HOW MOSAICS WORK
Version 7 · November 5, 2026

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Figures — vi
Preface — viii
Acknowledgments — ix
How to Use This Book — x
Introduction — xiii

PART I — SEPARATE PIECES AND THE IMAGE

1. From Pieces to an Image — 1

2. Pieces, Gaps and Edges — 3

3. How Pieces Are Laid — 9

PART II — HOW PARTS WORK TOGETHER
4. Describing Relationships at Different Sizes — 15
5. What Catches the Eye and What Holds an Image Together — 22
6. Boundaries and Patterns across a Surface — 33
7. Mosaics on Curved and Layered Supports — 38

PART III — VIEWING AND RECOGNITION
8. How Distance, Light and Photographs Change the View — 45
9. Seeing the Whole Image — 54
10. Grouping, Recognition and Familiar Shapes — 61
11. Showing Depth without a Vanishing Point — 67

PART IV — MAKING AND REVISION
12. Turning a Source Image into a Mosaic — 73
13. When and How You Can Revise — 79
14. How Material Choices Affect the Next Decision — 89

PART V — LOOKING AND CHOOSING
15. Choosing What to Change and Keep — 95
16. Reading Ancient and Byzantine Mosaics — 99
17. Learning from Contemporary Mosaics — 109
18. Mosaic, Painting and Other Media — 115

PART VI — USING THE CASE STUDIES
19. Snowfell — 120
20. Forests, Water and Reflections — 124
21. Flowers and Patterns of Growth — 134
22. Storm and Fire: Making an Image Feel Unsettled — 139
23. Ancient Mexican Stork and Griffin — 151

PART VII — WIDER CONTEXT AND FURTHER USE
24. Pattern, Place and Meaning — 153
25. What the Comparisons Teach Us — 158

APPENDICES
A. Working Glossary — 162
B. Optional Studio Notes — 170
C. Optional Looking Maps — 174
D. Dry Direct Double Flip Process Sheet — 177
E. Wet Direct Process Sheet — 180
F. Questions for Looking and Making — 182
G. Possible Answers and Sample Responses — 186
H. Questions, Guidance and Further Instruction — 199

Further Reading and Looking — 203
References and Notes — 206
About the Author — 213
Index — 214