Mrs. Graham has been teaching students of all ages to make mosaics.  The result is often stunning and makes people stand up and take notice.  The process, however, to achieve that result is quite laborious and intense.

The first step is to lay out the design, using small, often sharp, pieces of glass.  Once the layout is complete, it is time to glue each individual piece that is being used and then wait – a really long time! – for the glue to dry and set.   When the glue is dry, the artist takes grout and spreads it over the whole design, making sure to fill in all of the cracks.  When the grout dries, a sponge is used to wipe any residual grout from the glass.  It is important to wipe in one direction only, not back and forth.  Wiping back and forth smears the grout and it defeats the purpose of trying to clean off the glass.  Another important note is that when cleaning the glass pieces with the sponge it is essential to make sure that the grout is even around each of the glass pieces.  Also make sure that the glass pieces are laid in the grout with none of the edges sticking out.  When the shards of class are cleaned off, the only thing left to do is wait for the grout to re-dry.

One of the crown jewels at South Shore, in regards to mosaics, is a table that Emma Winge, Signe Branham, Megan Smith, Jackie Jones, and Halie Rivord completed at the end of last school year.  The entire project took them about eight weeks to complete.  The project taught the students to collaborate and they are very proud of their efforts.  The table is displayed in the high school library for all to enjoy.