Last summer, I promised to share photos of the completed tile project for our friends! If you didn’t get to read the first blog, TILE PROJECT FOR FRIENDS, I explained how Kent made over 300 tiles by hand for their newly built home. In the following blog, TILE PROJECT: PART II, I shared how the project was progressing. The tiles were installed in the fall, and Kent recently had a chance to stop by and snap some photos! We are so pleased to have Kent’s stoneware tiles enhancing our friend’s home. Now, we need to find some time to make tiles for our kitchen! More to come about that…
TILE PROJECT: PART II
Recently, we fired 336 tiles in our outdoor gas-fueled brick kiln. When we fire that many tiles, the kiln cools very slowly, and it is hard to wait for the results! After taking the kiln to a temperature of 2380 degrees and letting it cool over three days, it was finally ready to unload. If you missed the blog, TILE PROJECT FOR FRIENDS, these tiles are for our friends building a contemporary home near us! The tiles will be a back-splash in their kitchen and look awesome with their marble countertops.
You may notice that the tiles look to be different dimensions than the tiles in the first blog, and that is true! Unfortunately, the first batch of tiles did have a little warping, because they needed a bit more grog in the clay. (Nobody ever said ceramics was easy!) Kent wasn’t happy with them because he wanted the tiles to be perfectly flat, so he mixed in more grog, changed the dimensions, and remade them.
After the bisque firing, he did a light glaze application, so the tiles resembled a stone. This glaze gets more variation and subtle artistic differences when applied thinly.
Kent and I can’t wait to see how the tiles look when installed, and we will share the installation photos soon!
Flat tiles in the kiln!
Stacks of tiles waiting to be packed up.
Adorn your home with handmade tiles.
TILE PROJECT FOR FRIENDS
Roll, cut, smooth. Roll, cut, smooth. Roll, cut, smooth. You get the idea. There is a lot of repetition in the making of handmade tiles! There are also a lot of steps. Roll, cut, and smooth are the first three. Then comes slow, careful drying, bisque firing, glazing, and glaze firing. The main thing about handmade tiles is that they take time! We have found that drying slowly is required to achieve flatter handmade tiles that are easy to install. Yesterday, Kent and our friend Lance spent the entire day rolling out clay tiles and cutting around wood templates Lance made.
Kent and I have done a few tile projects by commission. I have made custom tiles for a wine wall and, more recently, a carved tile for an antique piece of furniture. Kent’s tiles were used in a Parade of Homes House a few years back, and we also tiled our gallery bathroom this past year. It is fun to get off the potter’s wheel occasionally and challenge ourselves to try new things.
Kent and Lance spent an entire day rolling out clay tiles because Lance and his wife Chrissy are building a new home. This is not just any home. Their house has a contemporary spirit reflecting the couple’s design sense. Their home embraces industrial materials and natural finishes, and although it is not yet finished, it inspires house envy in most who drive by! Lance offered to make the tiles with Kent since he has taken classes at Blue Sage Pottery and knows his way around our studio. It means a lot for someone to want your art featured in their home, and Kent is excited about this project. Check back for updates about how they glaze the tiles!
Cutting the tiles around the wood template.
Working on the edges of the tile.
Ready to dry the tiles!