Ombré Mosaic Fireplace

Akron, OH | Stained glass, pebbles, vitreous glass, glass gems | 9' x 15' x 2.5’

About Ombré Mosaic Fireplace

This ombré mosaic fireplace was created for a private residence in Akron, Ohio, for a client with a deeply artistic sensibility and a clear vision for her home. She had planned color palettes that evoked the seasons in different areas of the house, and when I saw the fireplace I immediately knew it had the potential to be something ethereal. The piece covers the full front face of the fireplace and wraps coherently around both sides, the piece covers the full front face of the fireplace and continues coherently around both sides.

Designing Ombré Mosaic Fireplace

The ombré transitions through four color sections in a diagonal criss-cross pattern, moving from deep brown at the base through warm peach tones in the middle, into taupe, and finally dissolving into a creamy iridescent glass at the top. The brown grounds the piece and gives it weight, the peach evokes the warmth of fire without the harshness of orange or red, and the iridescent cream at the top creates the ethereal, almost luminous quality I had envisioned. I presented the client with a few different approaches to the ombré, including a simpler diagonal following the ceiling line, and she chose the criss-cross pattern, which I think was the right call.

The color palette required some careful negotiation between the client's original vision and what was technically achievable. Certain materials, like the thicker glass gems and tiles, simply don't come in every color, and excluding them from any section would have made the piece feel inconsistent and less magical. Working within the budget also shaped some of the glass choices. The client was wonderfully collaborative throughout, willing to discuss adjustments to color or materials when I felt strongly that a change would serve the piece better.

Creating Ombré Mosaic Fireplace

Several different materials including stained glass, vitreous glass, glass gems, and pebbles, are woven throughout the composition, with the pebbles concentrated in the darker lower sections where their weight and texture feel most at home. One of the more technically demanding aspects was keeping the transitions smooth and gradual while also keeping the criss-cross pattern legible. With so many materials of different widths and thicknesses, maintaining consistent spacing across the entire surface required constant attention.

Iridescent stained glass also presents a particular challenge: it can look completely different before it's cut and placed against neighboring glass, so color decisions had to be made carefully and sometimes revisited. Some of the more translucent glass required adhering directly with mortar rather than mesh so the backing wouldn't show through. For grouting I used four different grout colors, blending them at the transitions, which sounds complicated but came together more smoothly than expected given the variety of textures and thicknesses involved.

This is my favorite mosaic I have ever made. The way so many complicated decisions, materials, and techniques came together into something unified, flowing, and elegant is exactly what I hope for in a commission, and rarely get to this degree. Read more about the creation of this piece on my blog.