The saucer of a large terracotta pot serves as the base for this colourful fruit platter.

To achieve some degree of realism choose the colours for your fruit carefully, and take time when cutting the tesserae so they fit accurately within your design. This dish is approximately 460 mm in diameter.

You'll need

Tools:
Brush
Pencil
Stylus (optional)
Goggles and mask
Tile nippers
Mixing containers
Palette knife
Rubber gloves
Rags or cloths
Sponges

Materials:
Shallow terracotta bowl or large plant pot base
Waterproof sealer
Tracing paper and carbon paper (optional)
Glass mosaic tesserae: assorted colours
Multi-purpose tile adhesive
Grey grout

Step 1
Preparation Seal the entire terracotta bowl with water-based sealer. As the bowl may need to be wiped, the sealer stops water entering the porous terracotta, causing the tile adhesive to weaken. Allow the sealer to dry.

Step 2
Draw some fruit shapes and enlarge on a photocopier to fit the size of your bowl. Transfer the design onto the bowl using carbon paper and a stylus. Position the pieces of fruit on the bowl, arranging them-as shown. Alternatively, draw the fruit in freehand directly onto the bowl.

Step 3
Wearing goggles, cut enough tesserae to complete the first piece of fruit. Then cut the tesserae as you go, working on one fruit at a time.

Step 4
Fixing the tesserae Apply the tesserae to the fruit first. Each piece of fruit uses two or more shades of one colour to build up tone and highlights. For example, the apple is made up mainly from crimson tesserae, but a few brighter red tesserae are placed around the base of the apple to add highlights.

Before using adhesive, experiment with the various effects you can achieve by using different shades of the one colour.

Step 5
Using adhesive, complete the fruit using the colours as follows (this is a guide only-feel free to experiment with your own colour choices):

Grapes: Cut the purple tesserae into small circles. Vary the sizes slightly. Use two tones of purple to mosaic the grapes. Add a brown stem.

Banana: This fruit is worked using one shade of yellow. Long, thin black tesserae are used down the middle of the banana, and small black squares are placed at the top and bottom.

Apple: Outline the apple with thin crimson tesserae, and fill in the centre. Highlight areas of the apple with bright red. Add a brown stem and two green leaves.

Pear: Outline the pear with small, thin green tesserae and fill in the centre with two or three shades of green. Add a brown stem.

Pineapple: The base is made up of five orange/yellow tones. Outline the base with thin brown tesserae, add four vertical lines running down the base, and fill in between with the other colours. Add leaf-like shapes to outline the top of the pineapple using three to four shades of green. Fill in with square-shaped tesserae.

Step 6
Cut thin rectangular orange tesserae to run around the base of the bowl. Fix in place with adhesive.

Step 7
Use a solid, contrasting colour to fill in the base of the bowl. Small pieces of dark blue tesserae are used for this bowl. To keep the mosaic work neat, start by sticking a row of rectangular blue tesserae around the row of orange. Fill in the base using randomly shaped tesserae, working on small areas at a time.

Step 8
Use small rectangles (approximately 18 x 20 mm) of turquoise and dark blue to complete the sides of the bowl. The pattern is made up of five vertical rows of dark blue, and two vertical rows of turquoise, repeated. Mark the positions of these tesserae in pencil around the sides of the bowl, and adjust the spacing so they fit around the circumference without needing to be cut.

Step 9
Using the palette knife, apply the adhesive to the sides of the bowl. Allow it to stand for 10 minutes so it becomes slightly tacky. If the adhesive is too wet, the tesserae will slide down the sides. Position the uncut bevelled edge of the tesserae uppermost for both rows to make the finish neater.

Alternative: If you prefer to create an easier design using less colours, select one or two pieces of fruit, such as the pear and apple, and repeat these motifs around the bowl.

Step 10
Cut thin, rectangular red tesserae to run around the top of the bowl and fix them in place with adhesive. Allow 24 hours to dry.

Step 11
Finishing Wearing gloves and using your hands, spread the grout over the tesserae, pushing it into all the gaps between the tesserae (a rubber squeegee may be difficult to manoeuvre within the bowl). Wipe off the excess with a cloth or rag, then use damp sponges to wipe away the residual grout. When dry, polish with a cloth. adhesive to fix a row of thin orange tesserae around the base of the bowl.

Source: Mosaics (Murdoch Books ) a Better Homes and Gardens mini workbook