Jackson Free Press

The Mosaic Shop (1625 E. County Line Road, Suite 210, 601-397-6579) helps artists of all skill levels and ages create their own unique work of art. With the help of the shop's artists, people can tap into their creativity and get lost in a craft.

What You'll Need

Mold for the piece

Colored glass

Glass cutter

Directions

Pick a mold

The Mosaic Shop offers an entire wall of wooden shapes to use for your mosaic, or you can bring in something of your own to transform into a piece of art.

Collect tools and find glass pieces

You'll likely need a glass cutter to get the shapes of glass that you want, but each workspace at The Mosaic Shop is covered in glass pieces already cut and ready to use—just find the colors and shapes that work best for your mold. If you can't find what you're looking for, you can choose large glass pieces in different colors from buckets along the wall, or just ask one of the artists who work there.

Plan your art

Before gluing, try placing the glass onto your mold to see how your pieces will fit together. This way, you'll know if you need to cut the glass into a particular shape.

Cut glass

Use the glass cutter like a writing utensil—push down hard and draw the shape you want. The tool will cut the glass on the surface. Then, use the plier tool to break along the cut you made. You can also use the other, scissor-like glass cutter for a more imprecise cut for your piece.

Glue glass down

Once you know the design you want, start gluing the pieces to your mold. Try to fit the pieces very close together with very little space between. Grout will fill the cracks.

Grout

Your piece must dry overnight, but the artists at The Mosaic Shop will grout it for you—in your color of choice—to pick back up later. If you can't come back right away, they will provide you with grout to take and instruct you on grouting the piece yourself.