RESOURCES
MOSAIC TILE (“tesserae”) SUPPLIERS
Other than broken dishes and stained glass, there are not many local (Albuquerque, NM) bulk sources of tesserae (tiles) for mosaic work. I order most of mine online from:
Mosaic Art Supply I get most of my tiles here, and often good advice. My students get a discount code to use here, too! I highly recommend them; a big variety of tesserae and supplies at good prices. The company is owned by artist Joe Moorman, who posts an informative blog about mosaic art on this site (even though he’s very opinionated about white grout, but we all have our beefs). He’s posted a few of my “How To” articles (mosaic mailboxes, tables) too. One of their most important goals is “to promote contemporary mosaic as a fine art and encourage ordinary people to make original mosaic art in their own style.” When I’ve asked, Joe has given me valuable advice on my projects.
WitsEnd Mosaics One of the oldest mosaic suppliers in the US. They offer lots of interesting tiles, including smalti (Italian and Mexican), micro-tiles, fancy tiles from all over.
Mosaics by Maria mirrored tiles (various shapes: square, skinny rectangle and diamond), Van Gogh, and other exotics
Discount Mosaic Supply (Etsy) Interesting tiles at good prices. Broken china, too (avoid the tiles that come on a mesh background as they are hard to get off the sheet and hard to cut.)
Mosaic Trader USA Good prices and variety.
Mosaic Tile Mania Stained glass, Van Gogh and other exotic tiles
There are lots of online tile suppliers! Be careful out there or you’ll end up with huge piles of tiles like me.
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Some local Albuquerque shops that have some interesting tiles and supplies for mosaic art:
Hot Flash Glass: Local Albuquerque supplier of stained glass. They teach classes, too. 2111 San Mateo NE, 505-255-1151
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The Tile Shop, 5000 Pan American Freeway, 505-814-2991
I just bought some beautiful, colorful porcelain tiles here to tile my front porch steps! They also carry Wediboard and related supplies.
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Casa Talavera, 621 Rio Grande Blvd. NW, 505-243-2413
Classic Mexican talavera tiles. Most of these are low-fired, terracotta tiles, so are appropriate for indoor, but not outdoor, mosaics. In Mexico and elsewhere, you will often see talavera tiles in outdoor settings, but they aren’t likely to last a very long time before needing to be replaced. But indoors they are great! A really fun place to look around. Dare you to walk out without buying anything.
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All Star Foam 3417 Girard NE (Near La Cumbre Brewery. I am a fan of the “Get Elevated” IPA) 505-243-2271
Dense foam in different thicknesses and shapes that can be used as mosaic sculpture armatures. They make background objects for movies being filmed here, too.
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VARIOUS LOCAL PROVIDERS OF SUPPLIES: Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware, True Value Hardware, etc.
This is where I buy the wheeled tile nippers I use in class. They are made by QEP and are about $15. For $39, you can get the QEP “Xtreme” wheeled nippers which is lightweight, doesn’t require as much hand strength and has lots of cool features. (Mosaic Art Supply also sells these).
They carry Prism grout which is expensive, but I use it almost exclusively. Good for water features, too.
HD carries the MDF board (Medium Density Fiberboard) that I use in my Basic Mosaic Class. It comes in a 3 ft x 3 ft sheet or a much larger one. Usually somebody there will cut it to size for you (once you find that guy, get his name and look for him next time). Lowes doesn’t have this.
They carry Custom Builders Supply thinset mortars (Versabond thinset and ProLite Large Format Tile Mortar). These are fortified, so generally you can mix them just with water and don’t need use polymer additives (tho some mosaic artists still do).
Mapei and other brands of thinset and grout. Some of their thinset mortars require you to add liquid “polymer additive” instead of water to mix.
The little white notched spreaders that we use in my thinset classes are from Lowes. HD doesn’t have them.
Lexel sealant/caulk/adhesive This is a popular adhesive, especially for glass on glass mosaics, because it is even clearer than 100% silicone. HD doesn’t have this.
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Home Depot and Lowes both have:
Hardiebacker substrate They won’t cut it for you, so bring a cement board scorer or X-acto knife. You will need a metal straight edge to cut along, because apparently it hasn’t occurred to Mr. Hardie that if you have open spaces on the board for your name, etc., that interrupt the score lines, you can’t cut it in a straight line and that’s THE POINT of having scorelines, dude.
Alkali-Resistant Fiberglass Mesh: For use with thinset mortar, get mesh that is alkali resistant (often used with cement board). You can find it in the stucco repair area of home improvement stores. Sometimes it is self-adhesive. Online Mosaic Suppliers often carry it, too.
Gloves, disposable or reusable. The disposable ones I often use in class are Venom Steel, which are thicker than other disposable gloves. I usually use reusable gloves at home for thinset and grout work (I like the Gorilla Grip brand from HD, but there are other brands at both stores). I rub them together under the hose after use and let them dry. (My pet peeve about these stores is that they often don’t sell stuff in smaller than L-XL. Gee, I wonder why…..)
5 Gallon Buckets: orange from HD, blue from Lowes. Get a lid, too and it’s a perfect fit for that big bag of thinset mortar. WEAR A FACE MASK IF YOU POUR THE THINSET OR GROUT FROM THE BAG.
Putty knives, cement stepping stones and a lot of other stuff is at both stores.
Ace Hardware and TrueValue Hardware
I really like these smaller stores. The staff is often knowledgable and friendly and they don’t run the opposite direction when they see a woman coming down the aisle. They carry Weldbond glue, which HD and Lowes don’t (HD has it online). Check them for many other products, too.
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My class handouts: In my classes, I provide hand-outs with specific information about the materials we use: tesserae, tools, substrates, adhesives, grouts, etc.. If you have questions for a specific project you’re doing, contact me and I will try to help.
If you’ve taken a class from me and lost your hand-out, I can re-send it to you. I will continue to add new resources to this page, too.
Books:
Bonnie Fitzgerald's Guide to Mosaic Techniques: The Go-To Source for In-Depth Instructions and Creative Design Ideas, by Bonnie Fitzgerald
The Mosaic Artist’s Bible of Techniques, by Teresa Mills
I have lots of mosaic books you are welcome to look at.
Online instruction:
YouTube video series: https://www.youtube.com/@JulieWeilbacher/videos I really like her mosaic videos!
Make it Mosaics with Bonnie Fitzgerald and Kim Wozniak
Treasury Road with Peter Twining