Mosaic Makers

A Maker works on his tile for the mosaic.

One of the most exciting things at MetaMedia is when everyone works together to produce something cool — and that’s exactly what the Makers have been doing for the past week.

MetaMedia has been tasked with creating a mosaic for YMCA residents that will brighten up the dining area. The mosaic will be made up of many colorful ceramic tiles.

Several of the many different tiles already made.

At least 20 different Makers have contributed one or more unique tiles so far, helping reach the goal of 60 tiles (although they’re aiming to produce many more than that so, when the time comes to actually build the mosaic, they can pick and choose which ones to include).

To make a tile, kids draw on the ceramic with as many different colors of Sharpie as they want, then use a spray bottle full of rubbing alcohol to disperse the marker and create beautiful designs.

The tools needed for creating interesting tiles.

Some popular techniques include creating patterns of white space on the tile with painter’s tape before coloring it, holding the spray bottle close to make the color fan out, spraying from far away to give it a speckled look, and finger painting while the Sharpie is still wet.

The mosaic, a collective effort, will be an awesome medley of different styles and colors, and it will have many positive effects — Makers will be able to point out and feel proud of their individual tiles, while the YMCA residents will get to enjoy a beautiful new piece of art.

A MetaMedia tile!

~Aine