Bespoke mosaic doorstep for a London milliner

Below is the process in pictures of how I made Jane's mosaic doorstep.

The approved design

Starting to prepare the tiles

Always helps to have some ready!

And so to start ..

... making good progress!

The border is done.

The name and logo were tricky.

And now to the scalloped background

The snipping and sticking is finished!

Grouting and sealing are done - now ready for delivery!

 It's been a busy few months in my studio - it's great to have lots of enquiries coming in for all sort os different projects - never a dull moment!

In the autumn, Jane Taylor, a well known London milliner who makes hats for members of the royal family among many others - www.janetaylorlondon.com - got in touch about making her a bespoke mosaic doorstep for her Knightsbridge atelier.

As happens with these kind of commissions, we exchanged a number of emails about price, size and design and came to an agreement that we were both happy with.

I started making it in the new year as you can see above - below is the final mosaics installed - a doorstep and an original work of art!

It is lovely to think that (hopefully) it will be there for many years to come.

Do take a look at my website if you are interested in my original mosaic art  - www.felicityballmosaics.com

Many thanks,

Felicity

Felicity Ball mosaics - new Scottish landscape mosaics on the horizon!

 Hello blogger friends,

I am very excited to share with you the slightly new direction I am going with my original mosaic art.

Since I started making mosaics 15 years ago as a way to work from home when our children were young, I have been fortunate enough to be a busy artist - making all sorts of commissions for clients over the years, with a limited amount of time to pursue my own mosaic projects.  I have enjoyed making all the different pieces, but I would say, honestly, that larger statement mosaics, with room to be freer, are what give me the most creative buzz - see some examples below.

I now find myself at home with more time to work and have taken the decision to concentrate on larger mosaics for a while - made for inside or out and inspired by our recent walking trip around the Highlands of Scotland.  The scenery was simply stunning, with view after view that I could imagine as a mosaic. 

Along the way, I took many pictures (some are above), and on our return, narrowed it down to 8 or 10, which I will have printed out, and when, I have finished my current commission, will start to recreate in my own impressionistic mosaic style.

For me, it is a thrilling prospect, and one I am very much looking forward to. I will sahre them with you along the way, and I would appreciate you sharing them with friends or colleagues who you think might also be interested.

Keep a look out for my next post!

Many thanks,

Felicity

Creating a bespoke mosaic doorstep for a London house.

Hello mosaic friends,

I have been working hard on creating a bespoke mosaic doorstep, which I have now finished and delivered - approx 1m x 1m, 1800 individually cut pieces, 5 weeks of works and two sore hands!  Below is the story of how it all developed - 

I started with design options for my client to consider.  She had already sent me a template of the exact size of the doorstep.

I then drew the design on the cement board backing.

Then began the snipping - each piece had cut by me, and straight lines in porcelain tiles are about the hardest to do!

The edge is complete in a chess board design, accommodating the bespoke size.

Luckily the number worked from both sides!  I used a semi circular template to create the scallop design.

 And so, after many hours of snipping, here is the finished doorstep!  I am delighted with the final mosaic, and look forward to seeing photos of it when it is installed.  

Onto my next commission ... 

Thanks for all your support,

Felicity

Carry on making mosaics!

 Hello,

During the lockdowns and subsequent restrictions, I have done what I have always done, made mosaics!  I am lucky enough to have my studio at home, so have been able to get on with my work.  It has been great to have it - to be creative, grounding myself in the studio, busy with something I love doing!

I have made a lot of house numbers over the months as people have spent more time at home and decided to order one - click here to order

 

Also flowers have definitely been on the agenda, as gardens have been appreciated more, and clients have wanted favourite blooms immortalised in tiles!

I have been taking stock of all the tiles in my studio and replenishing supplies - so grateful that I can buy such a range of colours, especially in the porcelain tiles for my exterior mosaics. I get them from here - view tiles here

I have made two firsts over the past few months - a mosaic hedgehog wall hanging and a leaping frog splash back - I always like a challenge and love creating new things!

In the new year, I am looking forward to making a large seascape mosaic for a bathroom, two long flower mosaics to go on a verandah and a house name mosaic amongst other things!

As always, I love to hear from you, and if there is ever anything I can make you, or a project you would like to discuss, do get in touch - Email me here

All the best,

Felicity

Wave mosaic made from a broken plate

Hello blogger friends,

I hope you are all keeping well.
Following on from the mosaic paving stones, my next commission was an unusual one.

A client sent me a favourite plate, that, as can happen, was broken.  She wondered if I could make it into a mosaic, so all would not be lost.

As you can see, the colours and pattern of the plate pieces were lovely and were perfectly suited to a wave mosaic.  So I salvaged all that I could and trimmed them into shapes I could use.

When I had stuck on them the board using their natural wave shapes, I filled the spaces in with complementary coloured tiles and shapes.

The grouting was tricky as there were so many different thickness of the original plate pieces.  However this variety really added to the movement and atmosphere of the mosaic, so my cut fingers were definitely worth it! See below how well the grey grout brings it all together.

We then recommended that the mosaic would look even better if it was framed on a plain white board, and ... voila!

