Mosaic Patterns: Step-by-Step Techniques and Stunning Projects

by Emma Biggs, Tessa Hunkin

In their latest collaboration, the authors of Outdoor Mosaic and Mosaic Workshop explore the use of pattern in 19 beautiful mosaic projects for the home. For both novices and those more experienced.

Genres: Crafts

128 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2006

Reviews

[Ligaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing because this book could have been so much more! The projects are wide ranging and most of the finished pieces look well crafted. The materials and technique sections are rather abbreviated, though. But this book suffers from being more than 15 years old and there are so many great mosaics book out now.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is written by women who run a mosaic company, so I feel that their focus is slightly different than the casual weekend hobbyist, which is what I most definitely am! I'm looking for easy, fun ideas for little things I can do for fun, and they are looking at things from the perspective of a professional with larger-scale permanent installations in mind. So, I think that's definitely affected the reviews that they get.

I think that this book did show some very solid, effective methods for larger-scale or permanent projects. I appreciated their attention to detail and discussion of some of the less-exciting details of mosaic projects-and their focus on "indirect" mosaic, which I have found horribly confusing and difficult to implement. I think it's a hard thing to explain, and they didn't fully succeed, but with their photos I do understand it a bit better. It, again, is a technique that lends itself to formal installation as opposed to casual hobbyist. This method makes it possible to build up the bulk of a mosaic in a studio and then transfer and install it in another location-a huge plus and time saver for the professional-but not that relevant to a casual hobbyist.

Maybe I should give them three stars, as they do have me thinking in more detail about how to accomplish projects-and if I get serious enough to take on something bigger I may look to this book again. However, the book is titled "Mosaic Patterns ". Unfortunately, there were only four or five in the book, and none of them that interesting, so they re-lost a star because of it.

One thing I did like was their discussion of grout color and how it affects the look and feel of a piece. This is something that I don't think is mentioned enough, and really does make an impact on the appearance of a project. I'll be thinking about that more even on my little hobby projects.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Checked this one out from my public library for referencing in my own mosaic hobbying. There is one cool-looking project--the Broken tableware panel, and the templates for the Olive Branch Wall Border, the Stylized Tree Panel, and Spiral Table have some appeal to a beginner mosaicist like me.

[Ransufodo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful patterns!!