Alpaca Stamped Tile

Project by Karen Ami from Chicago.

Not too many young mothers of five have time to make and teach ceramics and mosaics, operate a recording studio, and raise a herd of alpacas! But Karen, multitasker extraordinaire, has been working with ceramics for the past 25 years. She likes to celebrate her love for alpacas by putting their image on handmade tiles. These glazed hand-carved tiles can be created over and over again from a reverse image stamp she makes first, featuring her prized animals.

Materials:

low-fire clay
low-fire kiln
glazes
clay carving tools
brushes

Steps:

1. Roll slab of clay and cut out square (wrap scrap slab in plastic for later use).

2. Let slab air dry 2 to 3 hours.

3. Etch design into tile with pin tool and carve into tile.

4. Let dry and load into kiln. Fire kiln and let cool overnight. Unload kiln.

5. Press fired clay into clay slab.

6. Dry tiles and glaze.

7. Load kiln and fire.

Web site: