The Studio Journal · Commissions
Start from the wall, not the catalogue. As a working rule, framed art looks right at about two-thirds the width of whatever sits below it — a sofa, a mantel shelf, a console — and a mosaic built into a shower or backsplash is sized to the architecture: the width of the wall panel or niche it fills. Then check viewing distance: a piece read from across a room needs a bolder, larger design than one read at arm's length over a sink. Measure the wall, photograph it straight-on, and size the piece to both.
Over a mantel, sofa or sideboard, a framed mosaic at roughly two-thirds the width of the furniture below it sits comfortably — narrower can look lost, wider can crowd the edges. Break the rule deliberately for a long, low panoramic piece over a fireplace (our own framed mountain panel runs wide and shallow, because the mantel is wide and the ceiling is not), or for a tall narrow piece in a stairwell or beside a door, where height is the space you actually have.
A shower feature panel is sized to the wall it is built into — commonly the centre of the main shower wall, framed by the plain field tile around it — and a kitchen backsplash piece is sized to the run between counter and cabinets, often as one hero section rather than the whole splashback. A full mosaic mural is measured in square feet and designed to the exact wall, corners and niches included. Send the wall's width and height, a straight-on photo, and what sits around it; the design is then drawn to that real space, not stretched to fit later.
Mosaic is read in tesserae — individual pieces of glass or stone. A design viewed from six to ten feet away wants larger pieces and a strong, simple silhouette; fine detail melts at distance. A piece viewed up close — a backsplash, a tabletop, a small framed panel by a desk — can carry small pieces and delicate shading. Tell us where the piece will live and how far away people will stand, and the cutting scale follows.
Honest anchors: small framed Lion & Crown pieces start from $650, medium panels from $1,200, and murals and shower features run $180–$250 per square foot depending on materials and detail. Every piece is made to order with a minimum of 30 days in the studio, shipping is at the buyer's cost, and the Christmas order book closes November 15.
