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  Phil Voice December 9, 2011 at 3:27pm

  Hi Lawrence..welcome to LJN:-0)

  You've definitely posted in the right place.

  I'd love to see more mosaics in gardens (tastefully done of course).

  I'll never forget a visited the Fishbourne Roman Palace near Chichester whilst in infants' school and being captivated by their colour, intricacy and level of workmanship.
• 

  dgeorgea December 9, 2011 at 3:35pm

  Hi Lawrence,

  I'm not thinking for gardens in particular but have a few questions.

  1. Would the slabs be suitable for heavy foot traffic? I suspect not for various reasons but thought I would ask.

  2. While I appreciate that you specialise in reproduction Greek and Roman Mosaics would you consider other ideas?

  3. While you mention, with a little scorn, about them being used to hang up on walls would you consider a commission for a wall mounted piece, possibly over several panels to lower the weight that would have to be borne? By wall I'm talking about the side of a building.

  Reasons for questions:

  We have been considering different ways to put notices up concerning no dog mess. One idea is to use a stencil to paint the sign onto ground. A mosaic would be eye catching and more durable.  Not a major problem as we have small slanted walls where we can cut the bricks out and replace with a slab.

  One idea that was offered in the past to distinguish the estate from those around was to do large paintings from Cantbury Tales onto the sides of buildings. This was rejected due to fears about it encouraging graffitti.  Your post has made me wonder if a large mosaic in black and white might offer an alternative solution.

  My biggest concern about this type of project would be the cost, though it might be worth considering doing one as a centre piece to demonstrate how it could be done professionally, then working with local secondary schools as part of a large arts project with us sponsoring it. Though we could probably get a local artist to do the first piece, but as the originator for the thought I wanted to run it by you first.

  An idea of the sort of thing I have in mind can be seen at: http://tinyurl.com/cax2zfn

  The sizes would be slightly less than the width of the size of the buildings with the height being relevent to the size of the picture.

  I am just thinking how they can be used in the wider community other than just gardens. Most communty based mosaics I have seen have been large and gaudy, rather than the more refined versions you do.
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  RICHARD BICKLER December 9, 2011 at 3:54pm

  This garden was built around 10 years ago, as long the bases are sound and the fixing/sealing materials are the right choice I don't see any issues, these are shop bought tiles on a mesh backing, its not greek or roman mosaic likes yours just a contemporary finish required by the client...still looks good 10 years on too.
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  Lawrence Payne December 9, 2011 at 10:05pm

  Thanks Gaynor,

  The cost isn't that excessive (£185.00 to the public with different trade prices). It is also possible to do the designs on mesh, with the marble thickness being 5mm they can be easily installed.
  
  Gaynor @ www.witchardgardens.com said:

  I think that's a really neat idea. It would depend on the style of garden and the relative cost as I imagine there's quite a lot of work involved. Beautifully done Lawrence!

  Italian/mediterranean/tropical gardens would benefit from these and even one or two placed in an appropriate setting would certainly create a talking point.

  I like them very much!
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  Lawrence Payne December 9, 2011 at 10:40pm

  1. There isn't any reason that heavy foot traffic would cause a problem for these, the marble would take the strain where it might come loose is if the pieces hadn't been set properly and there were gaps underneath. I use a silicone adhesive, CT1  which will hold the individual tiles (tesserae) in place. Even where you have a stone such as Travertine which isn't as integrally sound, if the adhesive is evenley spread then the tesserae can crack but still be held in place.

  2. I am always happy to consider other pieces, Roman mosaics are by definition a craft more than an art though. I've done signs for people before as it is a case of applying the 'classical' training of the Roman craft to modern designs. I will admit though that I've never entered any sort of gallery show for contemporary art as I work in a completely different way.

  3. I wouldn't like to think I've sounded scornful of 'art' copies of Roman mosaics, maybe it was a poor choice of words. In a nutshell Roman mosaics is about setting large floor areas, working in a practical way. In 1 sqm there are approximately 8,000 - 10,000 tesserae (average size 8mm-12mm). I work in a very systematic way which allows me to complete the work in a reasonable time. It is only now that we look at them as works of art. What I have found is that when people approach this work as art then they take too long over it and the way they work, in my opinion, is not how these floors were originally done. I could rattle on for pages over this bit so I'll stop now ;-)

  I'm always happy to discuss options for this work and how it can be applied. I am flexible with pricing and with experience i've learnt at what stage to say when something cannot be done and still maintain the neccesary standard of work.

