Outdoor mosaic sunset in smalti, gold & pearl on porcelain tile with epoxy grout.

Last we left off, I had adhered my mosaic (smalti & pearl) to the porcelain tile with thinset mortar adhesive and was waiting for it to cure so that I could grout. Now on to that final, messy step.

I chose a medium gray epoxy grout suitable for outdoor use so the tile will be able to withstand the icky Michigan weather & freeze-thaw cycle. Since I was worried the epoxy might do funky things to the finish on the pearl, I tested it on a spare one first and found it to be no problem. Great! So I grouted according to the directions, and the tile came out swimmingly.

I had toyed with the idea of doing a final resin coat over the whole surface of the tile to further protect it, but ultimately decided against it. Reading about resins taught me that some of them tend to discolor or dull over time, and I didn’t want to risk that with this tile, especially since this will be outdoors permanently, which may speed up the discoloration. As it turned out, the pearl ended up being recessed enough in the tile that I anticipate the surrounding smalti will protect it nicely from any possible erosion.

What’s Next?

I’m really happy with how this project turned out and how it got me thinking of some new things I’d like to do. Someone left a comment on the Part 1 post that I should start including pearls in my mosaic jewelry, and I think that’s a great idea. I’ve already started using pearls in some other mosaic projects (will post pics soon!), and I think they look so beautiful and are just wonderful to work with.

The indirect method is something I’ve also not given a lot of time to in the past, but I think it needs to see some more love from me. I love how these past two outdoor projects of mine have been so textural, but the pendulum’s gotta swing. Now I want to do something ultra flat. Perhaps a stepping stone is in order to coax back the sun and (eventually) welcome the spring.

Some guys at the studio reminded me that epoxy grout was nothing more than epoxy with sand in it, and were encouraging me to make my own, tempting me with notions of sparkly, glow-in-the-dark grouty goodness. Hmm… should I give it a go? Definitely. But what to make which best shows off the awesomeness of glow-in-the-dark grout? We can save that for a different post.