Bert Bechamel, Professional Mosaic Artist

Bert has finally finished this amazing commission art piece for a friend! It is spectacular!

The final piece!

There are gems that sparkle in the light.

He bought the gems from the local sewing and fabric stores. The local ladies sew them on to their traditional clothing.

The 8 ball is particularly impressive! Very difficult to make such small pieces.

 I really like how he shaped the white tiles to outline the bones in the face, like the eye sockets. Here you can also see how the black grout highlights the contours.

The details are amazing. That's a spade, diamond, heart, and club.

In the picture above, you can see more detail of the background pattern. I told him he should have just done a scattered broken tile background for a quick, easy finish, but he insisted on making this complex pattern. He took a picture of a cobblestone road in town as his template.

Three highlighted pieces -- a green and two white.

In the photo above, I've highlighted three pieces that explain why it took so long for Bert to finish this. He carves out the tiles to the exact shapes he needs to fit in the space. This is no ordinary mosaic where the artist just breaks pieces and fits them in willy-nilly! Bert is a perfectionist! He told me sometimes it takes him 45 minutes to make one piece. 😲

Congratulations, Bert, on this great artwork!