How to create Australian gum nuts flora in mosaics

Not that long ago, a friend and I went to an advertised Sunday market preloved items sale. We were both excited for what we might find. It was not to be. There were hardly any market stalls. We were beginning to think our chances of finding anything worthy to mosaic, was pretty slim. There was definitely nothing to inspire a vague Australian gum nuts and leaves mosaic design of mine.

After some time walking, what we did discover, hidden away in the corner of these markets, was a second hand store. Bingo! Our visit was worth it.

Rummaging through the treasures, I was fortunate enough to find a perfect silver tray. At a length of 40cm (16 ¼ “), it had a charming curve, and was elegantly finished with an open grid frame.

I loved it! However the silver tray was missing something.

Step 1. Designing Australian gum nuts and leaves in mosaics

Yes, it needed some mosaics.

Choosing the design for the mosaic seemed easy. I had template for a dove. Perfect! I could create a striking red/orange coloured dove with a block of white background.

Looking at the dove design the next day, it didn’t seem right. I still liked the dove idea, but not this time.

Mmm…what else?

As I often do, I looked around my house and garden for inspiration.

I didn’t need to look far. Hanging on the wall was a metal artwork of an Australian bird, sitting a top some eucalyptus leaves and gum nuts. Perfect, just what I was looking for.

As I wanted the mosaic to be more about the dish and the mosaic artwork, I decided to not use the bird. From a practical level, the dish had quite sharp curve and it would have been a little challenging to effectively showcase a gorgeous little bird. She needed to be featured on her own!

Using the leaves and the gum nuts on their own meant they would be the main feature and I would have more space to show the gentle curve of the branch.

Step 2. Transferring the Australian gum nuts and leaves mosaic design

Before I drew the design, I needed to figure out where it would sit on the silver tray. Taking the lead from the original metal hanging, I opted to start the design from almost one of the corners of the tray, creating a more realistic branch. This way the leaves and gum nuts would be spread evenly across the tray.

My original plan was to draw around the metal artwork, however the tray was curved. I also discovered the gap between some of the leaves and gum nuts was too small for a pen, resulting in most of the design being drawn freehand.

Step 3. Selecting the colours

For this piece I wanted to stick with traditional colours and add in a little colour variation.

For the leaves I used three greens to differentiate sunlight settling on the leaves.

The gumnuts I kept the one colour (except for the end) as I felt the jaggedness of the mosaics would be enough.

For the branch, a dark brown tile with gold threads running through seemed the best way to capture the unevenness of nature. Along with the jagged placement of the tiles.

Step 4. The background

For the background I chose yellow. Knowing that in nature there is a high likelihood these leaves would be found amongst pretty wattle flowers, yellow seemed like the obvious choice.

Using a ceramic plate featuring an abstract pattern in varying shades of yellow, this created the perfect background.

As I was mosaicking on quite a steep curve (almost bowl shaped), small square and oblong shapes were chosen. I was looking for some uniformity in the mosaic design to contrast against the flow of the Australian leaves, branch, and gum nuts.

Step 5. Grouting

I discussed the grout colour with a friend as sometimes I can find this to be the most challenging part for finishing an art piece.

As the tray is silver, I chosen a darker shade of grey for an even blending in with the grid pattern.

What I learnt completing the Australian gum nuts and leaves in mosaics

I had originally thought I would have lots of tiles for the background. What I discovered is as I was cutting smaller pieces, the tiles started to disappear much quicker! As it turned out I did have some left over. Thankfully. This “yellow” has been a project favourite.

I had planned to place border tiles on the grid section of the silver tray. I even had some the matching colours. However, I decided against adding in these tiles. It could have looked gawdy. The lesson, sometimes less is more.

From a design perspective, this was my first time using colour variation (with the leaves) and I was very happy with the results. I felt a little bit more like an artist as I focused on these variations. Instead of using solely block colours, I have decided using colour variation is definitely something I will continue with into the future.