60 year 2 pupils from Child's Hill Primary School in Cricklewood, Barnet North London came together to contribute to the creation of this 3D mosaic design. This rather unique project, and my first ever 3D mosaic design, allowed the students to unleash their imagination and leave a very original lasting mark on the school's artistic landscape.
And here's how the project came about...
The school were getting some building work done and some scaffolding fell on one of the two Victorian pillars that frame the entrance to the school grounds. The building company reimbursed the school to enable them to fund getting the pillar repaired. But instead of going for a restoration piece of work where they would get someone to recreate the top of the pillar to match it's partner on the left hand side of the gate, they decided to go in a completely different direction and came up with the idea of creating a sphere style mosaic to sit on top of the pillar which if in a traditional stone style would not be dissimilar to many Victorian type pillars with spheres on top. But instead they went all out creative and adventurous and decided to completely go for it creatively!! And I absolutely love them for that!! :)
So with a little challenge ahead as I worked out the physics of connecting a sphere to a flat base that would withstand all weathers, and with the fear of if I didn't do it right it could end up being blown down the street, I did a bit of research, a bit of trial and error and a bit of crossing my fingers and hoping for the best!
And you know what, it actually all came together! Phew :) Have a look below at how I decided to tackle this exciting project. Maybe it could be of help for some future projects for you.
MATERIALS:
The base - 6mm Hardibacker cement board
The sphere - 45cm Styrofoam ball
Mapei super flexible adhesive
Fibreglass mesh - cut into small pieces
Setcrete concrete
Hippo high performance expanding glue
Carriage Bolt Nut & Washer - M10 X 150mm + square washer plate
Ten steps to create a 3D sphere substrate with flat base
Cut the cement board to size using score and snap tool
Saw the bottom off the sphere the create a flat base
Mix tile adhesive and cover the sphere with small cut pieces of fibreglass mesh. Do several layers and leave overnight to cure
Mix the cement and cover the sphere, leave overnight to cure
Drill 4 evenly spaced holes into the sphere base and 4 holes in the cement board
Insert the expanding glue into the holes and connect the base and sphere using the bolts
Add additional glue around the base of the sphere, reinforcing the connection to the base
Apply another layer of cement to the bottom of the sphere and base
Draw on your design
Mosaic!
Find my video of the completed design on Instagram @montetdesigns https://www.instagram.com/montetdesigns/
Happy mosaicing! Audrey x