Ceramic Tile Murals

Tile-work can be seen everywhere, including hospital surgery rooms, subway stations, kitchens and building facades. Tiles and tile-work have a long and rich decorative history that spans all areas of the globe. Early decorative works date back as far as 4000 years.

New York Subway Hallway

Building Facade Manhattan NY.

Florida Kitchen Design Inc.

Abby Church, Meraux England 1249

Tile-making was influenced by movement along major land and sea trade routes, which encouraged the exchange of ideas and materials. Wars, political unrest, and religion all played their part in the blending of technologies, aesthetics, and cultural influences in ceramic tile-making.
Palace of Persepolis 518 B.C.

Azulejo Mexico 17th A.D.

Ishtar Gate Babylon 575 B.C.

Queen Philippas Apartment Wiltshire England 1237

Chinese Porcelains were introduced into Persia and the West with far-reaching effects. Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618906) In order to imitate Chinese Porcelains, the Persians first developed a white tin- based glaze to mask the red clay, and then used a technique of applying oxides to produce brightly colored intricate designs.

This decorating technique spread throughout Europe, Africa and later into the Americas. This process is now called Majolica, Faence or Delftware depending on the region where it is made.

Yuan Dynasty 14 A.D.

France, 1542

Persian Tile, 1266-67

Minai Type Bowl 1187 A.D.

Damascus 1550-97

Throughout the Renaissance and Post Renaissance Majolica and other forms of tile work flourished

Spain, 1929 France, 1542

Italy, early Renaissance

Naples, 1742

During the industrial revolution tile production and decoration reflected the technological and socioeconomic changes in Europe The rising increase of the middle classes fueled the decorative advances in ceramic tile.
Finland 1825

Tile work experienced a heyday in the Victorian period and Gothic Revival of the late 1800s. Arts and Crafts artists like William Morris and William De Morgan created many designs for tiles.
Gothic Revival Tiles

Gijsbert De Graaaf 1765

William De Morgan 1888

William Morris 1876

migrs from Europe brought commercial tile production to the U. S.

William De Morgan 1888

 The Arts and Crafts Movement and tile-making played a major part in shaping modern American design.

Clay Craft Potteries 1921

Painted By Margret Thompson 1922

Hand made and fine art tile is still produced today for Utilitarian and decorative use. Motawi Tileworks
Motawi Tileworks

Pewabic Pottery

Pewabic Pottery

Motawi Tileworks

Ascalon Studios NY,NY

Many contemporary artists perpetuate the history of tile by creating murals with this malleable, permanent medium.

San Francisco Airport Mural

Blue Sky Center C.O.

Diana Faris Diana Faris Ann Agee, John Michael Kohler Arts Center

Richard Watts Jean Rothschild

Many school art programs undertake the lesson of creating tile murals for the school building or other public spaces. Like no other project the public mural helps students learn about collaboration and teamwork and is a unique all-school experience where students, parents, faculty and administrators come together to complete the project.

Lausanne Switzerland Vermillion High School

Beth Hoke Vermillion High School

Scott Ansett Tacoma High School

Roseway Waldorf School, Zwalulu Natal South Africa

Canterbury School

Allisonville Elementary School

Kids in Clay Venice C.A.

If your school doesn't have a kiln many places like local pottery centers, paint your own pottery stores, and other schools or universities in the area with ceramics programs will fire known ceramic products for you. AMACO offers a wide variety of products that are ideal for making ceramic tile murals. From clay to underglaze, and glazes to overglazes, all AMACO products have consistency, adaptability and ease of use that make them practical for the classroom.

Use with a high or low fire glaze on top underglazes are true to raw form and intermixable just like traditional media. Expand the range of 2-D design work on ceramics with chalks, pencils, watercolor pan sets and liquid form.

Richard Zakin: Underglazes and Chalks

Chris Dance: Pencils and Velvets

S. Pelletier: Pencils

Noelle Hoover: Pencils and Pan Sets

Unknown: Chalks and Pencils

Developed to facilitate the process of Majolica decoration, this easy to use and highly versatile medium is wonderfully suited to creating tile murals. AMACO GDC series can be used as an underglaze, a glaze alone, for Majolica overglaze decoration and even over commercial preglazed tiles. ...

Colors can be intermixed like paint and can be applied opaque or thinned with water to achieve watercolor affects

Ron Korczynski: GDCs over white glaze

Carolina Pedraza: GDCs over AMACO LG-11 White glaze

Linda Arbuckle: GDCs over white glaze

Carol and Richard Selfridge: GDCs over white glaze

David Stabley: GDCs over AMACO White Arroya over DG-1 Black Lacquer glaze

Diana Faris: GDCs over AMACO HF-11 High Fire White glaze

Noelle Hoover: GDCs over pre-glazed commercial blue tile

Walter Ostram: GDCs over AMACO LM-1 Black Matt glaze

1000 Tiles, Ten Centuries of Decorative Ceramics General editor: Gordon Lang, Contributors: Paul Atterbury, Catherine Blake, Chris Blanchett, Douglas Girton, Riccardo Sorani. Tile, by Jill Herbers with Photographs by Roy Write Resources: Pewabic Pottery, Detoit, MI www.pewabic.com Motawi Tileworks, Ann Arbor, MI - www.motawi.com Moravian Tileworks, Doylestown, PA - www.mptw.go.to Tile Heritage Foundation - www.tileheritage.org

For information on products and technical support go to: www.amaco.com