Tile Painter

Brown Pelican

2011-11-16T14:35:00.002-05:00

This is one 6" tile, another in the series of Florida Water Birds tiles I am painting for a client. I have really enjoyed this project, living in Florida as I do. When I told the client there were 480 birds in Florida, which ones did he want? He gasped, then said, "Do some water ones, you choose." That's what I like, letting me pick the ones I enjoy looking at lol.

Flamingo

2011-11-16T14:30:00.004-05:00

Here is another tile in the Florida Water Birds series.

Great Blue Heron

2011-11-16T14:27:00.002-05:00

This is one 6" tile of a series I am doing for a client, all Florida water birds.

New Style of Christmas Ornament

2011-10-25T09:37:00.002-05:00

This is Jericho, a Bearded Collie! He is the first of my new line of Christmas ornaments, Purebred Dogs. The facial features on mixed breeds are too unique for a medium that allows NO mistakes or corrections, so I am doing only purebreds at this time.

Arctic loon

2011-10-25T09:32:00.003-05:00

This is a 6" tile I just completed to go with the Canadian wilderness mural. It will be mounted in a cheese board, showing off the mural as a kitchen accent.

The mural is complete!

2011-10-19T21:36:00.003-05:00

I am pleased and proud when I gaze at this huge mural laying out on my worktable. More importantly, the client is pleased. I was less than confidant when I began, as the recession had hit me hard. But the people were great to work with, which ALways helps, and I felt my old passion and confidence return almost immediately. I call it my masterwork, for several reasons, one of which is the slim likelihood I will ever do a project this huge again. Not because I do not want to---bring it on! :)

A Masterwork

2011-10-08T20:57:00.003-05:00

Shame on me for sharing a project before it is completed, I have never done that before now. But I am so excited about this huge mural of a Canadian wilderness. It is a romantic place where a lovely couple got engaged, and I have gotten caught up in their excitement. I will post more images when it is finished. Wish me luck!

New Herb Basket Mural

2011-06-06T09:36:00.002-05:00

I just finished a mural that has blue celadon field tile. I used that color all through the mural to show off the color, some you can see and some you can't.

Cool project in Austin

2011-01-08T16:03:00.003-05:00

I've finished up a couple of cool tiles that are going to be installed on a bridge being built in Austin, Texas. More details to come (and hopefully my customer is happy enough to provide a testimonial). Happy new year! Work is picking up a bit, yay!

Almost the New Year!

2010-12-28T15:28:00.004-05:00

My tile work has been excruciatingly slow in the last few months. I have a regular customer who asks me for two of my house tiles every year, and this time I forgot to snap pics of them for my portfolio. Rats. Ever have those times when you wish you could turn back time to fix those things big and small? I also wanted to ask her for a testimonial while there was still time to encourage holiday sales, but I didn't do that either.

Now's the time to admit to myself that I'm less the marketer and more the artist. Yes, yes, it's important to do both, but I'm a business of one (and 3/4, if you include my awesome husband G, and my social media marketing company, FunCity) and sometimes it's all just overwhelming. Grrr, if I had a nickel for every "missed opportunity."

But.

I have stayed on top of learning how to sew, which is brand new for me, and it keeps me feeling and moving creatively even when my tile business slows to a crawl. It's an amateur hobby for me, and I've become frustrated often. I made my sister a cool-looking shirt and her wife a bag to hold her crochet stuff for on-the-go. The pattern on the shirt didn't go over with fanfare, but the bag (quilted, six pockets, two handles) was a hit. She said she owns some of my tile that has the same southwestern feel. Here is a pic of my newest handiwork. Suggestions, comments?

Creativity can be a fickle bear. How do you feed your creative "monster"?

Bummer!

2010-09-30T11:25:00.002-05:00

The tile showing at the library was cancelled; they moved me to March! I'm so disappointed. I had been trying to contact them, but lots of crossed wires, and I'd recently changed my phone number. So, moved to AFTER the Christmas season, which bums me out, but hoping that all the renewed activity on the internet will drum up some biz.

