Glass Mosaic Tile Art: Tessera Types

Making wonderful glass mosaic tile art is easy! Let me show you how.

Tesserae are the pieces arranged and adhered to the base material to create your mosaic design. They can be of any material and shape. Don’t limit yourself to the common tessera types. Use your imagination. Try buttons and other fun or unusual material. For example, I once saw a family picture collage with a mosaic frame that included one baby tooth from each grandchild. Be creative!

"Tesserae” is the plural of tessera (Latin). In the context of mosaics, tessera means, “a cube; a piece of mosaic paving.” “Tesserae” is pronounced TESS-uh-ree, and “tessera” is pronounced TESS-er-uh.

Plan your mosaic before jumping in. Don’t go off willy-nilly getting a bunch of tessera material without considering the basics. Where will you display the mosaic (e.g., indoors or outdoors, which will determine if you need weatherproof tesserae)? Are you making wall art or a stepping stone (which will determine if you can use sharp or pointy tesserae)? Think about how much tessera material you need to complete the job. Plan your work. Know what you need before buying, collecting, or making your material.

The various types of vitreous glass, stained glass, and smalti are probably the most common tessera materials, especially for mosaic wall art. However, artists have managed to create beautiful mosaic works using just about anything. The following list should give you ideas on what you can use to create your mosaic masterpieces. Have fun and let your imagination run wild. Here are some tessera materials to consider using for your next project: millefiori, ceramic tile (use intact or broken pieces), crockery (use broken pieces), marbles and glass gems, buttons, shells (intact or broken pieces), keys, beads, coins, stones and pebbles, plastic doodads, metal shapes, costume jewelry, and hardware (screws, nails, nuts, bolts).

Some of these materials may seem odd, but you never know what a creative artist can do with them. For example, I suspect that someone somewhere can turn a pile of rusty nails into a beautiful mosaic that would be a great gift for a building contractor. Don’t let anything inhibit your imagination. Nothing is too crazy. Sometimes the best ideas are the craziest.

Remember, making mosaic art is easy. You can do it. Yes, you can!

Wholesale Stained Glass Supplies

If you are at all interested in stained glass and are using a lot of stained glass materials, you could cut costs significantly by procuring your supplies from the wholesale markets. Even if you are not a professional, you could still look at this market for supplies that might be available at a lower price. However, there are a number of difficulties in that case. Wholesale markets may not be available locally, and you will have to add costs for transportation, which for small lots may not work out economically. You may also have to have a good knowledge of the various options available to order remotely.

A number of websites offer links to wholesalers in stained glass supplies. The Yahoo directory for Business and Economics is one good source that gives a few wholesale and mail order suppliers of stained glass materials. Major suppliers have also registered with popular search engines, where you can get information about wholesale supplies. The Internet also has a number of generic wholesale directories that can be accessed at no cost. You can look for stained glass supplies in these directories also.

Trade and crafts associations like the International Guild of Glass Artists (IGGA) also provide specialized services and discounts to their members. If you are getting seriously interested stained glass, it might not be a bad idea to enroll with one of these. You can get not only supply information and discounted prices, but also other services and advice that can help you in this field.

Stained Glass Supplies provides detailed information on Stained Glass Supplies, Wholesale Stained Glass Supplies, Faux Stained Glass, Stained Glass Tools and more. Stained Glass Supplies is affiliated with Stained Glass Patterns.

Is Easy Tio Buy Stained Glass Supplies

If you have a retail stained glass supplies shop, you probably already have a wholesale account set up with a supplier like Ed Hoy’s or Delphi Glass, but what if you don’t have stained glass supplies shop and you are a stained glass hobbyist? There are several places you can go to buy stained glass supplies.

You can establish a retail account with some of the same stained glass supplies companies with which retail stores set up their wholesale accounts.

Most require credit cards to pay for your purchases if you order by phone from their stained glass supplies catalogs. Some allow you to pay by check, but wait until the check has cleared before they ship your stained glass order.

