Expert: Leisha Hiester - 9/20/2008

Question
I have a dozen beautiful small prints of various herbs which I purchased to possibly frame in small frames and hang as a collection. I have now gotten the idea to somehow transfer these prints to already fired 4" X 4" plain ceramic tiles, refire or recoat these tiles, and then use them scattered within a field of other plain tiles. They would be used as the backsplash area behind my cook top so it would need to be cleanableun. Is it possible to transfer a color print to a ceramic tile and reglaze it or recoat it so that it can be used in this manner?  Thanks!

Answer
Kathy,
Absolutely! It's a fun process that is growing in popularity. Especially, now with the use of computer equipment in the home, you can create your own transfers. I've been asked this question a number of times this year.

Sounds like a terrific project. I'm in the process of creating handmade tiles for my kitchen also. Do you have a kiln? If not, the first thing you might want to do is find someone who can do the firing for you. Look  in your phone book for a paint your own pottery studio or a ceramic artist/potter. Often artists have excess kiln space they're willing to charge a lower rate for than commercial ventures.

There are lots of great articles online about this too. If you just google a search, you'll come up with lots of great information. There's one of my favorites from Pottery Illustrated called ceramicartsdaily.org. You can search almost any technique here. Here's one article to get you started;

It was in Pottery Illustrated, Sept/Oct,. 2006
Here's a link to the article. Hope this is helpful. I haven't personally tried this, but I've been anxious to. Hope this helps.
Leisha

http://www.ceramicartsdaily.org/ASSETS/51F48EA679BF4E7A97C283DC0AE8AB2B/doityour...