Can I be perfectly honest with you? I love holing up in my little house with my family and my sewing, gardening, and most of all having some tile to paint. I've done so much of it over the years, but every one is a new experience, a new life. I have no kids of my own, so I send these out into the world and hope they make me proud. :)

Ok, I just got all goober on you guys. Guys? You still out there?

Happy almost October. Love this fall season. I miss the changing leaves up in Pennsylvania where I used to live, but it's nice not having to worry about snowdrifts up to my eyeballs.

Hope everyone is doing well out there.

The business side of things

2010-09-25T22:31:00.005-05:00

I've been getting my glazes and such organized for the busy season. With the economy, the busy season has been more of a "meh" season, but I'm hoping a couple of discounts may encourage folks to consider my tile art as gifts.

I've got side tables, trays and trivets to sell as gifts. Email me if you want to know more. I don't advertise them as widely as the art I do for murals, but I do them. Unique and practical too.
My little brother Jay is moving to Florida soon from Texas. He's buying a house not far from us - he'll be moving over probably mid-October. It's a great buy, but I'm not sure if he's going to want any remodeling work or not.

New News: I've hired a social media marketing company, FunCitySocialMedia.com, to help me get my tile biz kick-started into the holiday season. Marketing is really tough, and even though I've been working on my own business for more than two decades, I've always found that reaching out to people who might already need me or looking for "their" tile artist has been difficult. I'd rather just paint tile, you know? lol The marketing is tiring and relentless! But I can't just keep selling to my friends and family over and over. (Well, I can - come on, sisters!) Some of you know about my dog training book too, but that's a different blog. :)

Anyway, let me know what you think about my facebook business fan page, and twitter page. I think they did a pretty good job, but the proof is in the pudding, right? Do a fb search on Dy's Art Tiles and on Twitter it's username dyztilz.

Take care. As my little sister Andi ALWAYS reminds me, "It's almost Christmas!" even in June. Oy.

Art show for the month of October

2010-09-16T22:41:00.002-05:00

The Belleview Branch Library up the road from me sponsors an artist every month. They offer space and display casing for works by local artists. I frequent the library quite often and was thrilled when they got this one built last year. It's closer than the Ocala library for sure with a lot of fun, new appointments. Several lovely pieces of pottery were set up around and I asked from whence they came. Turns out people come to them to "interview" their works and she loved some of my tile pieces. I'll be showing several of my unsold pieces - they will be distributed throughout. If you are local, please stop by and check out my stuff - and a book, for that matter - at the Belleview Branch Library http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=6632068192593628695&q=belleview+branch+library&gl=us throughout the entire month of October. Stop back by here to comment on what you saw, or my facebook biz page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/?id=127755773924322&sk=basic

I haven't sold myself on here in a while, so if you're looking for unique holiday gifts for your closest friends and family, remember that I custom-make hand-rolled ornaments of your beloved home - send me a pic of your house by Nov. 30 and I'll have your personalized, lifelong memento to cherish by Dec. 15. FREE SHIPPING TOO! (They're light - what can I say, I'm a giver. lol) $95 for a one-of-a-kind gift.

Almost Friday, peeps! I'm sewing something cool, too. Who wants to see pics of my handiwork? Don't everyone raise their hands at once now ...

I Won a Contest lol

2010-09-07T08:56:00.003-05:00

This is the colored pencil drawing of a mother mallard and her ducklings that won a contest for me on Fine Art America.com last week called "Your Best Ducks" haha. These little contests are a good way to move your art around the site and people get to see it. Most are artists too, but hey, ya never know, right? I am trying to promote my tile work in this miserable recession, so I win a contest with a colored pencil drawing. Go figure. (Like Monty Python says, "No pleasing some people." haha) Anyway, even without prizes, it feels GOOD to win a contest.

