Tile "Quilt"

I made these tiles because I envisioned a "quilt" of ceramic tiles. Despite the constant reminder from my hand-building teacher, who wanted me to apply a white porcelain slip before carving and painting, I left them "clay" colored for painting. I really wanted them to look like clay pieces, not watercolors or cloth or anything else. I made the tiles large (8"x8") and very thin.

The idea was to have a 3x3 grid of tiles, tied together with leather shoelace-like string, and put in a slightly rustic "Arts and Crafts" like frame. After I made 11 tiles, the people at the studio looked through them and decided that this group "goes together." You can see the stack of other tiles in the top right corner of the photo in which I attempted to capture the layout (wow, the iPhone and I are not a good combination for good photos). My teacher came up with the idea that I stagger them, as seen in the last photo. I would place them in two rows, staggered, to create a 2x6 grid, or really a 2x12 grid, with every other space being blank.

I had several problems in my grand vision. First, the "sky blue" -- actually called turquoise by the underglaze manufacture -- burnt out a little bit in the kiln, leaving some obvious tile showing through, and some obvious brush strokes. Second, I applied a little heavily the green glaze that I used to make an underwater effect on the octopus and starfish. Third, I didn't apply the same glaze to the fish, which is problematic since it is also underwater.

I think I will do another project like this, making the tiles smaller (maybe 6"x6") and applying porcelain slip to the tiles. I also want to figure out how to spray the sky or water on before making the rest of the composition, or by applying wax to the rest of the composition, so that I avoid uneven brushstrokes.

These are horrible photos, so I don't think that anyone will see the success here. I think I will finish the composition with a frame and take a proper photo with a real camera because, honestly, there is a lot to love with these also.