I guess this is what happens when you keep throwing your china scraps in the yard.

In my early days doing mosaics, I thought that they were all flat and some sort of square shape and I thought that tiles were all neat little squares you bought at a tile store.  As I began to branch out and network online with other mosaic artists, I began to learn new techniques.  This is when I fell in love with the Pique Assiette or Picassiette style.  This style is named for Raymond Isidore of Chartres, France, who in the 1930’s began covering his entire home and many of his possessions with broken crockery.  He had worked for many years at a foundry where he collected many pieces but was also known for picking through the local trash which earned him the nick name “Pique Assiette” or “Plate Thief”.  There are other stories about the origin of this name that you can read at the Joy of Shards website which maintains the most thorough collection of photos and information about La Maison Picassiette

I fell in love with this style at first because, lets face it, breaking plates does sound like fun, doesn’t it?  I have always been a Thrift Store Junkie and this gave me a chance to scour these shops for interesting plates.  I learned that some plates break a lot easier than others and if they break too easily, they are probably not frost proof.  Some plates are exceptionally heavy for their size and these are very hard to break.  Now I am very selective about the plates I buy for mosaics.  I have used this style of mosaic on my Travel USA Guitar and Mistaken Identity, a tissue box cover and several outdoor planters and stepping stones.  For beginners wanting to try mosaics without investing a lot in materials, Pique Assiette is a great place to start.  You can incorporate broken family heirloom pieces to save their place in your heart. 

I just completed “High Five”, a Pique Assiette hand made on a porcelain rubber glove mold.  This involved cutting tiny little shapes to match the contours of the fingers and I was able to use pieces from my scrap bin to complete this project.  I have two more glove molds ready to tile but there won’t be a pair to this one.  I would like to experiment with a different styles with thinner materials that would be easier to apply to the intricate spaces between the fingers.

I have a fan photo folder on facebook where you can upload your Pique Assiette style mosaics to share with my fans.  I always like to see my friend’s work so please share your links or photos.