Ceramic tesserae - OzMosaics Mosaic Store
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New to OzMosaics! Australian Hand Made Ceramic tesserae!
Sandy says:
It's very exciting to be collaborating with a very talented ceramic artist to produce mosaic ceramic tesserae for my clients, customers and students (and myself!) to include as special features, highlights, and texture in our mosaics.
Each ceramic is made to order to up to 2-3 weeks is required to produce and deliver your special ceramic tesserae. Flora, the ceramic artist, explains the process below and mosaic artists will understand the comparable time and effort that goes into producing the ceramic tesserae.
From square tiles (great for borders or use your mosaic imagination!) to circles large and small, little pots (wonderful to add fun and interest in your mosaic murals), exquisite, luxurious floral blooms (mix and match in your mosaic art with your hand cut china and more!), loose petals, leaves and lots more to come! I recommend these inclusions as I have often searched for something "extra special" to highlight my mosaic art and now I am very happy to have these beautiful ceramics to do just this.
Keep an eye in the shop, check back regularly as Flora and I explore the possibilities of this wonderful ceramic tesserae. Send me your ideas for mosaic ceramic inclusions; Catherine and I will be pleased to explore all suggestions!
Ceramic artist Flora says, "my favourite part in ceramics is the pouring & making the items. It is like opening a Christmas present every time I open a mold & a wonder to me that I have made it, fascinating."Mosaic artist Sandy says, "it's wonderful to have these exquisite ceramics to include in my mosaic art, I continually find the colours and texture beautiful to work with".
We are very fortunate to have this beautiful ceramic tessera available and hand made in Australia.
About the ceramic making process:
From the ceramic artist, Flora...
I have great joy creating ceramics and supplying OzMosaics with a mosaic range; a mix of hand made and poured from a mould - ceramic flowers, petal, leaves, tiles and pots and more.
The clay used is Duncan's Laguna with a mixture of brands for the glazes, underglazes & translucent paints. Before pouring commences, the molds have to be cleaned using an air hose, brush & other tools as required then strapped tight so no leakage of clay. The mold is topped up with wet clay until the desired thickness, then the mold is emptied leaving the shell or actual item. The piece needs to dry somewhat in the mold before it can be opened but not too long as it can crack as it shrinks. While the piece is wet, it can be carved into pieces or have cut outs done such as windows on a house.
Once the item is removed from the mold it needs to dry further which is known as leather dry, then it has to be cleaned by hand using sandpaper, wet sponge & tools to perfect the edges & shape -- then they are fired for approx 8 to 9 hours which is called a Greenware Fire & they turn to bisqueware. The cooling process is normally 3 times the fire time & then the pieces can be painted.
When painting with glazes each piece needs 3 coats & each coat needs to be dried before applying the next which in winter time can take a while. Then they are ready for the Glaze firing which takes approx 6 to 7 hours.
When a piece is glazed, it can be used for outdoors and is dishwasher safe.
Sandy says: A lot of time, love, experience, talent and care goes into every ceramic created by the talent Flora.
