Cape May Map Cartography in Glass Tile Smalti Mosaic

This mosaic map of Cap May is a 50th birthday present for my brother. It is based on the arial view of the Cape May coast line to include the canal and the US Coast Guard base.

Finished Italian smalti mosaic of Cape May.

The style of this mosaic was inspired by Rachel Sager, but more closer followed the Google image map of the area. I struggled when trying to represent the main streets; their definition got lost as the mosaic filled in. Maybe I should have left a 1/16 inch gap. Quite a bit of the marsh area by the Garden State Parkway was edited out because I just ran out of room on this scale.

The Google image of Cape May.

I am always surprised at how long a mosaic takes to complete. I get so invested in the placement of each tiny piece of glass. I try to plan the balance of color, like framing the terra-cotta colored compass with green, its color compliment. I hoped this would give a focal point with so much gray in the land mass, but I hated it. I chiseled out the tiny bits and replaced them with deep chocolate brown bars that fade into the charcoal gray grout. It's better, I think.

My progress on the Cape may mosaic. 

Finally finished. Happy Birthday Brian!