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7 Tips for Passing on Mosaic Creativity

 

"Creativity is contagious, pass it on" – Albert Einstein

This is a wonderful quote that I hope everyone of us will embrace with our children and our grandchildren.

As a professional mosaic artist, I've worked with all ages of children over the years creating large mosaic installations. My most recent was with middle school children where we created a large mosaic of their school's logo, a falcon, onto the wall of their cafeteria using vitreous tiles. It was immensely enjoyable for me and when it was all finished, the children were ecstatic that they were able to leave behind a legacy at their school.

It is very important to spend time with our children and grandchildren and nurture their creativity. As Einstein says, we need to "pass it on." Sometimes, as adults, we find it difficult to find the time, energy or commitment to do this. Here's another thought-provoking quote:

"Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up" – Pablo Picasso

Here are 7 tips to help you pass on your mosaic creativity.

  1. Use summers and holidays to plan art activities so there are no other interfering time schedules
  2. Assume your children/grandchildren are creative and let them express themselves
  3. Try different activities with your children/grandchildren to help them explore various art forms, even if they are not interested in mosaics
  4. Encourage their creativeness by having the materials and supplies on hand and ready-to-go
  5. Connect with your child/grandchild by removing cell phones, TV's, and any electronic distractions so you both can focus and enjoy each other
  6. Be a role model in creativity - when they see you creating mosaics they will want to create too
  7. Remember, safety should be practiced at all times, especially with children, so take the necessary safety precautions to ensure you have a fun and accident-free project

When it gets right down to it, the process is more important than the resulting project. You don't have to be a great artist to have great art experiences with your children/grandchildren. Don't get hung up with trying to create a great mosaic, just enjoy the time you spend together and know that they will have great memories of your time together to look back on when they are grown.

5 comments

  • To cut shapes like flower petals, you will need to use your wheeled nippers to nibble away the glass to get the shape you want. Start with smaller pieces of glass and nibble the edges to shape them. A glass grinder will help smooth your edges, too.

    Lou Ann
  • How do i cut shapes like flower petals

    Anette Lang
  • Me encanto este articulo, comencé como autodidacta hace 5 años, no pude asistir a talleres, tampoco pude trabajar con mis nietos porque viven lejos de mi domicilio, no he dejado de practicar,pero asumo que debo perfeccionarme quizás con la orientación de profes.—-si estoy segura que en cada uno pongo mi corazon , como debería continuar?.-

    Susana Palomo
  • When I was just beginning doing mosaics last fall (2020), I also showed our grandkids how to do it. We started off with the simple 6" square white ceramic tile from Home Depot using 1" glass tiles and they moved up to their own design of choice. I was amazed at their choice of design – a bird, a butterfly and a car. They used puzzle piece ceramic tiles and their mosaic art projects came out beautiful. Their ages are 10, 9 and 7. Our daughter is homeschooling this year because of CoVid so they have some art time with grandma.

    Lori Rausch
  • Thanks a lot for this useful article.

    Nevien Salah

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