Family Planning

Someday my husband and myself hope to have lots of grandchildren and there is no time like the present to begin planning ... besides what's more important than a good education? In anticipation I have begun making tiles, both round and square. This particular batch is round. I have letters, sizes, patterns, colors, and even words. Below is a close up.


This project started out as a class assignment for a low relief 18" x 18" tile set and has quickly escalated into a whole lot of fun. All the glazes are lead-free low fire and I will probably coat the backs with a clear acrylic gloss to keep them from small chips.

India Handpainted Beads

This is my variation of India style handpainted beads. I had a teeny brush, and instead of the dots would have liked to do the small 'm's around these curves, but I found it impossible. So I used dots instead. These still need to be coated with a clear gloss and refired.

The Assignment

One of the assignments in Ceramics II was to make an 18"x18" tile, or tiles which would measure 18"x18". So these are my initial efforts. I have a 1" square cutter which I used to do these. Basically I used the slab roller at the college and covered the slab with plastic, cut each tile out, then went to work decorating each one with various tools and stamps. I have a lot tiles to do. I wanted translucent glazes in order to bring out some of the more delicate details so I brought them home and glazed them in low fire glazes.

I used a technique for these that I do with beads. I glued each one of these tiles and small accent tiles with Elmers Glue. The glue burns off in the firing. I was glad that when I removed these shelves and carried them into my studio that none fell off. I expected some to fall, but none did.

So I'm going to roll out some more slabs today and continue onward ...