Avente Tile Blog — Spanish Tile

Favorite Fireplace Tile Ideas

Posted by William Buyok on

Favorite Fireplace Tile Ideas

Make your fireplace the focal point of the room with hand-painted ceramic or cement tiles. Our favorite fireplace tile ideas are sure to spark a few fresh ideas.

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Designing with Spanish Tile and Cement Tile

Posted by William Buyok on

Designing with Spanish Tile and Cement Tile

Do you love the rich colors and unique patterns of encaustic cement tile? Do you also like the bright colors and stylized patterns found in traditional Spanish tile? Not sure how to use both of them in the same design or room with creating garish results? One of our customers combined both styles and materials when she recently designed the living room of her new contemporary home. We'll show you how our customer did it, and share a few tips on how to use both patterned Spanish ceramic tiles and cement tiles effortlessly.Note: This post is the second on the...

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The Majolica Method for Hand-Painted Tiles

Posted by William Buyok on

The Majolica Method for Hand-Painted Tiles

In the second part of this series, Susan Mussi, author of Ceramic Dictionary, continues to offer her expertise on Majolica with a focus on technique in this edition. If you missed her previous post, A Brief History of Hand-Painted Majolica Tile, read it first. If you find yourself in Barcelona, Spain make sure to visit her studio and shop, BenSu Ceramics.   Majolica, a Spanish term, is a lead and tin glaze that creates an opaque white surface that can be painted. The process consists of first firing the clay to become earthenware and then applying tin enamel that forms...

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A Brief History of Hand-Painted Majolica Tile

Posted by William Buyok on

A Brief History of Hand-Painted Majolica Tile

We're thrilled to have a guest post today written by Susan Mussi, author of Ceramic Dictionary from Barcelona, Spain. If you're lucky, you may even find her hand-decorating tiles using the Majolica Method in her tile studio/shop, BenSu Ceramics. Pottery has always been popular in Spain, as evident with existence of earthenware pottery for thousands of years. During the years the Arabs were in Spain, they brought with them the Majolica method of decorating pottery, as well as to create beautiful tile and ceramics. Today's post provides a brief history of Majolica, a method of hand-painting or glazing ceramic tile. ...

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Spanish Tile Designs add Pizzazz to Contemporary Bath

Posted by William Buyok on

Spanish Tile Designs add Pizzazz to Contemporary Bath

When you think of Spanish tile, it's easy to imagine tiled stair risers with terracotta bisque pavers, a wall fountain with colorful quarter design patterns, or some Hispano-Moresque architectural feature embellished with Spanish tile. However, I was given the great pleasure of working with a customer that loves Spanish tile and contemporary design.    As Liz from Houston started this project nearly two and half years ago she explained, "I'm building a new house and it will provide a place for some of my contemporary art collection; but, it has to include Spanish tile which I love." This is the...

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