Bunny Portrait

2010-03-26T19:30:00.004-05:00

Every time I gt a client who loves their pet enough to get it immortalized on tile, it makes me want one of my own. Something soft and cuddly....like this lovely bunny, but most likely an older dog who probably wont get adopted, I am into rescue. Everyone should adopt their pets from a shelter, there is one for everyone. Go to Petfinder.com.

A New Tile Installation

2010-01-27T18:52:00.006-05:00

This image is a lovely installation of a tile mural I did of a Scottish castle where the client was born. Cool, eh? I mean being born in a castle, silly.

Here is a different angle of the same mural. Great job they did. I love it when my clients send the pictures they take for me. Reminds me, I have to go get these on my web site too. Later, gators.

Close-up of "The Golden Hills of California"

2010-01-05T10:34:00.002-05:00

Here is a close-up of the above mural. They have done a beautiful job with the installation. It helps to have a gorgeous home too, eh?

Happy 2010!

2010-01-05T10:27:00.003-05:00

I know I have been remiss writing on my blog, but the recession has hit me hard. I would love to know how other tile painters have been doing, if they somehow still have had work in the last two years, or if, like me, they have busied themselves with other projects. I have concentrated on my garden, making it self-sustaining for the days when I can no longer maintain it at the level I do now.

Here are some lovely photos a clent sent me of a mural I did for them. It is of the golden hills of California, and she told me that the "golden" part is because the grass is totally dead! They get no rain and all the grass turns gold. Out on the east coast, it's just called "dead". lol

Famous Goat

2009-01-16T13:32:00.003-05:00

This is a portrait of "Bentley", a pet goat. You may have seen him a few times on Animal Planet, doing his tricks.

2009-01-16T13:26:00.003-05:00

Here are two portraits in the same family. These are great people, they adopt retired racing greyhounds and give them very happy homes. This is "Abu" and "Stripe", obviously not greyhounds lol. Some families need a lot of dogs to capture all the love they have to give.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-16T13:22:00.002-05:00

This was a huge challenge, piecing together from a million images on a fabric, the client and I created a nice mural in the French Toile style. It doesn't look complicated, but it sure was.

I am getting ready to have one of two surgeries on my leg. The first is to remove the hardware and screws from when I broke it two years ago. The second is to give me a new knee joint. I am scared but excited. Just to be able to walk again.....maybe this is the year!

New Tiles from Mike's Photos

2008-10-29T11:09:00.002-05:00

Here are some new tiles from Mike's great photos. What a challenge they are!

Giant Rodents, Anyone?

2008-09-30T08:05:00.003-05:00

Here are some of the coolest tiles I have painted in a while, or, at least the most unusual. A very nice lady raises capybaras for pets, kind of like giant Guinea Pigs. (When I say giant, I mean like, 40 pounds!) She says they make great pets. So I painted some tiles for her. Here are samples.

A New Installation! beaming

2008-07-30T20:55:00.003-05:00

I must say I am very proud of this one. It was a huge challenge, and everyone is very happy, including me. My first all black and white tile....

Great Blue Heron and Mallard Tiles

2008-07-07T12:07:00.002-05:00

New Jersey Fireplace at the Beach

2008-06-21T09:33:00.003-05:00

Here are some client photos of a fireplace I did for him. He and his wife did a great job decorating around the fireplace, and made it look even better! The seagull is a closeup of the left side panel.

New Fireplace

2008-01-07T12:12:00.000-05:00

Here is a very large project I worked on recently. On 8" tiles, they wanted black and white painting, like Japanese Sumi ink painting, of bamboo. I told them I was not a sumi painter haha, but they loved my work and believed in my talent. I am still waiting on some installation photos from them, but here is one of mine.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-07T12:05:00.000-05:00

Well it's the new year. Who would have thought I would live this long? haha Anyway, since I have no new work, except for a dog portrait due in February, I decided to play with clay. I made a plaque yesterday for my address and I will be mortaring it to the front of my house. Havent picked colors yet but I will post it when it is finished. Next will be a series of steppingstones for the front to my mailbox and the back to my studio. Front first because it is flat haha. They will be large pieces of mosaic that I carve out of sculpture clay and attach to store-bought vitreous stepping stones. Cool huh?

