Mosaics for the Home and Garden

Another excellent book from Mosaic Workshop, this time on mosaics for outside the home. The 26 projects include patio tables, garden paths, water features, wall mosaics, outdoor sculptures, and mosaics for conservatories and porches.

The authors are very colour conscious; the Patio Table, for example, is made of monochrome and gold tesserae so as not to clash with the surrounding flowers. And they stress the importance of getting the right grout colour for a given mosaic.

Similarly they are keen on the use of contrasting textures, often using mixtures of stone and smalti and vitreous by way of ringing the changes. Careful design ensures that the mosaics relate to the context, which might be, say, an old brick wall behind a fountain mosaic.

As always the authors are particularly good on the technical side, recommending for example that porous stone tesserae be sealed before use, and advising the reader how to cope with materials that expand at different rates.

Highly recommended for the beginner and the experienced mosaicist.

Price: £19.99