Glass Mosaics

A glass mosaic is a piece of artwork made with glass pieces. The artwork is normally made by hand and can range from very small one color pieces to huge multi-colored works. There are three main assembly methods for a glass mosaic. The traditional method is called leaded glass mosaics. This method requires lead strips, called cames, to be shaped into an outline of the design. The glass pieces are… More

A glass mosaic is a piece of artwork made with glass pieces. The artwork is normally made by hand and can range from very small one color pieces to huge multi-colored works. There are three main assembly methods for a glass mosaic. The traditional method is called leaded glass mosaics. This method requires lead strips, called cames, to be shaped into an outline of the design. The glass pieces are then fit into the space between the lead cames and at each intersection of lead cames the artist must heat the lead and solder the joints together. Another assembly method for a glass mosaic involves using copper foil tape. A thin strip of copper foil is wrapped around each glass piece and the piece is then soldered to the next piece by heating the copper foil. The third stained glass mosaic assembly method is to use silicone or cement. Instead of soldering the glass pieces together using lead or copper, the artist pours a mold then places the glass pieces into the mold while the material is still wet. Once it dries, the artist pops the piece out of the mold and lightly cleans the surface to expose the glass design. Less