Serving Up My OOAK Mosaic Tray

Today I’m sharing my new, one of a kind (OOAK) mosaic serving tray.  This tray has been in the works for several months.  It was one of those projects that kept being put on the back burner when I got distracted by something else.  So I’m really pleased to have it finished.  I think it was worth the wait, too.  Here it is—my new OOAK mosaic serving tray.

When I set out to design the tray, there were several elements I wanted to incorporate including a playful tic-tac-toe grid and a charming fern motif.  Ferns, as I learned when attending a class called Ferns and Fern Allies at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens are actually quite fascinating.  See my post, Southern Ladies, Christmas Stockings and Hairy Armpits, to learn why.

I also wanted to try laying the background in a traditional tile pattern.  I learned some key points about laying tesserae (ie the small pieces used in mosaic work) in the course of researching classic mosaics (see my post Learning from the Ancient Masters).  In her book, Mosaic Traditions and Techniques, author Sonia King provides the following explanation: “Mosaic is all about flow and pattern. … There are two aspects to how tesserae are laid: andamento and opus.  Andamento is Italian for trend or course.  How one ‘courses’ the tesserae can determine the rhythm and flow of a piece. Varying the widths of the rows and the spacing between create a sense of movement  … the pattern… is determined by the opus.  Opus is the Latin work for a creative work, meaning the way in which a mosaic is worked.”  King then goes on to explain the most common ways of working a mosaic which I’ve recreated for you here.  They are: 1 Opus palladianum, 2 Opus vermiculatum, 3 Opus circumactum, 4 Opus regulatum and 5 Opus tessellatum.

I used two of these patterns on the mirror frames I made for our master bathroom.  This photo shows the opus regulatum along the border and opus palladianum in the “bubbles corner”. You can read more about these mirrors in my post Pair of Mosaic Mirrors Completed.

My post Gaudí’s Trencadis Mosaics is packed with examples of opus palladianum which is also referred to as “crazy paving”.

Most of the patterns repeat so it’s not difficult to imagine the same design filling a larger space.  But that’s not the case with Opus vermiculatum which King describes as “laying tesserae in a worm-like, winding manner”.  The actual pattern created with this winding manner can vary greatly.  For instance, Opus vermiculatum can be used to depict the irregular lines of hair, a halo effect around another design element or, as is the case in my serving tray, a winding pattern like a spiral.

Another concept I learned from King’s book is the role of positive and negative space in mosaics.  King explains “The tesserae are positive and the spaces in between are the negatives. … You should keep in mind that in many ways the grout lines and spaces are just as important.”  With careful planning, the grout lines of the negative space can be used to enhance the design.  I decided to try using negative space in my design by leaving the frond stalk to be filled with grout.
After settling on the design, I realized I’d need small tesserae to lay out this design on my tray.  To date, most of my mosaic projects have been made with ¾” x ¾” vitreous glass tiles but this project uses 8mm (5/16”) square recycled glass tiles from Elementile.  I chose tiles in Eggshell White, Iridescent Spring Pea Green Tint 1 and Iridescent Eggshell White (see More Info below).  The fern frond is cut from a sheet of stained glass in medium yellow-green with white opal highlights from Hobby Lobby.

The 8mm tiles did make it easier to create the details of this pattern.  But working with such small tesserae presented a few new challenges such as the need to use tweezers to place the pieces.

The fern frond was challenging as well due to the small pieces.  Typically, when glass is cut into shapes like these, the edges are ragged and it’s necessary to grind them smooth.

This was especially true for the tiny curved pieces at the tip of the frond.  It’s not possible, however, to hold such tiny pieces on the grinder.  I figured out the best way around this problem was to leave a long “tail” at the end of each piece.  This provided me with a handle of sorts to use while grinding.  After the piece was nicely finished, I was able to nip off the tail with a simple, straight cut.

Another lesson learned on this project was the importance of “keystoning”.  This technique is relevant to the center of the spiral where the inside curve forces a tight fit.   In my first attempt, I used half pieces of tiles to fill this center spot but the result wasn’t great.

