Tiles have been on my mind the past few months. I put this set of eight in the bisque before I left for Europe and glazed them once I returned. Looking back, I realize that sandwiched between these two happenings was the multicolored rainbow of ceramic squares that I came across in Spain and Portugal. Like a ceramic canvas, they have endless possibilities! My dear mother requested some tiles for her new home which is tucked up in the New Hampshire wilderness, so I felt compelled to use a nature theme. All the impressions were made with natural materials. I was amazed to see how many nice trimmings I found even though it was winter at the time of scavenging. The borders I did with sea shells and driftwood I have collected over the years. With so much already going on, I just rubbed black slip into the impressions and finished with transparent glaze.
Now about that tile rainbow, one of the most stunning aspects of Portugal was that just about every surface is tiled! Apparently the climate is so mild that it makes sense to do this on the exterior of buildings as well. No boring brick here.
And then there is of course, the all consuming Alhambra. Located in Granada, Spain (which I am going to have to gush more about in a later post), the old Moorish castle is certainly on my "wonders of the world" list. As gorgeous is the ornate wall carvings and dramatic setting is, the tiling is my favorite part.
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