Micromosaic Fun

33mm diameter - Filati in silverplate

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I don't normally do something strictly micromosaic, but since I have an upcoming workshop in Edmonton on the subject, I decided I should create a piece or two to inspire my students and make sure my own skills are up to snuff. But wait, Margo, aren't your jewely pieces micromosaic? Actually, they're not!

So how does micromosaic differ from what I usually do? Well, while both being the tiniest of mosaics, they are created in very different ways. I handcut and create my regular mosaic jewelry mainly from mosaic gold, which is a type of glass that is embedded with 24k gold leaf. This precious and expensive material is commonly used in normal sized mosaics. If you've ever seen the cathedrals in Europe with reflective gold ceiling mosaics, those were created with mosaic gold. Using glass nippers, I cut this light reflective material down from 1cm squares to the tiny sizes you see in my jewelry. In addition to natural gold tones, the material also comes in a variety of coloured tones, where the top layer of glass protecting the gold is coloured, so you still get all the bling, just not in a normal gold colour. 

Some of my colour palette of mosaic golds

This pendant above is created in traditional micromosaic technique. This technique uses glass rods called filati as the mosaic pieces. The filati are pulled from molten glass into a variety of shapes and sizes, with rounds and flats being the most common. These rods are then cut for depth only, usually with a diamond file, and the tiny pieces are upended in the adhesive. Folks who really get into micromosaic usually pull their own filati, but I've not done that in this case, as filati are commercially available and that's way easier for my students and for my own work. I do sometimes mix filati in with my usual mosaic jewelry.

A selection of round filati and various cut pieces ready to go

I would probably enjoy micromosaics a whole lot more if I created more complex pieces or pulled my own filati. That said, they are still pretty fun to create, and come together a bit faster than my usual style.  And I love the work of others who create micromosaics, and find antique micromosaics fascinating to look at. 

I also want to announce that Mosaic Arts Online is having a Black Friday sale on all mosaic courses through Dec 2, and this year it's a whopping 20% off! I don't think they've ever had a discount this deep, so take advantage of it while you can. The sale includes almost 100 mosaic courses by over 30 world class mosaic educators, so there is sure to be one or two that catches your eye. I have three courses available: Shag Rug Mosaics, Smalti Mosaic Jewelry, and the follow up to it, released earlier this year, Elevated Mosaic Jewelry. To get the discount, hit the "add coupon" button during checkout and enter the code GRATITUDE2024. 

And if micromosaic sounds like fun to you and you're in the Edmonton area next weekend, I think there are still seats in my Micromosaic Filati workshop on Dec 7! Come and make a micromosaic for yourself or as a gift for someone else.