So I decided to try cutting tiles into a keystone shape instead.  This involved nipping off two adjacent corners from the tiles. The keystone shape fits together nicely and resulted in a much better layout.

Adhering the pieces to the tray also involved some trial and error.  I like to use a self-adhesive fiberglass mesh such as QuikStik Mosaic Mesh™ (see More Info below).  The mesh, which I raved about in my post about the mosaic mirror frames, is a great time saver because it eliminates entire steps in laying out the tesserae.  This was an important consideration for this tray because of the high number of tesserae involved.  I didn’t count the actual number of pieces, but according to the Mosaic Art Supplies’ Tile Calculator (see More Info below) which I used to calculate my requirements, this 17 ½ “ x 11” tray needed around 1600 8mm tiles. That’s a lot of tiles to place in their specific positions!

After the tesserae were all placed on the mesh, it was time to permanently adhere the tesserae to the tray using thinset mortar.  This was the tricky bit.  I put down a thin layer of thinset and carefully placed the mesh and tiles on top.  I’d read that you should press a flat 4”x 4” tile onto the surface to ensure it is level and smooth.  This was a great tip and worked very well.

Pressing down with the flat tile also forced the thinset mortar up through the mesh.  This is exactly what was needed. But it required that the layer of thinset mortar be a consistent depth.  I had simply eyeballed the thinset mortar to get it level and smooth but, as it turns out, that wasn’t good enough.  After pressing down with the tile, some tesserae made good contact with the thinset and were properly seated.  But other tesserae were still sitting on top of the mesh and didn’t even touch the thinset.

Good contact with the thinset mortar is needed to ensure tesserae don’t come off the tray.  I corrected the situation by letting the thinset dry and then testing every single tesserae individually.  Any that were not securely adhered in the thinset, I glued into place with clear silicone. This was a rather tedious, but necessary, extra step.  In hindsight, I wish I had taken the time to ensure the thinset mortar layer was the same depth across the entire surface.  Next time I’ll use a simple toothpick for this check.  I’ll determine the desired depth and then mark it on a toothpick.  By inserting the toothpick at various positions across the surface, I will be able to measure the thinset layer to ensure it is the desired depth everywhere.  Then I can make any necessary adjustments before moving on.
The next steps were to apply the grout and the sealer.  I was eager to see how depicting the frond stalk with the negative space of the grout line would turn out.   It looks even better than I hoped.

My plan is to use this new serving tray on our porch.  It will be handy for carrying morning coffee, lunch or evening drinks from the kitchen.

More Info

The tray used in this project was a thrift store find.  It is 17 ½” x 11” and made of plastic.  I covered the original fake wood finish with green spray paint.
The 8mm Recycled Glass Mosaic Tile by Elementile were purchased from Mosaic Art Supply.  I’d highly recommend Mosaic Art Supply as an online source of supplies and helpful reference material.  I’ve always had a good experience purchasing from them plus their online reference info found under Learn to Mosaic is clear, practical and reliable.   I often use their Mosaic Tile Calculator.
The self-adhesive fiberglass mesh I used is QuikStik Mosaic Mesh™ from Skeew.   There’s also a wealth of helpful information about making mosaics which you can access on the Skeew website under How To > Make Mosaics > Articles.
Several previous posts from the FanningSparks blog were mentioned in this post including:
. Southern Ladies, Christmas Stockings and Hairy Armpits
. Learning from the Ancient Masters
. Pair of Mosaic Mirrors Completed
. Gaudí’s Trencadis Mosaics.
You might also enjoy the post DIY Turkish Mosaic Candle Holder Tutorial which includes a full tutorial, with detailed step by step instructions, for a great beginner mosaic project.
If all that isn’t enough to spark an idea, check out my latest Pinterest board Mosaic Artwork – FanningSparks Favs.  It’s packed with mosaic inspiration.

Today’s Takeaways

1. Consider challenging yourself to try new techniques and approaches in your chosen art form.
2. Take note of what went well and what could be improved when completing an art, craft or design project.
3. Seek out and study the work of others for inspiration.