Crumplehorn offer two types of mosaic art:  decorative and sculptural.  Decorative types can be used for wall-hanging artwork, signage and, to some extent, 3-dimensional artwork where a similar effect is required.  Our sculptural artwork includes indoor and outdoor objects, some of which are destined for practical as well as artistic uses.  Crumplehorn mosaicist, Mark Cragg, works with any shaped object but has an interest in taking familiar indoor furnishings and expanding their use to outdoors, by designing and applying a mosaic cladding to either an existing piece of furniture or creating the illusion of one.

Each type use both traditional and modern mosaic techniques, achieving a variety of effects as described below.

The decorative, normally wall-mounted type have pictorial or abstract content using ancient methods of affixing coloured and shaped smalti into a soft bed of wet clay or lime, then lifted off and cemented into position using a method which preserves the original placing of the tesserae.  Each tessera has a hand-cut surface which gives the completed mosaic a textured, almost textile finish.  The resulting effect can be used to soften a hard looking surface and has a great interaction with light sources, trapping and reflecting light in multiple directions.

Figure 1 – examples of decorative mosaic for walls and signage

The sculptural type consists of 3-dimensional objects, clad in mosaic ‘tesserae’.  These are applied to a sculpted object constructed of many types of supporting material [‘armature’].  This material can be anything secure and weather-proof, durable and capable of receiving tiling.  The tiling is subsequently grouted with outdoor grout, leaving a surface that is smooth to the touch.   This distinguishes our sculptural artwork from the decorative examples described above.

An example of our sculptural mosaic, a 'Garden Chaise Longue' can be seen below, together with photos of the construction process.

Design	Armature	Applying design to armature
Inspired by the carpet and upholstery designs of William Morris of UK	Mouldable tile backing board used to construct 3 dimensional aspects	Design is taped onto all sections before mosaic application

Construction 1	Construction 2	Construction 3
Tesserae are individually cut and affixed to a mesh that sits on top of the design

Assembly	Detail	Detail - handmade tiles
It is important to check the consistency between the mosaic mesh and the ultimate placement of the entire piece	Close-up of the tesserae	Designs include the incorporation of hand-made and shaped tiles to suit the desired effect. 3-D aspects make use of curved tesserae, made in-house specifically for each piece.

View mosaic detail

The finished Chaise Longue