Ceramics and Pottery Arts and Resources

 

Mosaic garden pots – Obbligato Decor

Mosaic art could be regarded  as the original display of pixel like imagery and it was really prophetic for what was to come in the digital age of image creation. The innate texture in mosaic art added to its dimensionality and despite its painstaking application, it has been  favoured in the creation of some truly amazing works of art.

Evidence of the first glazed tiles date back to 1500 BC from excavations at Susa and Chogha Zanbil in Iran. Around 400BC the Greeks elevated Mosaic’s to an art form when they began using small manufactured pieces made from marble, glass, terracotta and stone (“tesserae” ) that could be manipulated into artworks. Many of the dwellings of the rich at this time displayed mosaic floors of elaborate designs. During the next century Greek mosaicists became more ambitious and used more colours and detail.

 

Roman Mosaic at the Jewry Wall Museum

The Romans carried mosaic  art further afield and soon, throughout the empire, rich villas with  impressive mosaic floors were created. Typically,  mosaic scenes depicted Roman subjects celebrating their gods along with  domestic themes, animals and geometric designs.  The expansion of the art-form occurred with  the use of it by Christians to decorate the walls of churches rather than the floor.

Fragment of a floor mosaic with a personification of Ktisis- ggnyc,flickr

From the 5th century onwards, with the rise of the Byzantine Empire , the art form took on new characteristics. These included the introduction of Eastern influences in style and the use of special glass tesserae called smalti, which were manufactured in northern Italy. These were made from thick sheets of coloured glass. Smalti have a rough surface and contain tiny air bubbles. They are sometimes backed with reflective silver or gold leaf.

This lead to further expansion into the Moorish art of  Spain  and into the Muslim world around the Eighth Century. From the Great Mosque at Cordoba to the Basilica of Saint Mark in  Venice to Westminster Cathedral,  mosaic art proliferated.

The above two  mosaic’s are from St. Pauls Cathedral, London

 

 

” ‘Wat Ratchabopit”’ Bangkok, Thailand

 

 

Byzantine mosaic crown, Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem

 

Mandala Mosaic Bowl – Bricolore

 

 

Contemporary design from mosaicworks

 

 

Mosaic Bowl – cindylaneville.com

 

 

Mosaic ceiling at the Royal Ontario Museum

 

 

“Two Fish One Heart‘”  Wall Decor- Red Crow Arts

 

 

Mermaid Sirene – Tiffany glass mosaïc  by Anne Bedel.

2008

Kimberly Schonfeld sculptural mosaic

 

 

Mosaic Bowl – Cindy Laneville

Cindylaneville .com

 

 

‘Eagle in flight’ – Victor Nunnally

 

 

Mosaic Bowl – Haima Design

 

 

Mosaic Clad Planter – Obbligato Decor

 

 

Victor Nunnally Mosaic-stained glass mosaic table top: ‘Table Of Prosperity’

 

 

” Sunny Day ” Mosaic Bowl-thecuriousgecko

 

 

Mosaic adaption of  Gustav Klimt’s les amies

 

 

‘Nightwatch’-Mosaic Eggshell mosaic art – Linda Biggers

 

 

‘Serenade’ – Irinia Charny

 

 

Mayakovskaya Station, Moscow, Ceiling Mosaic – Deineka

 

 

St. Mark’s Basilica Mosaic Facade

 

 

 

Garden Meditation Mosaic Bench

Altered Universe-contemporary mosaic by Lois McKay

 

 

Abstract Vase – Irinia Charny

 

 

This stairway of 163 steps is located in San Francisco, at Moraga St. and 16th Avenue. Artists Aileen Barr and Colette Crutcher.

 

 

Ceramic Mosaic Garden Ball Lizard

 

 

Vintage French Mosaic Vase

See more at French Art Pottery

 

 

Mosaic table and lamp, Marrakesh

 

 

Blus Bird – Tvoryuki Mosaic

 

 

Impressive mosaic mandala

 

 

Olicana Mosaics

 

 

Chelsea Flower Show  -Victorian Aviary Garden

‘Seascape Mosaic’ by George Fishman

 

 

Modern Mosaic Art – Jordi Labanda for SICIS

 

 

 

Female Red Cello Player mosiac – Irinia Charny

 

 

 

Mosaic of the Battle of Issus from the House of the Faun in Pompeii 1st century

 

 

 

‘Mother and Chid’ (The Three Ages of Woman 1905) by Emerald Dragon (Kathleen), via Flickr

 

 

 

Carole Choucair Oueijan

 

 

 

Mosaic picture ‘Burning Autumn’

artmonument.ru

 

 

 

Mosaic of a barn owl – Nancy Bunker

Redford Glass Studio

 

 

Christine Brallier

 

 

 

Public botanical mosaic – Dupont Station, Toronto

James Sutherland designed the mosaics, entitled  – ‘Spadina Summer Under All Seasons’

 

 

Pink lotus eggshell mosaic – Lubets

 

 

Under water mermaid and fish mosaic panel – Sue Thompson

 

 

Zentangle  Rikke Poulson

 

 

Universal Law mosaic – Brett Campbell

 

 

See another veniceclayartists article on mosaics here