Also I am posting another picture of my work that appeared in Timber Homes Magazine. People said you couldnt see it well, so here it is. Still cant, but I guess it is better than the other one lol.

Couple of Crabs

2007-10-27T18:48:00.001-05:00

I Got into Timber Homes Magazine

2007-10-27T18:37:00.000-05:00

Here's something cool, folks. A former customer got their timber home a write-up in Timber Homes, a slick and serious magazine for people who love the all-wood look. They mentioned me and my web site (www.dyztilz.com) that tiny little mural in the back under the stove light is my birch tree mural.

Mama and Baby Cheetah

2007-10-19T20:56:00.001-05:00

I was drawn to the backlighting in this photo. I tell Mike all the time that his photos make MY work look good. Cheetahs are very close-knit on the serengheti plain. Their enemies are everywhere.

Leopard at Sunset

2007-10-11T00:38:00.001-05:00

This photo of Mike's was a real challenge for me. The orange light going through his ears and reflecting off his nose changed the look of the big cat that people, including me, are used to seeing. But the image was so compelling I just had to try it, and I believe it succeeded and is already sold! Nothing like cash to convince you lol.

Penguin Tile--Alone at Sunset

2007-10-11T00:34:00.000-05:00

Aother of Mike's photographs that drew my attention. I tried a new (for me) method of majolica so that I can create these tiles faster and sell more cheaply. This one is a great success I think.

Mike the Lion

2007-08-13T13:29:00.000-05:00

I I would like to share recent tiles with you.

This image of penguins won an award for the photograppher, Mike Madonna of Pennsylvania, and I am very proud to be the artist reproducing his work on hand-painted tile. Mike the Lion is so cool I asked for it back! haha He was very generous and agreed. Some things you do you just have to hang in your own studio to remind you of what you truly can do, or at least ONCE DID!

Some New Ventures

2007-06-09T07:06:00.000-05:00

Here are some new things I am learning. A gent wants to have a supply of relief tiles, so my husband and I learned how to make molds ffor relief tiles. I can't believe I summed up the last 4 months of hair-ripping trial and error all in one sentence! Didnt it sound easy? It was not. And the results arent even that great. But we feel we learned how to make relief molds, so SOMEthing happened haha. They are going into old barn board creations, mirrors, etc., and he wanted western themes. He got em lol.

Interview with a Tilepainter

2007-03-22T10:10:00.000-05:00

Self Taught Artist: Dy, congrats on getting a blog up! I feel its important for other ceramic tile artists as well as other self staught artists to know more about who you are and how you got into tile. Can you give us a brief history on your first experience with tile? What got you interested in it?

Dy: I was an apprentice to a semi-famous ceramic sculptress for 8 years, that is how I learned the huge palette of ceramic glaze colors that is in my brain lol. I looked up high in her living room one day and saw a colorful painting, but it was broken! I thought to myself, Ahh, a broken painting, how intriguing,. When she told me it was a tile painting I asked to buy it. She told me it was a gift from her daughter, and gave me the number to call her and ask to have one made. She told me, You have been painting in ceramic glaze for years right? Just make one yourself! Sometimes it amazes me the things I have to be TOLD to do haha, but that is how and when I started painting tile. That was in 1991.

Self Taught Artist: So it was that simple? You just started painting tiles from then on? I see from your website that you have made reliefs and done other works with ceramics other than tile. Is there anything you want to do you haven't done?

Dy: HAHA I didnt mean to make it sound so simple. My very first attempt was almost laughable. I had no idea what sort of tile to buy, so when I found a tile that had a surface glaze that felt just like paper, I bought a whole case. Well, it was still a glaze, and I didnt even know that I couldnt paint glaze on top of already glazed tile, so wow you shouldl have seen THOSE bubbles haha. And every other mistake after that was made, one at a time.
In 26 years I have bearely scratched the surface of what one can do with ceramic glaze. I would love to make planters and right now I am experimenting with mold-making. Oh so many things to try.....

