A new kitchen in Washington DC gets a new hearth treatment

I sense a renewed  interest 

in hand painted ceramic tiles.

My tiles are hand painted with Italian powder pigments.

This is how they look before they are fired.  

I begin by painting circles on once fired bisque tiles.

The books are there to steady my arm.

I center the tiles on the Banding Wheel and place the color laden brush on the tile and let the wheel spin.

(keeping fingers crossed that the lines will meet where they began)

There is a shop in Deruta Italy, (Mondo Ceramica) where I purchase my pigments, glazes and brushes. 

There is enough to last a lifetime. 

I recently noticed that I use more yellow than any other pigment. That could be an excuse to head for Deruta on our upcoming trip to Italy in April. 

I might even stop in at the Scuola d' Arte and visit with my favorite teacher.   

Once the images have been completely painted,  2 coats of clear glaze is applied. 

They will now go into my kiln and be fired to 1823 degrees Fahrenheit.  

This is when the pigments fuse with the clear glaze and this is when the magic happens.  

 The firing cycle lasts a little over 24 hours.  

The colors will never fade, they are permanent.  

They are painted in the 600-year-old Italian Maiolica tradition. 

The only difference is that they are painted in Utah, and not in Italy.  

My tiles will last many lifetimes no matter how many times you scrub or clean them. 

 This is my favorite kind of tile to paint.  

They all tell a story. 

Spring is coming to our neck of the woods.  

Hallelujah. 

Gina