Hard truths. Real conversations. Welcome to A Word ... With Jason Johnson, our new podcast about race in American politics and society. Launching tomorrow on your favorite podcast platform. | Slate.com

📣 COMING NEXT WEEK: Hear Me Out is Slate’s newest podcast, hosted by veteran journalist Celeste Headlee. Join us for smart, sharp debate on issues that matter. New episodes every Tuesday, beginning on March 21. Subscribe here: https://slate.com/podcasts/hearmeout | Slate.com

Pick a Slate. Personalize it. Tell it how it is. | Slate and Tell

I use various tools when working with slate. Here I’m using a spokeshave blade to split the slate. You could also use a chisel. In fact you just need some kind of thin blade that you can drive into the slate to split it! One of the fun parts about splitting slate is seeing what’s inside. The surfaces on this piece were particularly gorgeous! If you’d like to learn more about how to prepare slate to use in mosaics, I cover this in my Slate Mosaic course at Mosaic Arts Online. They currently have