Most people make custom mosaics by cutting existing tiles. However, there are so many ways that you can experiment with making custom mosaics designs if you are an artist with a kiln. Being such an artist gives you much more flexibility on how you make your cuttings on the tiles. One of the major advantages of having your own custom mosaics is that you have the ability to shape the clay before firing. This means that you will not be limited in terms of the shape as you can make any shape you want or even draw. For example, instead of having a fish mosaic tile made from broken tiles, you can cut out a large impression of fish from clay then surround the cutout with broken tiles. This will definitely give your mosaic and more interesting look. There are so many ways that you can customize the fish. For example, you can put texture on the fish or even paint it with underglazes. Another way of customizing this mosaic design is by making it 3D. For the overall tile, you can eliminate the sharp edges by rounding the corners.
If you decide to go with underglazing, make sure that the glazing is done a down the sides of the piece so that one cannot see the white edges after grouting. This process is vital especially if you are using grout color that is different from clay and glaze. There are mosaic artists who prefer using a band or a ring saw to cut their custom mosaics to shape. It is important to note that ring saw are specially designed to cut porcelain glass and ceramic. The ring saw allows you to cut your custom mosaics with precision without chipping the glaze. The idea here is that while you are cutting, the piece is already fired up meaning that you can tell exactly the color that each piece will be. When making a linear glass mosaic tile, a lot of effort goes into making sure that the piece is flat. When making your own custom mosaics, there is always an added advantage as to why you should not have a perfectly flat surface. One of the main advantages is that warped surfaces tend to reflect light towards different angles. This is what gives your mosaic pieces a more unique design-sometimes it appears like every piece is of a different color. However, the warping has to be perfect and when it is done wrongly; you will end up with a very uneven surface.