| Making wonderful glass mosaic tile art is easy! Let | | | | The various types of vitreous glass, stained glass, |
| me show you how. | | | | and smalti are probably the most common tessera |
| Tesserae are the pieces arranged and adhered to | | | | materials, especially for mosaic wall art. However, |
| the base material to create your mosaic design. | | | | artists have managed to create beautiful mosaic |
| They can be of any material and shape. Don't limit | | | | works using just about anything. The following list |
| yourself to the common tessera types. Use your | | | | should give you ideas on what you can use to create |
| imagination. Try buttons and other fun or unusual | | | | your mosaic masterpieces. Have fun and let your |
| material. For example, I once saw a family picture | | | | imagination run wild. Here are some tessera |
| collage with a mosaic frame that included one baby | | | | materials to consider using for your next project: |
| tooth from each grandchild. Be creative! | | | | millefiori, ceramic tile (use intact or broken pieces), |
| "Tesserae" is the plural of tessera (Latin). In the | | | | crockery (use broken pieces), marbles and glass |
| context of mosaics, tessera means, "a cube; a piece | | | | gems, buttons, shells (intact or broken pieces), keys, |
| of mosaic paving."Â "Tesserae" is pronounced | | | | beads, coins, stones and pebbles, plastic doodads, |
| TESS-uh-ree, and "tessera" is pronounced TESS-er-uh. | | | | metal shapes, costume jewelry, and hardware |
| Plan your mosaic before jumping in. Don't go off | | | | (screws, nails, nuts, bolts). |
| willy-nilly getting a bunch of tessera material without | | | | Some of these materials may seem odd, but you |
| considering the basics. Where will you display the | | | | never know what a creative artist can do with |
| mosaic (e.g., indoors or outdoors, which will determine | | | | them. For example, I suspect that someone |
| if you need weatherproof tesserae)? Are you | | | | somewhere can turn a pile of rusty nails into a |
| making wall art or a stepping stone (which will | | | | beautiful mosaic that would be a great gift for a |
| determine if you can use sharp or pointy | | | | building contractor. Don't let anything inhibit your |
| tesserae)? Think about how much tessera | | | | imagination. Nothing is too crazy. Sometimes |
| material you need to complete the job. Plan your | | | | the best ideas are the craziest. |
| work. Know what you need before buying, | | | | Remember, making mosaic art is easy. You can do |
| collecting, or making your material. | | | | it. Yes, you can! |