I fired this set of tiles Friday night. I was able to open the kiln around 1:00pm when the kiln temp was down to about 200 degrees Fahrenheit (about 93 Celsius). The tiles were still too hot to touch so I had to place them in the frame with oven mitts. I was attending the Culver City Art Group holiday potluck in the evening and needed the pieces for the mini show.
Whenever we have a meeting (as opposed to an activity such as a gallery visit) the members can bring some artwork for the other attendees to vote on. Then once a year we add up the points and declare a winner.
As well as cats and scenes from my travels, I enjoy painting mandalas and abstracts. I am classifying this set of tiles as abstract. I used four different glazes of two coats each (Mayco Crystalite and Elements).
As I have mentioned before, ceramic tile painting has its frustrations. For me, the biggest one is not being able to see the colors before they are fired or how the glazes will behave in the firing process. This is also the delightful part. There are always surprises, both good and bad.
Although I like the idea of a quartet of tiles in one frame, once they came out of the oven I realized they would probably have been better in separate frames arranged next to each other, as each tile is like an individual painting. However, too late, as I did not have the required frames on hand.
Today I tried to pry the tiles out of the frame with a chisel and hammer but only succeeded in chipping the glaze and the frame. Fortunately, I was able to repair the damage. So I will have to leave these in the frame and paint a new set to be framed individually.
(Design and photo copyright roslyn m wilkins.)
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