Sharon Warren Glass | Sharon Warren Glass Art | sharonwarrenglass | sharonwarrenglass.com | Sharon Warren Glass Artist | Belfast Maine | Belfast Maine Glass Art | Belfast Maine Art
MOSAIC GLASS ART
My glass mosaics are created with handmade smalti tiles from Orsoni Glass in Venice, Italy. When creating a mosaic, I begin by painting the image in watercolors to better see the shapes and colors that will steer the finished art piece.
Each smalti tile is then shaped by hand with a tradional hardie and hammer. There is a meditative quality to creating mosaics, losing myself in the placement of each tiny piece.
In my glass mosaics, I begin with a thicker 8mm glass slab of Orsoni venetian smalti that is chipped and shaped using traditional wheeled nippers, a hammer and a hardie. My work uses the direct method, adhering smalti cut side up with thinset and no grout. Placement of smalti allows for controlling each pieces’ size, flow and direction, while focusing on overall color gradient.
It is amazing that a collection of small pieces come together to form a whole that is both unique from and dependent on its parts.
