Texas Deco Tile

Here are some 6 inch stone deco tiles that I paint in honor of this great state of Texas-my home. Of course, you have to have a star! I also have the armadillo, spur, and cowboy boots.  Texas wild flowers are quite popular, too. I've been known to paint a cowboy hat w/ gloves,barbed wire, and even painted a ladie's tattoo of a yellow rose and horseshoe with barbed wire! I love this work-always a new adventure!

Mustangs

I find that I'm not great at putting posts up on a blog-but I will try to do more:) This is a car that I recently painted for a graduation gift. As a person who enjoys cars-especially older ones, I think this new Mustang is a beautiful new car-and a lot more reliable than the old Triumphs that we enjoy!

China painting -the LHJ way

 To paint a mural for a shower installation, it was better to paint on porcelain or ceramic tile than stone. If the painting were on stone, it would not last as well since the stone is a soft material and the water from the shower would eventually erode the painting. On a glazed tile, it would be fired  in a kiln and become part of the glaze making it more durable.
This is a mural that I recently painted for a shower. This is done in china paint on ceramic tile.

This is how the painting looked after the first firing. In this process the paint is made from ground minerals(china paint) that are mixed with oils and painted in layers that are fired in a kiln to become part of the glaze. This painting is 30" x 36". The tricky part of this kind of painting ,is that the paint does not cure and will wipe off very easily prior being fired.. So you start at the top and work your way to the bottom. Too much paint and it will pop off in the kiln. Too much heat and it burns off the color. Too little heat and it doesn't become part of the glaze.

This is after the second firing. At this point, I could add color to the wall and add a little more detail. The paint will still come off until fired, but it stays on a little better.

This is the mural after the final firing. I'm know some paint with more firings,but this is the way that works for me. 

This is a mural that I painted with lots of fruit and a large old jug. I like painting the pottery on stone because the natural stone gives an aged and weathered look to the pottery -it looks cracked, faded, chipped. It is fun to find just the right stone to give it the best look- and always a challenge to plan ahead enough to get it in the right place :)

Happy New Year

I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I hope you had a great Christmas. I would say I have  all these new year's resolutions for the coming year, if I set any-but I don't really do that . I do plan to paint more this year- the past year and a half had a bit of a bump in the road that slowed it down- well -stopped it for a while and then I just got a little bummed. All I can say is when falling-"Tuck and roll!" So I say when life gives you lemons - put them in a bowl and paint them! Here is a painting for a lady that wanted lemons and limes. This is on marble.
In the coming weeks,I plan to show my process of painting a ceramic tile mural . It is a process that consists of painting with a medium that doesn't dry- so you have to be careful to not wipe off the painting as you are doing it. It is fired in a kiln and painted in layers until completed. It requires a lot of planning-and is a fun challenge.  This is something that I am working on at this time.
I also plan to paint some on canvas-I have several planned from old photos of people-mainly children that I may do in sepia tones in oils. I also plan on melting more glass-just because it is fun. So, call them resolutions, if you want-I just call it fun:)