Clay Tile Class at the Brandywine River Museum

Since I’ve been on yet another hiatus from Dela Darling, I thought I’d come back with a really fun post.  Allllllll the way back in July I took a clay tile class at a local museum with two of my girlfriends.  I had seen the event on the museum website and with a pricetag of $20 for the class with my own tile to take home I couldn’t say no!  (It doesn’t hurt that it was BYOB.  I’ll pretty much attend any event that’s BYOB!)

When we arrived the tables were all set with the materials we would need and there was a separate table with all of the snacks.  I couldn’t resist at least one sweet treat while I was there!

The program started with a look at the tiles on display and some background on the style and artist.  Since I have close to no artistic abilities I’m always so impressed by collections like this.

The tiles were a collection done by Henry Chapman Mercer (Moravian Pottery and Tile Works in Doylestown, PA) and were originally created for installation in a single home.  This series, Moravian Tiles of the New World, originally consisted of 29 tiles, but Mercer eventually created over 70.  We were able to see 25 of the original 29 and I snapped some pictures (above) of the ones that really stood out to me.

After being given directions by our teacher, we were left to start creating.  Essentially we just carved the pieces that would “pop out” and then overlaid them on our original tile block, gluing them together.  I even created my tile from scratch.  That’s right: no stencil or ghost artist!

I just loved how my little Alphie turned out and can’t wait to figure out how to display him!

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