Mosaic critique!

Now that the table top is done, so I'm going to think about how I did on it. I talked with a friend last night about why I do this. It's not that I don't like my results; I love this table! But thinking about what would make this better will help me make stronger and better designs in the future. So that's why I do this.

The design parameters I set out for myself were to use round motifs, nearly all different, occasionally overlapping, using one color per motif with lights on the inside and darks on the outside. I also wanted the table to blend with the deck and the flower garden below it, and evoke a festive or fun mood. For the most part, I think I did an excellent job of this.  But I'll still list all the things I need to do better for the next one!

Ut oh, now comes the critique

First of all the whole thing is not exactly round but I will blame that on DH who did not cut it round for me. This, incidentally is not noticeable when you look at it as a table top instead of from a birds eye view.

I need to work on setting the tiles at an even depth so that the table top is flatter.

Round things need to be round. The yellow one is the worst; I had darker yellow at the outer edge which accentuated the out of roundness; when I pried the off I was damaging the substrate or I would likely have removed the whole thing. I think I could have made it look round despite the square center had I cut the light yellow glass better... I ended up putting some highly reflective squares around it which I think saves the shape, but I think the contrast could be better.

Yellow is also hard to use because it draws the eye. I wish I'd done simpler motifs in yellow.

After the yellow one, I tried to use clear contact paper and the double indirect method to  create and place a whole motif; this method seems to work well for a whole mosaic but the pieces didn't stick well enough for this to work with partial pieces. I may try it with tile tape but it may be too sticky. I ended up  drawing templates on paper, fitting the tiles there, then transferring piece by piece to the substrate. This worked better, but I'm not sure if it was due to the method or because the subsequent designs were simpler.

I made the first 4 motifs fussy, then went simpler because I ran out of ideas; I don't think it harms the composition but I'm acknowledging the difference in styles.

For the background, I echoed the shapes in a couple of places and did not in others. I think this needs to be consistent.

I used a grout color called Truffle; I'd debated using Charcoal as black really pops any mosaic, but I wanted it to be a little softer. It's a gray brown, there was a redder brown available but I thought the grey brown was a better choice with with the background tan. It's also the color I used on my poppy piece so if I ever colocate the tables, they'll look like the go together.

Despite the issues I see with the piece, when it's horizontal and acting like a table in the sunlight it's glorious.  Too bad it's going to live in the garage for a month or so while the house gets painted but I don't want to risk it outside with all that work going on!

For the companion table, I had planned on making it slightly different, but have been slowly converging on a plan. I think I'll be looking a 3 or 4 fussy motifs, and the rest plainer. I'll mix colors in each motif, with light insides and dark outsides. The colors will not be at the same location as the first table. I'd like to do a few of the motifs with petal shapes like the purple motif on the first table. I'll echo the shapes in the background instead of having them random.

I've already started the 2nd table; the horizontal edge and the outer edge of dark brown are complete. I'll be hoping to start the round motifs later this week! I'd like to finish the table in time to use this spring.