You’ve heard me mention tiles at least twice in my previous posts. That’s because… I’ve discovered that I love tiles!
Tiles cover almost every building in Portugal and it’s magnificent.

The first hostel I stayed in even had them decorating the dorm room.

It’s so joyful walking down a street and knowing that you’re surrounded by other people’s stories, imagination, and hard work in such a simple medium.

The History of Tiles in Portugal

Tiles were originally painted in cobalt blue (and white) to try and replicate Asian porcelain. Cobalt was used as it was the only colour that stayed the same after being exposed to high temperatures. Examples of this usage can be seen in many of the old stories recorded for people’s homes and churches.

The Arabic culture has influenced Portugal in many ways. The Portuguese word for ’tile’ is ‘azulejo’. It has Arabic routes, meaning ‘small polished stone’. Arabic styled tiles typically include flowers and geometric shapes.

Truly traditional Portuguese tiles (which evolved after the Asian and Arabic influence) are blue, green (for nature), and yellow (for gold).

Why Are There Still Tiles Today?

Tiles in Portugal are protected. You can’t take them down or destroy them. This means that you can end up with a clothes shop with a Santa Claus outside all year long, as I managed to see in person.
There are entire teams of people whose jobs it is to either repair or paint replacement tiles. If you want to sell your building then you need to offer it to the government or the city council first, in case they wish to purchase it (and the tiles).

The Traditional Tile Making Technique

The following process is a summarised version of that recorded by The Tile Museum in Lisbon:

1. Cut the tile from an even slab of raw clay, using a square metal plate and a sharp knife inclined slightly inwards.
2. Cover one side with a powered glass, tin-oxide mix. This will stop painted colours from mixing.
3. Using a traced design, prick holes through the paper and then place it on the surface of your tile.
4. Brush powdered charcoal through the holes and onto your tile. This is known as ‘pouncing’. Traditionally, if a mistake was made, a rabbit’s tail would have been used as a rubber to erase it or to remove any excess charcoal.
5. The tile is then painted using special paints that will withstand high temperatures.
6. Glaze is fused to the tile as it is exposed to 980^oC within a kiln.
7. Glue the tile to wall and look at how pretty it is.

My Tile Painting Experience

Originally, I’d signed up to do a tile painting course in Lisbon but the session was cancelled. Despite the fact that I can go pottery painting any time while I’m at home, I was not going to miss out on such an experience while in the country so I booked another course, this one in Porto. I’m glad I did.
The tutor took us through a brief history of tiles in Portugal and then set us to work designing and painting our own.
It was completely different to what I expected, which helped to remind me that there is always more than one way of doing things. For a start, we used red charcoal paper to transfer parts of our designs. Each of us decided to use part of a traditional design for our borders. I was told I wasn’t allowed to draw directly onto the tile incase I screwed it up so, trusting in my skills, I bent the rules slightly and drew on top of the transfer sheet, adding a sunflower.

Then we used acrylic paints, something I was definitely not anticipating. I’ve spent hours in the past using ceramic paints that change colour after being fired. I never imagined that I could paint on the absorbent surface with such a simple material. It felt wrong.

Lastly, witchcraft was used. Or, at least, that was what it felt like. The tutor SPRAYED my tile with glaze and told me it would take an hour to dry.
Because it was dinner time, I picked my tile up the next day anyway.
My brain was confused; the colours were still the same, everything appeared the same, something didn’t compute. The only difference that I could see, apart from the obvious change in texture, was the stencil through the paint.
I should always trust my instincts.

Still though, I’m very happy with the result and what I learnt.

Contemporary Tiles

Remember Joana Vasconcelos from one of my previous posts? Turns out that she has also used this medium to make a chain restaurant fit in better with the culture.

There were also some very creative works at the Tile Museum by eg. Andreas Stöcklein.

Watch this space because I have a feeling this won’t be the last we see of tiles, even if I have now (sadly) left Portugal.