Copper I is the first mosaic in my series based on the allure of oxidized copper. This fourth time-lapse video with audio commentary is the fifth video in the series of six videos and completes the mosaic journey. The sixth video is a time-lapse of the entire mosaic process.
Video transcript for deaf or hard of hearing:
Hi Mosaic Lovers! We left off last time with most of the transition from dark brown to cream complete. It was just the final toffee layer to place before starting on the beautiful, iridescent stained glass background. I took my time with this layer because the shape was really important to the overall look of the piece and I don’t want to place the toffee colored tile in a way where I end up having trouble placing the stained glass.
I want to show you how I go about cutting the stained glass for the background. I want large geometric chunks, so I scored it with a glass cutter to get the edges nice and crisp. It takes considerably longer to get straight lines with mosaic wheels and they’re never quite as clean, especially with a glass that has an iridescent coat like this one. Stained glass always tends to chip, but especially that iridescent layer.
For this section I’m using vellum to trace the shape I want, then cutting it out and using a Sharpie to trace the shape onto the glass. The Sharpie marks will come off during grouting, but I still use a color just slightly darker than the glass. If I use black, it could show permanently if it gets in any crevices and could even discolor the iridescent glaze.
When applying the adhesive, I spread it evenly over the entire back surface of the glass. This forms a seal so that the grout can’t seep underneath the glass and appear as a discolored shadow in the completed mosaic. Most stained glass is more translucent than it appears at first, so this is essential, especially if you’re using grout that is either dark or bright. I also wipe up any excess adhesive with sculpting tools so that it doesn’t smoosh up into the grout joints when I place the next piece of glass.
I’m planning on using several shades of grout with this mosaic. I got Mapei Flexcolor 3D grout in copper for the beige and copper parts. This is a metallic, sort of iridescent grout. If I knew I was going to use this grout before I started the background, I would have spaced the stained glass further apart so that the grout was part of the design and had a few millimeters to shine.
The first thing I’m going to do is grout the blue and green parts off-white. The final color in this section will be black, but this will prevent the black grout from seeping down into the grout joints and darkening the appearance of the glass. We want the blues and greens to be sparkly and bright
Next I’m going to grout the edges beige. My sister suggested putting this mosaic in a copper frame, which is a wonderful idea. The frame could be very expensive, so I’ll wait to see if someone wants a copper frame if they buy it. Until then, I need to cover up the plywood edges with a neutral color.
Here comes the metallic grout! This is the first time I’ve used it and it is so hard to clean up. As I grout I’m coming up with a system that seems to be working. I’m working in small patches using a sponge and water, and then a polishing towel that cleans up the surface. In some places I’m also using a toothbrush, a pottery needle, and a cut off paintbrush to clean it up properly.
This grout goes from feeling like a sticky sugar facial mask to crunchy dried out brown sugar in seconds. It also leaves behind a layer of plastic-like film all over the glass that has to be cleaned up for the glass to shine. Hopefully it will be worth it in the end!
We have two more colors of grout left. Next I’m going to do the black grout in the center. I’m masking off the background because I don’t want the black grout to stain the copper grout. I’m using paper to mask off the part that is copper, but using painters tape on the section in-between that will get another color. This way I don’t have to re-mask between grout colors.
I’m being really careful to remove excess grout around the beads so they shine as much as possible. I am giving everything a good wipe down with a damp sponge so the black won’t get all over the place when I remove the painter’s tape
Now I’m removing the painter’s tape from the midsection. The grout here will be the metallic grout, but I’m adding some pigment this time; brick red and a touch of black. I already forgot how hard this grout is to work with.
I’m loving the way this grout looks with the pigment. Honestly I kind of expected the copper grout to look this color, or maybe more brown out of the bucket, but since I can add pigment to make it darker, it is probably more useful being lighter.
Ok, time to unmask and give the mosaic its final cleaning. I know it isn’t easy to see in the video, but I’m really happy with the results of the metallic grout.
This mosaic overall took somewhere between 150-160 hours. I am so glad I decided to do all the different colors of grout. It was definitely worth the extra time and trouble in the end. Thank you for watching and following along with me on this copper mosaic journey.