The great thing about mosaic art is that anybody can do it. You don?t have to have a lot of fancy tools or a background in art. All you need is a creative mind and a few supplies and you?re ready to go! Charm sat down with CeCe Bode, a mosaic artist in Longview, to learn more about this ancient artform that has become such a modern craft.
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CeCe Bode tiles a stone statue at her home in Longview.
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CeCe had been in the pottery world for more than 20 years before a friend approached her with a new business idea: mosaic artwork.
"At the time, Madonna was getting really popular and wearing lots of crosses," CeCe said. "So, we started by making crosses. I never took any classes for this. It was a hit-or-miss project, and I learned as I went."
Now CeCe's artwork is all over the country. Locally, it's sold at La Tabella and Montage of Longview. It can also be found in Dallas, Austin and even Paradise Island in the Bahamas. She loves what she does so much that she teaches classes at the Longview Museum of Fine Arts and LeTourneau University. But CeCe herself never took a class in her life. The talent of mosaic tiling came naturally to her.
"I feel like I'm constantly evolving as an artist, and I'm always looking for new things to tile," she said. ?I?ve tiled fountains, clay animals and even instruments. One day I'd love to tile an entire piano."
CeCe helped us create a mosaic cross. It's simple to do, and makes a great gift for any of your girlfriends!
Tools you'll need:
Safety goggles
Cross
Ceramic tiles or dishes
Hammer
Stir stick
Rubber gloves
Bonding adhesive
Tile clippers
Sanded grout
Dry cloth
1. Use your hammer to break up the dishes or ceramic tiles. Now you?ll be able to see what tiles you?ll be working with, which will help you determine the color scheme for your cross. "The hammering part really is my therapy ... it?s a lot of fun," Cece said.
2. Divide the cross into fourths so you can work with a small section of the cross at a time. Use a stir stick to apply a thin layer (approximately 1/8-inch thick) of ceramic-tile adhesive onto your first small section.
3. Place ceramic pieces approximately 1/8-inch apart on top of the adhesive. "It's like trying to make all of the puzzle pieces fit together," CeCe said. "You may need to use tile clippers so that some of your pieces will fit just right."
4. Once you've finished your first section, apply the adhesive to the next section, and repeat Step 3. Same for the last two sections. Allow to dry for 24 hours.
5. After it's dried, apply the sanded grout with your hands while wearing your rubber gloves. "It's good to use sanded grout instead of unsanded. Sanded grout has the consistency of oatmeal and is easier to work with," CeCe said.
6. Fill spaces between the tiles. As the grout begins to set, wipe the excess from the fragments and allow the grout to dry for half an hour.
7. Wipe off the rest of the chalky residue with a dry cloth.