I am so glad to say my client was really pleased with the finished piece, as you can see in the review she kindly wrote for me here - https://www.yell.com/biz/felicity-ball-mosaics-bristol-8556217/

Thanks for reading, and if you have a moment, please take look around my lovely new website - www.felicityballmosaics.com

Felicity x

Lockdown mosaics

Dear Blogger Friends,

As I write this from the UK, we are entering our second week of lockdown due to the coronavirus.  Best wishes to all of you, wherever you are.

As a mosaic artist, I am lucky enough to have my studio at home, so work has not changed drastically for me.  As all this unfolded, I challenged myself to keep busy everyday.  It is great to try and be creative and productive, whatever you do.

A few days ago I finished my first project - a mosaic paving stone (one of four) to go on the patio my husband is laying around our new summerhouse, which arrived just in time.

I knew exactly the vibrant, uplifting pattern I would do, as I have made it on a number of my bistro tables before - see below.

It is such a versatile and colourful design that I knew would always bring me joy - especially, as I asked each member of my family to choose three of their favourite colours (from my selection of porcelain tiles below) and their favourite shape for me to include in the design!

The collage below shows how I have gradually made the mosaic over the past few weeks - trying to vary the position and choice of colours to give the paving stone as much zing as possible.

After the mosaic had been grouted and sealed and left over night to dry, it was time to install it in the patio - 

And there it is, hopefully for a long time to come!  I have three more mosaic paving stones of a similar design to make over the coming months, and I will ask my friends now to choose their three favourite colours to include in them. 

Many thanks for reading - it would be great if you could share it with any friends who you think might be interested.

All the best, until next time,

Felicity x

Happy new year, blogger friends!

These Kandinsky inspired mosaics are particularly versatile, as I can make any size or colour combo, for any spac.

Every year over Christmas, like most people, I take a break from my work of snipping and making mosaics, and I always wonder whether this will be the year that I don't miss it.  But as I wave my two sons off to uni, and my daughter starts the school term again, I find myself itching to get back in the studio and to start creating again!  This always comes as a relief as what I do really has to be something I WANT to do.  The odd mosaic I have made when my heart isn't in it, still remain in a box under my studio table!

A selection of my flower mosaics 

The lovely thing about the media of mosaics, is that I never know what I will be asked to make next, as it is so versatile - from floors to wall art to signs to furniture to doorsteps, for inside and out - there is never a dull moment, and I feel very grateful for that.  I like to think I can turn my hand to most things now, and I really enjoy being presented with a challenge.  Over the years I have collected all sorts of tiles - colours, textures, depths - and I really enjoy trying to use them in as many inventive ways as I can.  My snipping skills have improved over the years (with a lot of practice), and I can now create most shapes I want to, to create a specific effect or atmosphere.

My original mosaics can come in all shapes and sizes and can be used for all sorts of things!

The colour of the grout I use also makes a big difference to the overall look of the final mosaic - different shades bring out different colours.  I always do a test piece first before grouting the whole piece just to be on the safe side - it is almost impossible to ungrout a mosaic!

See how different coloured grouts bring out different coloured tiles!

So with all these options and possibilities, I look forward to the variety of mosaics I hope to create in 2020, and hopefully provide some joy with their originality and vibrancy.  I will share them with you as the year progresses, so do keep a look out for my posts.  Maybe one day, a mosaic I create for you will feature here ... www.felicityballmosaics.com

A collection of mosaic bistro table designs - practical and a work of art!

Many thanks for reading, and do get in touch if there is a mosaic you would like me to make for you.
felicityball@justmosaics.co.uk

Felicity x

Mosaic commission for OMD telephone box - part 2

Dear blogger friends,

I thought you might like to know how the mosaic floor panel for the Orchestral Manoevres in the Dark telephone box turned out.

In my last blog post here, https://justmosaics.blogspot.com/2019/05/hello-blogger-friends-sorry-not-to-have.html -  I reached telling you about the commissioning of the mosaic floor panel in the style of the 'Red Frame White Light' record cover.
So, firstly I drew the design on a 80cm x 80cm square of cement board - getting the stripes in the right place was tricky!

 But once drawn, I could get on with cutting the white stripes - hand cutting a straight line in very hard porcelain tiles is difficult, but I got there in the end.

I wanted the three colours of the mosaic panel to be at different angles to each other, so I cut the red tiles first, sticking them one way, and the slightly bigger dark grey tiles in another direction.

With all the snipping done, we grouted the mosaic in dark grey exterior grout.  This was easier than with some mosaics, as all the tiles were the same width, as they had to be flat for the floor to be level.

I sent a photo of the finished mosaic to my OMD superfan client and she loved it.

Part of the commission agreement was for us to install the mosaic in the telephone box, so, bright and early one morning, we drove to Liverpool (4 hours away) and met my client at the phone box.

We cleared the floor of any debris etc, mixed some cement, covered the floor with it and placed the mosaic floor panel on top - thankfully it was a perfect fit!

We finished off the installation by smoothing cement round the edge and wiping it clean - job done!

It would take 24 hours or so to dry so the door was locked, just to be on the safe side!
So ended a really fun and unusual commission which I loved being part of.  I hope the OMD fans like it too!

What next, I wonder?!

Thanks for reading,
Felicity