Nothing can create the individuality that a timeless mosaic produces and be the focus of attention for thousands of years.

Yes, yes and YES!! Wonderfully put, John. Mosaics can be so very varied in style, from subtle to contrasting 2 tone to the full colour palette, from start geometric to quaint and delicate, ... in years to come people will still stop and stare and try to preserve rediscovered mosaics, for the very reason that each one will be so very unique.

[John Benton]

My wife and I visited Herculaneum, the better preserved town after 79AD Vesuvius eruption, and what a fantastic experience it was. Unbelievable quality and skill from a couple of thousand years ago.

11-mosaic-in-the-public-baths-herculaneum-destroyed-roman-town-italy-5bf6bd.jpg

[user123]

My wife and I visited Herculaneum, the better preserved town after 79AD Vesuvius eruption, and what a fantastic experience it was. Unbelievable quality and skill from a couple of thousand years ago.

11-mosaic-in-the-public-baths-herculaneum-destroyed-roman-town-italy-5bf6bd.jpg

Yes, John, great you've seen it! A very famous classical piece. And the best thing, no chemicals, and it still lasted. Musivarius is the man who knows much better how ancient mosaics were made to last, but it does prove the point that it really is something that draws people to this day.

I was interrupted by a phonecall in my previous post, so can't edit, it was meant to read 'stark' geometric... It's very interesting to look at the American present day market, where mosaics are enjoying something of a revival, modernised, and are now accepted as a fine art, so I think the future for it looks good, simply because the art can go with the times.

[user123]

Anyone who has voted positively, please reread post 10 and let me know?

[MissTiler]

the more mosaics the better I say . Count me in Gisella

[Dan]

I used to install mosaic (and water-jet-cut) art in tile installations quite often. I'd even class creating your own mosaic border out of strips of mosaic and your own pencil strips above and below it (or to the left and right of it if you're doing a vertical mosaic border for the more modern types of bathrooms even) as mosaic art in some sense as it's custom, and it's certain not for the faint hearted. As easy as it sounds, it's very easy to get it wrong.

I've never done mosaic art in the sense of adding a fish out of manually cut mosaics to a wall though to be fair. So perhaps if I were still tiling I'd be showing examples of what other mosaic artists can do and then getting the customer a custom quote type thing.

Though the water jet cut stuff is good too. Done quite a bit of that. And sold loads of it before I even tiled with it. That's something that's repetitive though, you could end up with many customers having the same compass as you in their entrance hall for example, that was a really common jet-cut feature. Loads liked and bought it. All very nice houses and projects too I'm sure.

[user123]

the more mosaics the better I say . Count me in Gisella

Great, Sharon, to have you install my mosaics would be fantastic! I've had a few interesting enquiries this weekend, goes to show that things are picking up again, and to have all the potential installers' details on my website makes a lot of sense. Still need a couple of website addresses, but thank you to those who have sent me emails, brilliant. Will get round to updating the links page accordingly asap.