HomeOur mosaic
Mosaic,
set once
One studio in the USA. How a portrait is cut, set and grouted, and where to hold one in person.
The material
Cut by hand,
not printed
Smalti is glass melted with metal oxides and poured into slabs; we cut it with a hammer and hardie so each face is fresh and catches the light. The ceramic is fired and glazed by a potter two streets away.
Set into lime mortar the way the basilicas were, on a sealed birch panel that will not warp.
Where you buy
Sold through
Tedooo
Every Tesera mosaic is ordered and paid for on Tedooo. Tedooo takes the payment, tracks the parcel and runs the preview that draws your photo in tesserae before we cut a single one. We set the stone; the rails are theirs.
The mosaic portrait listing on Tedooo shows the sizes side by side with the glass, resin and 3D studios, if you are still deciding what the photo should become.
Good to know
Shipping, returns
and care
Shipping
Cut and packed in our US studio. Every panel is made within two weeks, then posted. Double-walled crate, foam corners, tracked.
Before you buy
Made for one person, so it is not returnable. Ask us anything before you buy and we will answer properly, usually the same day. The approved design is what we set.
Hanging & care
Hang on a single screw through the keyhole. Dust with a dry cloth; never soak the grout. Direct sun is fine; it is glass and clay.
About the studio
Who sets it,
and where
Who makes the mosaics?
A team of mosaic artisans, one workshop, in the USA. The tesserae are cut with a hammer and hardie and set, grouted and sealed by hand; every panel leaves the studio signed on the back. The ceramic is fired and glazed by a potter two streets away.
Where is the studio?
In the USA. We do not list a street address here; the way to see the work in person is at the markets we take the range to. The crate, wherever you are, is tracked end to end from the studio door.
How can I see a panel before I order?
At the Railyard Artisan Market in Santa Fe on Sundays, the Blue Genie Art Bazaar in Austin every winter, and Brooklyn Flea a few weekends a year. The letter hears the dates first, because a stall holds few people and the places go quickly. Where to find us lists them.
What does Tedooo do, and what do you do?
Two things, and we are plain about both: Tedooo's vision technology draws our designs, and our panels are sold through Tedooo. The design comes back from your photo in about a minute; our artisans cut, set, grout and seal the panel. Payment goes through Tedooo, and cutting waits for it to land.
What happens to the photo I upload?
One job: the drawing of your panel. We do not sell it on, show it anywhere or let any learning system near it, and the file is erased once the order is done. The design is held against it before we start, and that is the last job the photograph has.
Come and hold one
Where to find us
in person
Photographs never get the light right. A few times a year we pack the range into the van and take it somewhere you can pick a piece up and turn it over.
Railyard Artisan Market, Sundays.
Blue Genie Art Bazaar, every winter.
Brooklyn Flea, a few weekends a year.
Dates go out in the letter first, because the stalls are small and they fill. Subscribe at the foot of the home page.