Self Taught Artist: you barely scratched the surface in 26 years? I can't even comprehend that. In your career then, out of the myriad of styles/choices, do you feel you have focused mostly on one genre in order to 'conquer' it? and have you in fact conquered it? What's left on your list of things you must do/try with ceramics

Dy: I love to carve relief tile. But it takes so long to make them one at a time, so I am in the process of learning to make molds and things, ways to make the process faster so I can charge less and make more pieces. Another blogger gave me the idea of a resist method I just started today, using shellac. It is fun and I cant wait to see how it works out. I am carving through the resist to make multiple layers of resist. Wish me luck.

I also want to try sculpture, yard art to be more precise. I have a huge yard and cant plant it all up in flowers, so I want to mix my own creations among the perennials to give it some life. The wonderful lady who is helping me learn how to make molds of my work has created wonderful creatures she "adopts" out to new families. Here is her link: http://www.rarecreatures.com

I want to do more majolica. The colors are brighter and looser, a whole new style for me. I enjoy it but havent had time to explore it as muich as I would like. The red grapes I uploaded is a sample of this technique.

To be continued........

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A Few Thoughts About Ceramic Painting

2007-03-20T10:02:00.000-05:00

People all over paint "ceramics". Everybody has a grandma or auntie who gets together with the gals once a week and "paints ceramics". Just to clarify, this is not what I do, although it is included in what I know. Before I started painting tile, I did wildlife and pet portraits in colored pencil, a many-layered technique to produce sharp detail that I seem to be addicted to. (I have to put close-up pictures beside my paintings like the caladiums in my previous post so people can see how obsessed I am with detail!) I never would have gone so deeply into painting tile if I could not find a way to reproduce the sharp detail I was accustomed to producing in my colored pencil work. I guess I better show an example of that, doncha hate when people talk about something and dont show you a picture?) The secret to neat details in ceramic painting is Underglaze! It is rich pigment that shows through the transparent regular glaze colors on top and voila! If you know HOW transparent your glazes are, you will know what to expect in the final firing, but that is a subject for another book, I mean another lifetime, I mean another day lol.

A Few More Items You Can Ask About

2007-03-20T09:59:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I Will Have Items for Sale

2007-03-20T09:51:00.000-05:00

Once in a while there is a mix-up in communication with a client and I will have single tiles or murals for sale. They are reduced in price because I dont have room to store them safely, and since they are already painted, of course the customer has no color or design options. Here are a few items that are currently in this group.

2007-03-16T23:01:00.000-05:00

Being a humble tile painter, I want to share all forms of beauty in my life with you, not just my art. I love flowers and music and color, and i will do what I can to share all these things with you. Here is one of my very favorite tile murals that gave me such pleasure to paint.

2007-03-16T22:57:00.000-05:00

We finally got some much-needed rain today, after more than a month. Got a new flush of azaleas, here is a bouquet for your viewing pleasure.

Tile Painter

Brown Pelican

Flamingo

Great Blue Heron

New Style of Christmas Ornament

Arctic loon

The mural is complete!

A Masterwork

New Herb Basket Mural

Cool project in Austin

Almost the New Year!

Bummer!

The business side of things

Art show for the month of October

I Won a Contest lol

Bunny Portrait

A New Tile Installation

Close-up of "The Golden Hills of California"

Happy 2010!

Famous Goat

Happy New Year!

New Tiles from Mike's Photos

Giant Rodents, Anyone?

A New Installation! *beaming*

Great Blue Heron and Mallard Tiles

New Jersey Fireplace at the Beach

New Fireplace

Happy New Year!

Couple of Crabs

I Got into Timber Homes Magazine

Mama and Baby Cheetah

Leopard at Sunset

Penguin Tile--Alone at Sunset

Mike the Lion

Some New Ventures

Interview with a Tilepainter

A Few Thoughts About Ceramic Painting

A Few More Items You Can Ask About

Sometimes I Will Have Items for Sale

A New Installation! beaming