Creating art from broken pieces

While she loved creating and often made various pieces of art, Claire Conn, owner of The Mosaic Hideaway, had never made a mosaic or stained-glass piece until high school. Along with her mom and sister, she went to Mosaic Madness and completed her own mosaic project, instantly falling in love with the art form.

“I had never worked with glass,” Conn said. “It was something totally different, (and) I liked the challenge of it.”

Over the years, Conn has found creating mosaics and stained-glass to be a time of relaxation.

“When you do it, it’s meditative in a way and relaxing,” she said. “It takes your mind off everything else. You’re making something new with all these little broken pieces that people would normally throw away.”

While in college, Conn began working at Mosaic Madness in 2008. She loved connecting with the customers and was able to strengthen her skills as a mosaic and stained-glass artist. In 2012, the owners of Mosaic Madness were looking to sell, so Conn bought the business.

She operated out of their storefront in downtown until summer 2020. In September 2020, Conn changed the name to The Mosaic Hideaway, with the opening of a new storefront. After closing the storefront at the end of 2021 to have more time with her children, Conn now uses The Mosaic Hideaway to teach pop-up classes, create custom mosaics and stained-glass art, and more.

When making mosaics, Conn said the first step is to find a base, which could be a wood cutout, a flowerpot, steppingstone, tabletop or more. Next, you gather all your materials and plan your design.

“I love using recycled materials like broken glass, old pottery or dishes you find stuck away in a box somewhere – turning that into something new is rewarding,” Conn said.

After gluing your design in place, leaving a small space between each piece, you fill it in with grout, covering all the little spaces. Conn said mosaics are simple, and anyone can do it, from children to seniors.

At her pop-up mosaic classes, Conn explains how to create one, but lets her attendees dig through her box of broken glass and create their own piece.

Her stained-glass classes follow more structure, with Conn walking through each step with the attendees.

When making stained-glass, Conn said the first step is to use a tool to score, or to make an etch on, a sheet of glass and then use pliers to break the glass along the score line. Next, you use a glass grinder to smooth out the edges to make it the correct shape. Once all the glass pieces are ready, you take a thin ribbon of copper foil, wrapping it around the glass piece’s edge like an adhesive. The final step is to use a soldering iron to melt the copper between the different pieces and connect them all.

Conn’s favorite part of owning The Mosaic Hideaway is watching people learn a new form of art.

“When they come in, they’re like ‘Oh, I’m not creative. I can’t do this,’ ” she said. “Then at the end, they’re like, ‘Wow, I just made this all on my own.’ It’s rewarding to share that with people.”

Conn’s pop-ups have limited spots, so she requires people to reserve their spot ahead on her website. Her next class will be creating cactus mosaics at Prickly Boba, located at 108 E. Franklin St., from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. June 16. A full list of her pop-up classes can be found on her website or on social media.

The Mosaic Hideaway also sells mosaic kits and finished glass art, like earrings, at With Willing Hands and Paper Leaves in Waxahachie.

For more information, visit https://www.themosaichideaway.com/ or follow @TheMosaicHideaway on Facebook and @mosaichideaway on Instagram.

Originally published June 8, 2023 - https://www.waxahachiesun.com/arts_and_entertainment/creating-art-from-broken-pieces/article_abd03080-0619-11ee-bbff-63383e379c0d.html