  Community mosaic works can be done to a good standard, I've seen some fantastic work done by schoolchildren because they were guided correctly and i've also seen some of a much lower standard purely because they thought that was all that was possible with volunteers or children.

  Mosaic work is very easy, there are no advanced techniques to learn, how good you get is purely down to how many you do. It also helps to start off right.

  I cut all my own stone from either slabs or large tiles, this way my material costs are much lower than most peoples. I'm more than happy to just give advice, there's no charge for that just get in touch. I've been teaching this work for about 4 years now to complete beginners and professional modern artists which has given me a good insight into how to encourage peoples understanding and application of this work.
  
  dgeorgea said:

  Hi Lawrence,

  I'm not thinking for gardens in particular but have a few questions.

  1. Would the slabs be suitable for heavy foot traffic? I suspect not for various reasons but thought I would ask.

  2. While I appreciate that you specialise in reproduction Greek and Roman Mosaics would you consider other ideas?

  3. While you mention, with a little scorn, about them being used to hang up on walls would you consider a commission for a wall mounted piece, possibly over several panels to lower the weight that would have to be borne? By wall I'm talking about the side of a building.

  Reasons for questions:

  We have been considering different ways to put notices up concerning no dog mess. One idea is to use a stencil to paint the sign onto ground. A mosaic would be eye catching and more durable.  Not a major problem as we have small slanted walls where we can cut the bricks out and replace with a slab.

  One idea that was offered in the past to distinguish the estate from those around was to do large paintings from Cantbury Tales onto the sides of buildings. This was rejected due to fears about it encouraging graffitti.  Your post has made me wonder if a large mosaic in black and white might offer an alternative solution.

  My biggest concern about this type of project would be the cost, though it might be worth considering doing one as a centre piece to demonstrate how it could be done professionally, then working with local secondary schools as part of a large arts project with us sponsoring it. Though we could probably get a local artist to do the first piece, but as the originator for the thought I wanted to run it by you first.

  An idea of the sort of thing I have in mind can be seen at: http://tinyurl.com/cax2zfn

  The sizes would be slightly less than the width of the size of the buildings with the height being relevent to the size of the picture.

  I am just thinking how they can be used in the wider community other than just gardens. Most communty based mosaics I have seen have been large and gaudy, rather than the more refined versions you do.
• 

  Lawrence Payne December 9, 2011 at 10:42pm

  That's a lovely looking area Richard, I do like to see mosaics used as part of a structure. The paving's really nice.
  
  RICHARD BICKLER said:

  This garden was built around 10 years ago, as long the bases are sound and the fixing/sealing materials are the right choice I don't see any issues, these are shop bought tiles on a mesh backing, its not greek or roman mosaic likes yours just a contemporary finish required by the client...still looks good 10 years on to
• 

  Lawrence Payne December 9, 2011 at 10:52pm

  Thanks Phil, Fishbourne's a lovely example of their work. It's surprising how much colour there is in Roman mosaics in this country considering we don't have any marble.
  Phil Voice said:

  Hi Lawrence..welcome to LJN:-0)

  You've definitely posted in the right place.

  I'd love to see more mosaics in gardens (tastefully done of course).

  I'll never forget a visited the Fishbourne Roman Palace near Chichester whilst in infants' school and being captivated by their colour, intricacy and level of workmanship.
• 

  Lawrence Payne December 11, 2011 at 11:55am

  Thanks, I've looked at a number of examples on the web and I see what you mean. It is very apparent about not wanting a central focus point. That is one thing about the Romans, their rooms were quite gaudy by our standards, with a mosaic floor and brightly painted walls you'd of had an overdose of colour. And you can forget about those tasteful pure white statues, we now know that they were mostly painted in bright colours too!

  Fortunately my material costs are very low so I think I'll just finish a full 2m circular piece and the square off sections and have another look in the spring.

  Thanks again for the information.
  
  Paving & Landscape Co. said:

  Hi Lawrence,

  Great work.

  But in my opinion demand wouldn't be very high in gardens..I may well be wrong.

  This is because ( at least with me ) gardens are very much set to fit in with today's lifestyle. That is contemporary,  clean, smooth and easy on the eye. Focal points in these gardens are minimal. Perhaps a water feature or a modern statue. A mosaic feature would look out of place in this instance.