Sevilla, Spain -- Tile

 So much of Spain (and we would later learn, Portugal) uses tile for a building material. Easy to see why -- strong, durable, insect- and water-resistant, varied and beautiful. So for a little different adventure Sydney scheduled us for a private session learning about, and hand-painting, a ceramic tile. Both Spain and Portugal have long ceramic traditions, evolving from Roman times when it was mosaics (images made of tiny bits). When we had our kitchen design/remodeling business, Jaye splurged on a high-end tile cutting tool partly because it was made in Spain and we assumed the Spanish had the most know-how to make a good tool. It was indeed good and over the years more than earned us back its higher cost in easy and accurate cutting. I meticulously hand-painted a tile which was then fired in the kiln (called “low-temperature” at only 1000 degrees Celsius). This piece took a little over two hours for a newbie. So imagine what it would take for these gorgeous tiles found on our walks around Sevilla! 

Before the kiln. The tile is basically terracotta; The glaze is finely powdered glass suspended in water. And fascinatingly the lines between the colours is a kind of oil—because oil and water don’t mix it will serve as a kind of barrier to keep the glazes from running into each other during firing. 

  

painting the oil on the lines to keep the colours separate

painting the sections with finely powdered glass suspended in water; it would melt and fuse in the kiln. 

With artist/teacher Beatrix. She was full of great suggestions. Helped me visualize what the colours would turn out like, as they would become darker and richer after firing. She also suggested some style choices. I originally had brown only on the diamond in the center; she encouraged adding it at the corners as well -- "You can't have a lonely colour in there," was how she put it.

The final product! You can see how much deeper and richer the colors became after firing; especially the brown and the blue. You can also see how the oil that separated the colors burned away. And how wavery the surface is due to my fledgling technique. But I love it; it and its memories will have a prominent place on display in our kitchen at home. Oh if only I could have had enough to tile an entire backsplash of these! 

And here are some photos of tile around Sevilla. 

After our tile-painting morning we stopped for lunch at this simple, fairly humble restaurant, "Las Golondrinas" means "The Swallows." In Spanish culture, and even more commonly in Portugal, (where they are called "andorinha") swallows symbolize home, family, loyalty, and love. They are often seen as a protective charm and a harbinger of good luck, especially with the return of spring. Swallows are also associated with the concept of a safe return and a desire for one's homeland. Its association with these values is rooted in the swallow's unique behavior of returning to the same nest year after year and its tendency to mate for life. For sailors, a swallow tattoo traditionally symbolizes experience, safe return home, and a successful voyage. It's often associated with the completion of a certain number of nautical miles at sea, with one swallow representing 5,000 miles and two representing 10,000. Some also believe that a swallow tattoo would carry a sailor's soul to heaven if they drowned at sea. So when we saw the name we just had to go there! 

The restaurant didn't look like that much from outside but we later learned it was a favorite of our friends at the Foundation.

The upstairs dining room had a riot of tile and color.

Once we were sensitized to it we started seeing painted tile patterns everywhere. This is the floor of our hotel lobby.