Category: Mosaic flower pots

New mosaic pot – “ice tea”

New mosaic pot – “ice tea”, the only pot i have named, and this is because of the square glass cubes which my daughter found in a thrift store and sent home with me (LOL). They were just over a square inch in two dimensions, and in the third dimension, probably just under an inch. They turned out to be reasonably difficult to grout around.

As usual, all tesserae are from the scrap bin, or thrift store or building value store for reuse of left over building parts. It weighs a hefty 30 lbs… LOL.

Wood mosaic kitchen counter top.

Wood mosaic kitchen counter top.  About 6 years ago i asked a woodworking shop here in Cincinnati to cut me some wood….

the criteria were as follows:  1) that it must be half inch thick, and 2) that it be from the scraps of wood that most individuals find unusable.  That is, i wanted the wood to have worm holes, bore holes, little bits of knotting, spalting, and be unusual in all kinds of ways, even missing a corner here or there or having some bark left on it, 3) each piece needed to be an whole number, no fractions, or mm, in width and height. The blocks cut could be 1×1, 1×2, 1×3, 1×4 for instance, and or, 2×2, 2×3, 2×4 etc, 3×3, 3×4, etc up to about 6 inches in width and length.  4) number of iterations did not matter 5, every kind of wood (not composited (with the exception of bamboo wood which i did use).

 

The person who created the underneath framework, also made the border for the sink and back out of redwood.

So this many years later it has held up pretty well. I know i sanded each block to soften the corners, i remember using weldbond glue, II i think, I did space in some ceramic, glass, porcelain tiles where assembling the counter was needing some flexibility.  I know i gave the finished counter top 6 coats of urethane before using.   So while it was a lot of work, it was not that costly… and i enjoy the wood surface every day.  I needs a sanding and a new coat of urethane…I cannot remember if i covered the grout with urethane. I do remember using expensive grout, not cheap stuff.

The grout gets a little dirty and there are places where there are cracks but i have just added grouts to those areas.

Couple of trash tile-clay pots there also.

Mosaic – large strawberry pot

Mosaic – large strawberry pot, all tesserae are from the “trash, or second hand store, or Building Value store here in Cincinnati, where people send things for a “second life”.  Pot is a rescue as well.  I did have to buy new grout…. so that is the only expense.

This is not my favorite pot, I would have liked it better if i had added a row of white, maybe square, tiles somewhere in the middle or upper part of the pot. I plan to plant it with perennial ground cover that does not die back in the winter, and in the spring, sprinkle in a few reseeding impatiens seeds.

It is pretty heavy, and filled with dirt i do not believe i can lift it. LOL, so it will stay outside.

Mosaic cone, christmas tree, all scraps (including the grout)

Mosaic cone, christmas tree, all scraps (including the grout).

Cone was made with left over laminating plastic rescued from the dumpster in UC Printing services about 35 years ago,  the “air-crete” was made from outdated tile mortar and crushed styrofoam packaging (i should have crumbled it into smaller pieces), additive (the last in the container, being retrieved with what water to wash it out), and all tiles from scrap collections at Building Value, and the marbles and glass drops from St. Vincent DePaul. The grout also from Building Value was colored with very old (yes 45 years) acrylic pain globs which barely mixed in it was so dry.

Not particularly easy to make, and I have no idea why the idea popped into my head (except that I like to make mosaics, LOL), nor why I felt compelled to create a test run, but when I posted this I saw that hundreds of other mosaic enthusiasts had made something like this.

It was still pretty heavy, even as “air-crete” but at least I was able to lift it to the front porch to put it beside other salvaged christmas trees… LOL

In the future, i would have grouted it with something dark green or brown. I guess if i had the energy i could paint the grout.

3 more small mosaic flower pots

3 more small mosaic flower pots, nothing new used on these,  left over thinset, left over grout, all tiles and glass from thrift stores or building value store in cincinnat. Fun, and since i have lots and lots of spider plant sprouts, and lots and lots of mother-in-law’s tongue. These particular plants do pretty well in smaller pots.

3 Small mosaic flower pots

3 Small mosaic flower pots, mostly recycled pots (a couple new) and all reclaimed and recycled tesserae, and on the edge thinset mortar, and left over grout from floors.  I dont spend much time on these, but used them to just “smooth out” the roughness of daily life, putting pieces together in a very “quick and impulsive” way.

They are not museum pieces, i know well, but they are gratifying, and i like the visual effect of color and design.

The last image in this column is my favorite, as the vertical lines, smooth glossy texture of the tiles is kind of “comforting”.  They come from a partial sheet of left over tiles purchased for very little $, from Building Value, in Cincinnati.  My go-to for scrap tile used to be Mees Bro, but they stopped putting their scraps out for mosaic artists…. dont know why?