Ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic solid created by the action of heat and cooling. Ceramic materials may either be amorphous (e.g. glass) or have a crystalline or a partly crystalline structure. The earliest ceramics were pottery made by clay which was hardened in fire. Ceramics has later been improved by being glazed and fired to create a coloured, smooth surface.
There is a wide range of ceramics including art objects, household objects, industrial and building products. Recently there has been advancements in the use of ceramics as ceramic engineering was developed.
Maggie Angus Berkowitz studied, worked with and made ceramics in the UK, Italy, USA, Africa and Japan but now works in the place she was born; the Lake District in the Northwest of England. Maggie’s tiles were original and unique and were specific pictures painted with glazes and oxides, fired on unglazed tiles as appose to designs. This therefore shows how specific and individual each tile is.
Maggie’s tiles can be used for a variety of different environments and purposes. For example, they can be used for walls, floors, external use, swimming pool flooring etc. Maggie’s tiles
Susan Griffiths
Susan Griffith’s is a well educated to tile artist who trained at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, gaining a BA (Hons) in Ceramics. Susan’s tiles have been commissioned for a variety of uses. For example her tiles are used in kitchens, bathrooms, conservatories, swimming pools, hotels and restaurants. She has been successfully designing and painting tiles for over 15 years and has received “The Young Designer of the Year Award” for her tiled panels.
Susan uses a combination of techniques in order to build up the layers of colour to make the image appear bolder and more vibrant. She does this by painting, sponging, dragging, wax-resist and stencilling. This therefore means numerous firings. Susan starts off with a relatively light base tile, applies various techniques to it e.g painting etc. This tile is then glazed and put in the kiln.
Susan decorates her tiles using ‘on-glaze’ which is where coloured glazes are applied on top of an already glazed fire tile (base tile). The tile is then put in the kiln for 800°C for on-glaze.
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