Several people have asked me for a tutorial on painting tiles to install in their bathrooms or kitchens or to make trivets to give as gifts. So here goes with Installment One.
To start, a little background: I first began painting tiles when a potter friend (okay, a boyfriend) had some nice, shiny tiles lying around, some old glaze and one huge kiln (and several smaller ones) in his garage. It seemed like a fun thing to do, so why not?
I think I was hooked from the first brush stroke on that tile. His tiles were already glazed (like the ones you buy at Home Depot) so I didn't need any clear glaze to create a hard coating.
Doing it this way the colors are not at their brightest, but that was okay with me. So after we broke up, not knowing any better, I continued to paint on previously glazed tiles.
Other interests came and went in my life and it was several years later that I decided to get back into painting tiles again as I found I missed that kind of art. I took a couple of classes at Culver City Adult School, and with my (now) friend Lori Escalera with the Parks and Recreation Department, as I didn't have my own kiln at the time. By then I was painting on bisque (once fired) tiles, not twice-fired, glazed tiles.
One thing I learned from Lori was to make a sample palette. So that is where we will start in Installment Two, and I'll share the rest of my tile-painting adventures with you then.
I usually work on 6-inch square bisque tiles. I buy all my tiles and supplies from Aftosa but there are local suppliers who I am told are cheaper—you'll have to check this out for yourself—and certainly a ton of stores on the internet.
I use only Mayco Stroke & Coat Wonderglaze because that's what I'm used to, and I know what to expect from that brand. There are many other brands to choose from; again, that's up to you to check out. Some fun, trippy glazes for weird and wondrous results are Mayco Chunkies, Elements and Crystalites, but that's a whole other story that maybe I'll tell after the tutorials (gives you something to look forward to, eh?).
As for brushes, my favorites are found at Aftosa, Red Pointer Brushes. Again, you can probably find these locally at an art supply store. For more detailed work I use whatever watercolor or acrylic brushes I find necessary. I'll talk about some of those later on.
After all the decorative painting is done, I use two coats of a Duncan clear glaze. But we'll get into that later. I'll post a complete list of supplies somewhere along the line so you will be all set to get started on your own project.
In the meantime, you may want to think about what your subject will be (this is, hands down, the hardest part!). My favorites are cats, my travels, wetlands (birds, trees and plants) and the ocean (as in fish).
See you next time!
(photo and design copyright roslyn m wilkins)
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