Magazines provides different advertisements for stained glass supplies

Stained glass magazines are full of advertisements for stained glass supplies and you can search on-line. The magazine advertisements and articles also show pictures of some of the stained glass supplies available so you get an idea of what the different types of glass look like.

The stained glass supplies catalogs have color pictures of all the glass and colors they offer. The only problem is that you can’t get a true feel of the glass and see exactly how it looks with natural light going through it.

If you can visit a stained glass warehouse, you will be able to see for yourself the many colors and textures of stained glass. This will help you so you know in the future what you are ordering.

Be sure to call the stained glass wholesale warehouse or store before you travel there to be sure that they are open.

Some wholesale stores only allow people with wholesale accounts in their warehouses by appointment; some have certain days when retail buyers are allowed.

There are many types, textures and colors of stained glass from which to choose. Sample boxes from different stained glass manufacturers can be purchased, but are very expensive and not practical for a hobbyist.

You can create your own sample box by cutting squares or rectangles of about 1″ x 2″ of the glass that you do purchase along the way. Label them with the manufacturer’s name, the color, and the universal order number which stands for the name, color and texture.

When you order stained glass by phone or by mail order, the glass can be sent to you in 12″ x 12″ sheets or up to 1/2 sheets. Most full-sized stained glass sheets are 24″ x 48″ and do not ship well, so they have to be sent by freight truck, which is quite expensive.

If you order over $1,000 worth of full-size stained glass sheets for your retail store, you can offset the cost of freight through your retail pricing. If you are a hobbyist, it isn’t practical.

You can purchase most of the stained glass you need through a local retail stained glass supplies shop. Some will special order glass for you, but don’t be surprised if a small shop owner cannot accommodate you by special ordering a piece of stained glass.

Wholesalers require them to meet minimum dollar amounts and the small stained glass supplies shop or studio owner probably will not be able to meet that minimum based on your needs, alone.

Stained glass supplies shops with a larger client base will place stained glass orders more frequently. You might have to wait until the shop has a large enough stained glass purchase order.

Stained glass varies in texture and color. Your supplier may not be able to match additional stained glass sheets; so, purchase all the stained glass for your project at the same time.

Shopping For Stained Glass Supplies

Stained glass supplies are easy to find for the novice. Local craft and hobby stores have aisles dedicated to this unique art. However, if one is a serious artist, then they may have difficultly finding the right supplies they need in order to create their masterpieces. One of the best places to purchase supplies is on the internet. If one knows where to go, then one can find whatever they need for their stained glass art project.

One of the best websites is www.warner-criv.com. This site is unique in the fact that someone can purchase instructional DVDs in order to learn how to make stained glass mosaic creations from scratch. This is perfect for those who are novices to stained glass art, but want to learn. This site is also great because one can purchase a variety of supplies. Included are those to make stained glass beads, which can be later be fashioned into unique jewelry creations.

Another great website for finding the prefect stained glass supplies is www.allstainedglass.com. Here one can find everything. But first, one will need an open area with a large work surface. Since you will be grinding your cut glass pieces, shards of glass will fall to the floor. This is not something to undertake in a space where little ones are underfoot. You will also need stained glass patterns, copper foil - which is used for the Tiffany style of stained glass making, or you will need leaded strips. A glass grinder will also be required to perfect each piece of glass, eye protective wear, a diamond tipped glass cutter, flux and much, much more. This site is wonderful for both the novice and the advanced artist. One can find books and starter kits to help them get started, and on the same site, one can purchase the Scoreboard, which is a unique cutting tool specifically designed to make interesting shapes.

Stained glass supplies are abundant on the internet. However, if one knows where to look, then they can find all they are searching for with just a few clicks. For those who are wanting to create breathtaking masterpieces, the supplies are limitless. No matter whether one is a novice or an advanced artist, the internet can help one to find the glass tools needed to create an awe inspiring work of art!

By Crafts Editor