Starry, starry night on black

Starry, starry night on black
6" hand-painted ceramic tile, in 8" black wood frame

Click on image for larger view
(Photo and design copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Many Moons Ago - spacey ceramic tiles

Been feeling kinda spacey lately so planets, galaxies, moons and stars keep cropping up in my artwork. More to come, I hope.

Many Moons Ago tryptich
 Three 6-inch tiles - 20"x8" in alderwood frame

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(design and photo copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Moving through mutations of the Galactic Landscape

I was in a "sixties" kind of mood when I laid this design out on paper (well, actually in Adobe Illustrator).

Original Adobe Illustrator sketch

 

Galactic Landscape after firing with first layers of glaze

But I wasn't happy with the way it looked after the first firing... it was too blah.



Galactic Landscape after firing with third and fourth layers of glaze
(Three 6x6-inch tiles - 8 inches x 20 inches framed)

So I covered it with a reddish glaze, let it dry and then applied the top layer of Black Cobblestone. Now I am thinking I should have reversed that order.

But I'm not unhappy with it and don't want to mess with it again. I am done and on to other ideas.

(designs and photos copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Change of heart for ceramic tiles

I painted a set of four ceramic tiles but when they came out of the kiln I wasn't very happy with the outcome.

Once again, jumping into the unknown, I decided to take a chance on destroying hours of work to create something more satisfactory.

I covered the fired tiles with two coats of Mayco Royal Fantasy Jungle Gems glaze and hoped for the best.

So, was the experiment successful?

As I have noted before, it is just about impossible to show ceramic glazes on a computer monitor. The glazing on the tile is a lot more complex than can be shown this way.

But without me reaching through your computer screen, scaring the daylights out of you, and handing you the physical tile, this will have to suffice.

Below is the result.  

I am pretty happy with them. I call the series Ghost Hearts 1-4. The tiles have an eerie, ethereal quality. The more I look at them, the more I like them.

4.25 inch ceramic tiles, 6.25 inches framed.
(Designs and photos copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Twinkle twinkle, black star, white star



Black Star One - 4/14" ceramic tile - 6-1/4" framed

Black Star Two - 4/14" ceramic tile - 6-1/4" framed

I am not sure if I am finished with this idea yet.

I painted two tiles entitled Black Star and two entitled White Star.

As I was painting them I thought they would go together as a four-tile set. But I think they are too different.

White Star One - 4/14" ceramic tile - 6-1/4" framed

White Star Two - 4/14" ceramic tile - 6-1/4" framed

The pencil drawings (which is how I start out on any of my tile paintings) were intended as one piece of artwork. And when I laid down the first two layers of glaze that was still my intention.

But the black overglaze on two and the white overglaze on the other two completely changed the story.

I am deciding if I should paint two more black and two more white tiles or leave these as two and two and create another "star" series from scratch.

In any case, I think before I paint anymore tiles I need to update my website.

(Designs and photos copyright roslyn m wilkins)

I'll take inspiration wherever I can find it

Eclipses of the Moons, 2012

Four 4-1/4" ceramic tiles. 10-1/2" framed.

For the past ten years I have woken up with these little jewelry chests staring back at me from the dresser across the room.

Do you think they might have been my inspiration for these tiles I took out of the kiln this morning?

(Photos and designs copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Ceramic tiles that bend in the road

It's been almost three weeks since I was able to put any tiles in the kiln. Leading tours, being out of town on a business conference, and other duties have kept me separated from my paintbrush.

I have to say that these days, glazing tiles is my favorite thing to do and I actually resent anything that stands in my way, no matter how enjoyable it may be.

These four tiles came out of the kiln around January 5. They are truly a labor of love with many coats of glaze and four firings in the kiln in an attempt to get something I halfway liked. Out of desperation I finally decided to apply two coats of Cobblestone glaze, black on two and white on two. Back in the kiln one last time and voila! It worked.

These were originally painted to fit together in a four-tile frame, but I prefer them each in their individual frames.

I am calling the series Bends in the Road. 4.125" tiles. 6.125" framed.

(Photos and designs copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Hypsography. You'll have to look it up.

I am calling these Hypsography White and Hypsography Black. I can't decide which one I like better. Well, I like them both equally in their own way. These are 4.125-inch ceramic tiles. Now I want to do something bigger in a similar style.

(Designs and photos copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Latest Ballona Wetlands Marsh Series Tile

Just back from the kiln, my latest Ballona Wetlands inspired hand-painted ceramic tile. 6" x 6".

I may do a series with sunsets as the theme.

(All designs and photos on this blog copyright Roslyn M Wilkins and not to be used without permission.)