Back in January 2020, Tighe and I felt compelled to make some artwork for our outdoor space. We had a bunch of scrap boards and an idea: mosaics! I had made a few small items for my family over the holidays back in 2007, and I always wanted to make some more.
We high-tailed it to our local center for creative reuse and waltzed out with loads of tile of varying colors, patterns, and thicknesses. After a stop at the hardware store for glue (so much glue), grout, and an extra set of tile nips, we were set.
Little did we know, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic would leave us spending most of our time indoors. Thankfully, we had plenty of supplies and a couple of large-format projects to begin with: we each took on a 12 square-foot chunk of backing and got started.
Working for a few hours for a few nights each week, it went slow. Especially once the weather turned. Even so, we carried on, and finished just in time to spruce up the patios for the summer of 2020.
We had plenty of tile leftover, so I ventured onto some smaller projects as gifts for friends throughout 2021.
Then in March 2022, we started something BIG… An “Endless Bummer” vignette on the back of an old door.
After 15 months, we completed our masterpiece! As we hung it on our porch, I made a promise to myself: I will never make a mosaic this large ever again… or, at the very least, I’ll never make one so large with such a variation in tile thickness. That made grouting quite challenging!
