I found some nice, smooth topped glass coasters to print on. They take the designs very well, and because the image is under the glass they are very robust. They are 100mm x 100mm, which is just under 4″, with small plastic ‘feet’ to raise them from the table or whatever surface they are placed on.
Well, the next lot of frames arrived, so I did a quick photo shoot with some tiles and strange props just to show people what the frames look like and what the tiles look like framed up. They are on the website now and can be viewed by following the link that says ‘framed tiles’ believe it or not. . .
I have been experimenting with offering my tiles in specially made tile frames. I was concerned that they may look incongruous, as if they were aiming above their humble station in life, but they look really great, like fine art prints on ceramic. Which in fact, is what they are. Putting them in frames serves to underline and reinforce that contention. They look right in frames.
I took them in to a local gallery, on the back of my wife’s visit to drop off a couple of paintings, and waved them at the good people there. They loved them, and have taken my small stock of ten single and two triple framed tiles for an exhibition called ‘A Splash of Colour’ which starts on Feb 8th and runs for 6 weeks. So, although I take no credit for it, my timing turned out to be pretty nifty.
I will post some photos here when my new lot of frames arrive. I didn’t have time to photograph any of them before I rushed them over to The Haddenham Gallery and Craft Centre to get them there in time for the show.
I shall take them round to other local galleries over the next few weeks and see if I can build up a solid network of outlets. Though I can’t imagine it will be as effortless as my Haddenham experience was 😉
I’m massiveley encouraged.
I wanted some product shots for my tiles, and after a bit of research and modicum of pondering, I came up with the fairly safe option of having a tile on a little stand thing (one of those slightly naff little mini easels you can get from craft shops and the like) in the foreground in sharp focus, and behind it, a fetchingly out of focus but suitably arty background. Reasonably well lit and properly exposed, everything should look perfectly nice.
I gathered various props together to feature fuzzily in said background, and put a suitable scenario together. Camera (Fuji x100, if you were curious) on a tripod, f2.8 or f2 to get the shallow depth of field and to handle the slow shutter speed necessary in natural light, (or at least what passes for light this grey, wet winter), macro setting because the x100’s auto focus doesn’t like stuff that close otherwise, tile in foreground, props in background, frame it all up. . . click.
After a bit of trial and error I got it looking OK. Apart from the all too noticeable dent in the ‘floor’. I could photshop that out, if could be bothered 😉 nah, I probably will. But not just now. . .
The dead butterfly, Small Tortoiseshell? was hibernating in our house and didn’t make it through the winter, poor little thing. Still, I have immortalised it in this pic.