Hello all. I am thinking of starting a mosaic tile business. So I was wondering if anyone has done this and if it is a good idea. I am a very creative person and want to find something in life that I love to do. I have not made anything yet but have went and got books so I can make sure I do it the right way!! :-) But before I put much time or money in it I wanted to knock the idea around. I am sure there are places to buy the tiles and materials I would need but don't know where to start to look for them. I did look on e-bay but not for sure what a good deal is. Also, is there anything like grants out there to help a woman artist get started??? Thanks so much to anyone who replies.
PinkBear

Check out a google or yahoo or msn search for tile mosaics or similar and check out the competition / sources...

I think your two most potential customers are..

1. Businesses (restuarant) that value something like this

2. Custom home builders that you can subcontract for

I have a friend in the custom home business that occasionally builds a "show" home in a new subdivision... and they typically "pull out all the stops" and have used local "artists" to create custom murals and tile work for the homes. They typically get a reduced cost for the work and the benefit to the artist is the referals from the people that casually visit the show homes (vs. the potential buyers).


Marlin Creek - Idea Seeds
http://marlincreek.com

Mako's Kitchen
http://makoskitchen.com

The reality is that you can actually go to salvage yards and get plenty of materials for pennies. As for where to start you might want to find your local Chamber of Commerce or even start looking for flea markets to see what people are most interested in when it comes to what you create.
By the way I think its a great idea, especially if you decide to choose inspiraional art that already exist and just make a mosaic out of it. That might grab lots of people's attention. Think Big


Good Luck

Jose A. Rivera
info@atlantisfishtank.com