a handful of ceramic tile tesserae cut up ready for mosaic

A Beginner's Guide to Mosaic Tesserae | How to choose the right Tesserae for your mosaic project

March 20, 2026

Tesserae

Tesserae can be anything, but like your substrate, the piece only lasts as long as it's weakest part.

Our templates are designed for 2 to 3mm pieces of tile. I use 6mm thick ceramic gloss tiles, and cut them to size.

But your options are endless.... First you must think about where you plan to display your final piece. Your tesserae needs to be able to live in that environment without degrading quickly from everyday use.

I use ceramic gloss tiles as I like to install mine outdoors often. And I love the way the gloss shines in the sunlight as you observe the mosaic.

Types of Tesserae

Stone

Marble, pebbles, granite, quartz, etc

Advantages

Extremely durable, natural range of colours, can be polished to a shine or left raw and rough

Disadvantages

Limited colour range, heavy material, really expensive materials and can be labour intensive to work with and install.

Tip: Stone materials are perfect for high-traffic walkways like paths or roads, because of their durable properties, they withstand the weight and friction required from materials in such highly abused areas.

Glass

Smalti, Vitreous Glass, Stained Glass etc

Advantages

Brilliant colour range, reflective, lightweight compared to stone, readily available, reasonably priced.

Disadvantages

Obviously fragile, poor quality pigments can fade in the sun.

Tip: because of transparency your substrate should be prepared to accommodate that you will be able to see it, whether that be a coat of paint, or using a pane of glass to emphasize the clarity instead.

Ceramic

Glazed, unglazed, and hand-painted.

Advantages

Affordable and widely available, water resistant when glazed, can be mass produced or handmade.

Disadvantages

Less luminous than glass and can chip over time.

Sad clown mosaic mounted on floating frame outdoor safe for sale

Metals/Mirrors/Precious Gems

Gold and silver leaf smalti, mirror tiles, gemstones

Advantages

Unique, feature pieces, can create spectacular stand out pieces.

Disadvantages

Expensive, delicate and rare

Recycled Materials

Trencadis: Broken crockery and tiles

Recycled Glass

Found Objects: Beads, shells, buttons, even plastic recyclable normally binned items.

Things to think about

-Beginner's usually start with ceramic tiles or vitreous glass due to ease of cutting.

Location:

-Outdoors (Stone, Ceramic, Durable Glass)

-Indoors (Glass, Ceramic, Mixed Media)

Style:

-Classical (Stone, Marble)

-Byzantine /Religious Inspired (Smalti)

-Contemporary (Trencadis, Recycled)

Budget:

-Natural Stone and smalti are premium materials and are very expensive.

-Vitreous Glass and Ceramic are more affordable and readily available

Symbolism of Materials

There could also be a symbolic meaning to consider:

Stone: Permanence, earth, tradition

Glass: Light, divinity, transformation

Ceramic: Craft, culture, accessibility

Metal/Gold: Power, sacredness, eternity

Recycled Objects: Renewal, sustainability, personal storytelling.

In Conclusion

When deciding, by passion and creative inspiration. Stop and think about what you're hoping to achieve. Is it a certain look? If so, you'd be material lead. If you wanted to decorate a certain special substrate, a statue, an heirloom, a paver, a wall, something personal. Your project would be substrate lead.

Ultimately some of you have an idea in your mind of what you want to create, you've either seen something you want to replicate, or you've been inspired to create something unique and are trying to make that vision a reality. Most people have a starting point, a step in a certain direction to achieve what they've set out to achieve.

If you're unsure where to even take that first step, don't worry. I can help guide you there, too. We have a wonderful selection of kits that help me guide you from anywhere in the world and allows you to immerse yourself into the experience of mosaicing knowing you will be guided and directed in every way you might need to progress with confidence, you only have to follow 1 2 3 4