Many people ask if these paintings are ceramic tiles or are designs to be put on tiles. They are not. They are watercolor paintings inspired by ancient Syrian tiles (from the Ottoman Empire period), Turkish, and Portuguese tiles found in and on historic buildings in those countries.
I fell in love with the tiles during visits to museums and on travels to the countries of the tiles’ origins, and wished I could prolong the enjoyment of their beauty longterm. It wasn’t practical to install such things in my home even if I could have them made. I couldn’t afford it first of all, and then what if I should change houses? Only in 2019 did I land upon a solution. While standing in the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, gazing admiringly at the Ottoman Damascus tile panel (pictured below) did I realize I could preserve both my enjoyment and honor the ancient designs of the tiles by painting them in variations in watercolor on watercolor paper.
The value of watercolors is their portability. They’re not installed with mortar in grout. They’re framed with the frame of choice and can be moved about, from room to room or house to house.
Thank you for visiting my webpage. I hope you enjoy a look at watercolor “tilework” inspired by ancient Middle Eastern tiles and their later Portuguese iterations.
I am indebted to Arthur Millner for his generosity in allowing me the utilization of images and information in his beautifully illustrated book Damascus Tiles, which can be bought at this link from my favorite online bookseller: Damascus Tiles: Mamluk and Ottoman Architectural Ceramics from Syria
You may also like Arthur’s newest book Indian Tiles, which can be found here: Indian Tiles: Architectural Ceramics from Sultanate and Mughal India and Pakistan
Trudy Foster Russell
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