About my Mosaic Journey
Mandy Yates is a Texas based mosaic artist specializing in handcrafted stained glass mosaics, designed to be both beautiful and functional. Her work ranges from detailed pet memorial portraits to outdoor pieces such as garden stepping stones, benches, birdbaths, and even mosaic skull art. Each piece is individually designed and handcrafted using glass, and set into durable concrete forms, allowing the artwork to live both indoors and outdoors for years to come.
Mandy’s journey into mosaics began unexpectedly in 2016. At the time, she was a mother returning to school and needed meaningful Christmas gifts she could create with limited time and money. She pulled out some stained glass supplies she had experimented with years earlier and began creating mosaic stepping stones. Many of her early pieces featured butterflies, symbols often associated with remembrance and transformation.
When a friend shared photos of the stones online, Mandy received her first custom order. Around the same time, she was volunteering with dog rescue groups and began creating paw print stones and dog-themed mosaics. Soon after, she discovered a way to translate photographs of pets into stained glass mosaic patterns, allowing her to capture the personality and likeness of beloved animals in glass.
What began as a small creative experiment quickly grew into a thriving commission-based art business. By 2017, Mandy officially launched her studio and began taking custom orders for pet memorial mosaics. Since then, she has created hundreds of pieces for clients across the country, each one designed to honor a beloved companion or celebrate a meaningful connection.
Today Mandy’s work is known for blending artistry with durability. Unlike many mosaics intended only for wall display, her pieces are designed to withstand the elements and become part of everyday life—whether placed in a garden, incorporated into a landscape, or displayed inside the home. Many of her memorial stones even contain a pet’s ashes, making them deeply personal and irreplaceable tributes.
Alongside her memorial work, Mandy also creates larger decorative mosaic pieces including benches, sculptural skulls, and statement garden art. Her style often combines bold color, and natural themes inspired by animals, flowers, and the outdoors.
For Mandy, mosaics are more than decorative art, they are lasting markers of memory, love, and connection. Every piece she creates is designed to tell a story and to endure long after the moment that inspired it.