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

Knee Deep in Alligators

Again 
(knee deep in Alligators) 
Taking a short break from blogging.

I have accepted a large project which will take about two months for me to complete. 

Many more to paint. 

Each hand painted tile has to be different. 

I will miss you (a lot). 

Gina 

We're going to Italy

But not together

It came out of my kiln this morning. 

It will soon be on it's way to Panicale, Umbria in Italy. 

Mr G and I will leave a few weeks later, and arrive about the same time as the tile, only the tile is going to Umbria and we are going to Bolzano in the Alto Adige, Italy.

Where the Market place will be aglow with the smells, sounds and sights of the Christkindl  Markt.  

And more Christmas Markets to visit in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Linz and Regensburg and many sights along the "Romantic Strasse"  and the "Castle Road."  

And a little side trip to Berching. 
Have you heard of Berching?  I will show you pictures when I return.  It's a very special place.  



The House Tile?

Most likely, I will never see again. 

Have a great week my dear Friends.

Gina   

You can't tell

But my tile came out of the kiln crooked.



I fired it too hot and too long.  It looks all right from this angle so I get to keep it. (Remember, I get to keep all rejects).

My Father never kept pieces that were not perfect.

It was a "ceremony" when he had to destroy one of his carvings.

Now you can see the problem.

The Albarello, to the left, you might think should be considered a reject.  No so.  I deliberately made it look old. 

I could frame the above tile (as I have done here) and no one would ever know that it is crooked. 

Have a great week my dear

Blogging Friends.

I'm still toiling in my garden.

Gina

Oops!

It happens

During firing it cracked right down the middle.
So, I applied a temporary antiquing jell to make it look old.
Now the crack almost looks like a tree.



I painted another tile.  This one also broke. 
The Tile Setter dropped it while installing it in the kitchen of one of my clients.

I think that this tile is not meant to be. 

None of us are perfect!

Gina

Lucinda paints Maiolica

My Trip to Bountiful


Last week I made a trip to Bountiful to visit with my artist friend, Cindy Ericksen.  I was excited to see her newly finished Garden Mural.  Cindy is a very fine and highly accomplished Potter

This is a very large Mural.  Cindy hand crafted every single tile and then painted them with powder pigments.  They were then fired, in her kiln,  to about 1800 degrees,  not so different from hand painted tiles of the Italian Renaissance, still produced in Italy and other parts of the world today.

This is the upper section of Cindy's Mural. Cindy tells me that she loves to design and paint intricate border details.

Cindy is a very accomplished potter.  She learned her craft through a very strenuous training program at the the University of Utah.  What they didn't teach her and what is seldom taught in the United States is a style of ceramic painting known as Maiolica.    

Not only is Cindy a fine artist she is also a very special person, she is also a very special friend, and a very special fellow artist.

Gina