Selep Imaging Blog: August 2024

Saturday, August 31, 2024

Whimsical Mosaic Bench

Image 1: Detail of Mosaic Bench

I found a whimsical cat bench at a rummage sale several years ago. The quirky cat legs made the bench unique, and I snapped it up as a base for a quick mosaic project.

Image 2: Whimsical Mosaic Cat Bench

The bench was some kind of composite material, making it light in weight, a big bonus for me.

Image 3: Mosaic Bench Top

When starting to mosaic the top, I wanted to create a distinct border, so I used the red rim from some china plates and created the edge first. I wanted to experiment with a new color palette, and I wanted to use a fair amount of patterned china, and I'm showing you the finished bench. Sometimes I find myself making goals, executing them, and then I am left scratching my head the result.

Image 4: Mosaic Butterfly detail

I liked how the interior mosaic turned out. I got to use the fun butterfly piece (above), and I like the colorful "chinz" style. The red in some of the individual pieces was supposed to echo the red in the border; but the final result didn't work with the border as well as I thought it would. The interior ended up "reading" as sort of pastel, with a loud red border. Oh well....

Image 5: Mosaic detail

The bench works well outside and I use it as an outside table for gardening and as a miscellaneous horizontal surface. It's another picassiette mosaic project I've finished, and it has been useful. (Except the cat's definitely don't deter chipmunks or rabbits...)

Image 6: Mosaic Garden Bench

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Mosaic Notes: The term picassiette in mosaics (or pique assiette) indicates the main mosaic material is broken china. The word comes from pique assiette in French, meaning 'stolen from plate', but the french spelling and pronunciation has been shortened to picassiette by some English speaking artists.

Skills are improved by
practice and reflection!

Project Notes: I try to improve my skills by thinking about how a project turned out once completed. I use these 3 questions.
1. What went well,
2. What could have gone better, and
3. What would I do differently if I could re-do it.

Applying these questions to this bench, I think I could improve it. Here are my thoughts:
What went well:
I got to up-cycle a funky inexpensive bench!
I used vintage china to create a picassiette mosaic.
I tried a new color palette.
I'm happy with the materials used - clear silicon caulk, sanded grout, grout sealer.
I finished the mosaic in a short time period.
The project was fast, and finished!

What could have gone better:
The impromptu color palette doesn't go as well with the border as I had hoped it would..
I did a sloppy job on the grout on the side.

What would I change in a do-over?
I might select a different border color. Or interior color. Or something.
I wouldn't have slopped grout all over the side.
I still could paint the grout to match the bench.

Answering these questions for completed projects is something I encourage people to try.