Book Review

Mosaics, the art of reuse (Galit Glazer)
Quarry Books, 2009

I’ll start by saying that I do mosaics myself, and I love this book; this is great material for beginners, with projects to stimulate experienced mosaic crafters. Ms. Glazer has included a good section on materials and tools, excellent instructions for planning a design and gluing, and – best of all! – lots of beautiful, creative projects. One or two of the projects are rather odd (“My Favorite Duck” comes to mind) but in general I find them inspiring. They make my fingers itch to start my next mosaic, always a good sign. My favorite project is the Date Palm Tree Frame, a lovely mosaic mirror with a real Mediterranean feel to it.

Mirror with Date Palm Tree Frame

Bird of a Feather

The one disappointment is that there isn’t much about cutting glass or grouting. You can learn to cut glass from my book, The Glass Artist’s Studio Handbook, which has detailed glass cutting instructions and exercises. But if you’re teaching yourself to make mosaics with this mosaic book, you’ll need to buy grout that has grouting instructions printed on the bag/box or ask a fellow mosaic crafter for tips before you finish your first project. (In my mosaic patterns I usually provide detailed instructions on preparing and applying grout.)

I’m also madly in love with Bird of a Feather (right) and Totem with Fish (below). Totem recycles broken pots; I love that so many of the book's projects include recycled items and I’m absolutely determined to make a totem for my garden.

Totem with Fish

Buy these books on Amazon:

Mosaics, the Art of Reuse

The Glass Artist's Studio Handbook