How to Make a Fused Glass Mosaic

Important mosaics can be found in ancient Egypt and the Roman era. The art form transcends generations. Fused glass mosaics are a modern twist on the classic art form. This article will explain how to make a fused glass mosaic.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Fusible glass
• Glue gun
• Glass fusing kiln

1. Cut a clear piece of 8x8 inch fusible glass to serve as a base plate for the project. In the example, we used Bullseye scrap glass to create the mosaic.

2. Cut four strips of glass to create a frame. Two pieces of glass should be 8 inches long x 1 inch wide. The other two pieces of glass should be 6 inches long x 1 inch wide.

3. Place the four strips on the edges of the base plate of glass and secure the glass frame using a hot glue gun.

4. Allow the glue to dry and then assemble small pieces of glass chips into a pattern. In the above mosaic, the pattern was an abstract turtle.

5. Fill in the spaces between the glass chips with glass powder. In the above example, we used Bullseye French Vanilla to fill in the spaces.

6. Fire the glass to full fuse using the following schedule as a guide:
   Ramp ºF/Hr Target temperature Hold for
   1 600 1490 15
   2 Full 950 10
   3 150 750 0

7. Use the mosaic as is or slump the glass into your desired shape. In this example, the mosaic was slumped into a bowl.

Tips & Warnings

• Cut different size base plates and frames to create different size mosaics.
• Never leave a kiln unattended.
• Always take fire safety precautions when operating a kiln.
• Always wear a dust mask when working with glass frit and glass powder.
• © GeltDesigns 2009 All rights reserved.

Resources

• GeltDesigns
• Fused glass, jewelry making and craft tutorials listed by topics