Pressed Wildflower Tiles
I love this time of year. It hasn’t been an incredibly warm summer this year. This week we have been blessed with sunny, hot weather and wildflowers seem to love that. A few years ago, I began pressing flowers in clay. Some worked well and others didn’t. One of the ones that did was Queen Anne’s Lace. It was hardy enough to be pressed and pulled out without coming apart while others either did not leave enough of an impression because they are too delicate. Some of the hardier ones like Scotch Thistle are too deep and go right through the clay. Queen Anne’s Lace leaves amazing detail and during our past few crazy winters, I have often picked up a tile and was left remembering what summer felt like.
Yesterday I decided that I would press some before summer is gone and the flowers would dry up and wither.
I have documented through photos the process of pressing them. At the end, I will show you a completed one.
The first image shows the tile that I have cut for placement on the tile. I have already cut the piece of clay and I will put it through the slabroller again with the flower laid on top.
The second image shows what tile looks like once the flower has been embedded into the clay. The excess clay with be trimmed off.
The third image shows how the flower can be removed without disturbing the clay or the flower. If there is any part of the flower that is left in the clay, I just let it burn out in the firing.
Once I have bisque fired the tiles, I glaze them with a clear glaze and then usually sprayed a couple of other colours on top. I have a number of different tiles in my etsy shop if you would like to see more of the possibilites. They make the most amazing backsplash images for a bathroom or kitchen. They can also be used as coasters. They remind those of us who experience long snowy winters what summer felt like.
