Making Tiles From Random Pieces of Artwork

I’m still working on the art project for my daughters 4th grade class.  The project is for an auction taking place in October.  I spoke about the auction in a previous post, In Art Sometimes The Whole Is Indeed Greater Than The Parts. 

 I have to get ready for the next step the kids will be doing next week, randomly arranging tiles.  I’ve taken all the artwork created by the class and randomly cut off rectangles larger than the Rummikub® game pieces I’m using for tiles.  I tried to make them as random as possible.  Although, you might think otherwise, this is a collage piece not a mosaic piece.  The tiles are only part of the material we will use for our piece.

Here’s a photo right after I dumped a bag of Rummikub®s on the table.   I used a decoupage technique.  I adhered  the paper to the tiles using either Mod Podge® or gel medium; whichever, I happened to open at the time. :-)  Since I worked on the dining room table, I put down a vinyl cloth (found at a second hand store) to protect the table.

On the right are finished tiles. They have been sealed with gel medium and are drying. On the left are tiles in process. You can see untrimmed tiles with artwork already on them, blank tiles and paintings on paper. The paper was decoupaged onto the tiles, then trimmed to fit the tiles.

No one in the class has seen the tiles yet.  I think they’ll be pleasantly surprised when they see the tiles grouped together.