The Art of Mosaic
By Sarah Kelly 

     My old balcony table has been given a new lease on life by a local handyman; all I need to do now is to put my mosaic on the top. To this end I have been looking for a really good book on making mosaics. There are a lot to choose from as this is a popular hobby once again but too many of them feature pretty galleries of artists' work and not a lot else. Taking up a new hobby really makes a reviewer think hard about what separates a good how-to manual from a poor one, and what makes a really great one. A beginner needs a book that is going to give them the basic underpinning to go on and create work to the best of their ability, and just a list of materials, a few simple projects plus a gallery of advanced work just won't do. This large, impressive-looking primer from Search Press gets the gallery out of the way at the beginning with a brief introduction to mosaics (what a good idea) and then gets down to basics. To its detriment it then shows a room laid out entirely for mosaics (dream on Rachel, and most other people reading this book), and then it shows all the tools you are ever likely to need. Unless you are going to create concrete slabs, you can do without a casting board, and the author does sheepishly admit that the hammer and hardie for cutting smalti are hard to find and expensive…read this section very carefully before you dash out and buy anything, plan your project and read the whole book. Probably in that order.

     Next it lists all the mosaic materials (don't throw away broken necklaces or crockery) and the adhesives, grouts and bases. I like the way cutting tiles is covered in detail; just telling the reader to cut them up with the nippers is not a good idea but too many books say only this. All the likely mosaic methods are then covered with large, clear photographs at every turn and then it is on to color theory (you can tell this is a really thorough book), looking for inspiration and design techniques along with many other useful points. Then come the projects in three sections for beginners, intermediate and advanced; here is a peacock tabletop a bit like mine! The projects are also graded for time taken to complete and cost (which is helpful), and along the way are a few more gallery photos to show you what can be done with some bits of broken stone and grout in the hands of a professional.

     I confess to being impressed, and I have stopped buying primers on mosaic as this one tells me what I want to know. This book is attractive but I have seen lusher; put one of those on your coffee table and your guests will think that you like looking at art. Put this book on your coffee table and your guests will know that you are going to roll up your sleeves and get dirty. Highly recommended.