So I finally got a chance to sit down and put words to paper (or in this case internet). This particular project was last minute which is always a motivator for me. I work better under a deadline for some things. Mosaics are one of them.
Her “Former” Majesty Corotica merkka Senebelenae was stepping down from her term formerly as Princess and later as Queen of the East Kingdom. During her term my lady created one of the outfits Corotica wore during Birka. It was a Celtic coat embroidered with various cryptids. As the theme for Birka was “Cryptids” it was rather appropriate. She also did various designs that were symbolic to Corotica herself; one example was the Salmon because Corotica likes to fish.
At the end of her reign, I was asked to be part of the Order of the Rose ceremony for her. I assisted in setup of the Vigil area, especially the food, and acted as Major Domo to coordinate folks that wanted to visit with Corotica during her Vigil and impart their wisdom to her. As we were close to the Royal Household and her “Former” Majesty, I felt that I too should give her something to commemorate her time. But what to do? The coordination group had a design on the page:
I have no idea where this picture came from but it was used as the display pic on the Vigil for Corotica’s Vigil group. I said to myself “Hey! that’s what I can do”. Making a Mosaic for a Romano-Celt personae sounded perfectly plausible. Let me start by saying, I was not looking to copy the above pic but do something similar. So doing a quick inventory of what I had on hand vs what I would still need to cut, I decided I could do a display board with an Order of The Rose logo on it.
I started with a 1ft x 2.5 ft slab of concrete board as the base. Unlike previous pieces I had done, I was not going to use plywood as the backing. This was supposed to be a stiff surface she could use the mosaic as either a wall piece or to carry breakfast in bed to her by her husband Vindiorix “Black Finn” Ordovix. Even though we were using the “Direct Method” (process of laying tiles face up), I wanted to make sure it was fairly level and even for the tiles. I did a brief pencil sketch on the concrete board and then did a skim coat of thinset (tile cement) and let it dry. Then I spent about 9 hrs in my basement arranging the tiles one at a time. The term used is “buttering the tile” which is basicly dipping the tile into the thin set (cement) and then adhering it to the board surface. I probably tore this apart like 3 times because I wasn’t happy with the way it came out. Somewhere around the 3rd rebuild I managed to slice myself pretty good and of course there was blood everywhere. Well I guess it’s a project now!
Once the design is finished, there’s a set of 2 tile wide border that goes around it. I call it the radiance edge but the official term is Andamento. These tiles go around the entire design and then the rest of the piece is done in a brick format called Opus regulatum. Filling in the Hadrian wall (gray area) and then the regular brown ceramic brick area went much quicker. I had that finished in 2 nights of about 3 hrs each.
The next evening was the grouting stage. All the tiles were secured to the board by the buttering cement and the skim layer of thin set. I gently ran my hands over it making sure all the pieces were securely in place and weren’t going to move because the grout would push loose tiles the wrong direction. I only had 1 lb of grout which needed to do the job the first time with no open spots. I mixed it and spent about 30 minutes pushing the grout everywhere on the tiled board to makes sure that there were no air pockets and no spaces without grout between the tiles. My last spoonful of grout filled the end of the board with nothing to spare. A wet sponge was run over the entire pattern to smooth out the grout and uncover any tiles that went below the surface. I left it to cure for 2 days even though the instructions say it would be ready in 4 hrs. I wanted it absolutely set because none of those tiles can break free during transport. We wrapped it in a fleece blanket to cushion it and transported it to site.
As I stated before, I was busy being Major Domo (door guard) at Corotica’s Rose Vigil so I was able to sneak my wife Seigine Ruadh Friseal and Solveig Bjarnardottir into the Vigil early so my wife could present gifts and Solvieg had a song for her. As I understand it, Corotica liked the 2 gifts and the song very much. She actually did a great photo op with the mosaic and here it is:
Bibliography:
A link for terms used in this article- https://showcasemosaics.com/resources-and-links/glossary-of-terms/
The SCA Mosaic FB Group- https://www.facebook.com/groups/2411210908998243/
Inn of Bards Rest 