How I Got From There to Here! Part II- My Adventure into Glass Tiles

Once I had made the tiled table I decided to try using vitreous glass tile. All the mosaics books included tile in their work, I had to have some if I was going to be a 'proper' mosaic artist. But I couldn't find any in my local stores, so I went online and started searching! What would we do without the web?

I ordered a box of assorted color vitreous tile, plus some tile nippers and a better glue than the one I had previously used. When everything arrived I was somewhat dismayed to find the tiles adhered to brown paper in sheets! I tried just pulling the tiles off, with little success and eventually realised I had to soak them in warm water to remove the paper. I did that, then dried them all carefully, sorted them into colors, put each color into storage boxes and stowed them away in my workroom. After that I just closed the door and left! I had NO idea how to use the tile, what I was going to make with them or how to cut them into the shapes I wanted.

Eventually I went back, opened the door and started cutting the tiles into smaller pieces. I made a lot of bad mosaics with the vitreous tile. The surfaces were uneven and the shapes were not quite right but I enjoyed myself immensely and actually began to learn a lot about making mosaics. I actually produced some quite nice coasters using the tiles whole, they were quick and easy, and if they didn't soak up drips from the cup or glass, who cared? I certainly didn't! I was an artist and being creative was what it was all about!