FIRE IT UP! Firing clay tiles

Helloooo everyone!

I'm not a pro at painting and firing tile, but I do dabble and have some fun once in a while so here is a bit of my dabble.

In this case I just started with a normal 6 x 6 clay tile like you would use on any tile floor.
I use Duncan ceramic paint or any paint I can "borrow" from my dad.  You can draw out your painting beforehand if you want, but when I do abstract type designs like the ones I'm doing here I just start right in throwing paint around.  The tricky part with these paints is many of them look nothing like the color they are going to be once finished.

This is taken shortly after getting the paint on ~ it dries fast if you  put a thin coat on, but in areas like the circles I wanted a more consistent color so I put it on thicker which takes overnight to fully dry.The clumps you see are from the paint I used that has little crystals in it that explode with star-bursts of color. Even after painting the entire surface you still get areas where the paint is inconsistent after firing. It's sort of like the prize in a box of Cracker Jacks ~ you never know what you're going to get which to me is part of the beauty.

After they are fully dry I load them up in the kiln, use a 016 cone, gently close the lid while whispering a prayer and hit the power button.  A cone 016 gets to a temperature of up to 1400 degrees before it bends the cone and shuts the kiln off. I don't go near the kiln until the next day and still the clay is warm.
Every time I approach the kiln to see what the end results were my heart picks up a beat with excitement and fear.  I lift the lid looking heavenwards saying "please don't be cracked, please don't be cracked".  It's like opening a present every time!

The end results

I like to float them on plexi-glass and put a frame around them, use them for hot plates, or incorporate them into a tile job for the back splash or floor.

Here I used some I painted for the front entryway at my gallery as accent tiles

So this is just a tiny part of what can be done with a kiln, paint and tile. Maybe sometime I can show you some hand thrown pieces I've done. In fact, I suddenly have the desire to buy some clay....

Peggy ~ Goodgosh ~ GG

    


 

The Wooden Santa Egg

Okay, I have a thing for Santas….and over the years I have come up with different ways for making them.

Several years ago I started decorating and painting wooden eggs.  I started with the largest one which is about 2” tall down to the smallest which is about 1” tall.

 I use dimensional fabric paint for the texture of the beards and for some of the other embellishments. The designs and patterns on their coats are all painted on. For the fur I used snow paint.  

Once again I get ideas and colors from old vintage postcards and illustrations of all different kinds of Santas.

I don’t remember how I started painting on the eggs, it was just one of those things I picked up and started doing. From there I started painting on all kinds of small wooden shapes.  I have painted small boxes, sleds, little wooden spoons, and even clothespins. Some of these have more detail, some have less. I tried some wood burning and liked the results of that with a little bit of color added.

One day I got my hands on some unpainted nesting dolls and tried them out.  They took a while to do, as they were bigger than the eggs, but I had just as much fun creating them as the eggs. They would never compete with the Russian nesting dolls, but they were my own style and I was happy enough with them.

I haven’t painted any of these eggs or nesting dolls in a few years, as I moved on to other projects. But, I am thinking it may be time to go back…if my reading glasses will let me see to paint so tiny these days.

(jj)
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