craftykrb Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 I would like to chat with someone who has actually completed an exterior tile mural to learn about the process and tell me what clay body they used. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 I have made ten exterior murals so far. You need have the size of mural you want to make and then a design that works with it to start. Your design need to have small, medium and large pieces in it and a flow of color and design that will encourage the viewers eyes to follow. I have made terracotta and C6 stoneware clay murals, using a cone 6 hand building clay will give you the best results. I see you live in PA and have a lot of freezing weather, your clay needs to vitrified and your glaze has a perfect fix. Any crackle in the glaze will allow water to leak in and freeze popping the glaze off. This is a good time of the year to make some test tiles and lay them outside and let the ice and snow. I made a two foot mural and mortared it on a cement board and placed it in the yard to see how it would hold up. It survived the winter so I knew I was set to make more murals. I wouldn't recommend making a mural for a horizontal surface after several years the weather takes it toll on it. I have made two ext floor murals that were on porches. The tile was a purchased one inch porcelain tile that holds up freezing condition and epoxy grout. It was the grout that didn't hold up, it popped out of the grooves and molded. I will be glad to answer any questions you have. Denice Piedmont Pottery and Rae Reich 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biglou13 Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 No strong answer for you. But I have donated my crashed / edited cone 6 fired pieces to muralist. I was able to spot my shards that withstood a few years. Pieces were glazed and unglazed, all vitrified to 3% or less . Rae Reich 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftykrb Posted January 5 Author Report Share Posted January 5 14 hours ago, Denice said: I have made ten exterior murals so far. You need have the size of mural you want to make and then a design that works with it to start. Your design need to have small, medium and large pieces in it and a flow of color and design that will encourage the viewers eyes to follow. I have made terracotta and C6 stoneware clay murals, using a cone 6 hand building clay will give you the best results. I see you live in PA and have a lot of freezing weather, your clay needs to vitrified and your glaze has a perfect fix. Any crackle in the glaze will allow water to leak in and freeze popping the glaze off. This is a good time of the year to make some test tiles and lay them outside and let the ice and snow. I made a two foot mural and mortared it on a cement board and placed it in the yard to see how it would hold up. It survived the winter so I knew I was set to make more murals. I wouldn't recommend making a mural for a horizontal surface after several years the weather takes it toll on it. I have made two ext floor murals that were on porches. The tile was a purchased one inch porcelain tile that holds up freezing condition and epoxy grout. It was the grout that didn't hold up, it popped out of the grooves and molded. I will be glad to answer any questions you have. Denice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftykrb Posted January 6 Author Report Share Posted January 6 Thank you for answering my inquiry. I am working with an artist that uses commercial tiles and has a formula for the grout. That is all figured out. I will be making hand made clay tiles to add to the mural. The thing I need to figure out is the clay and glaze. I would like to use Laguna #66 and amaco celadons or HF glaze. How do you know if the clay is fully vitrified and that the glaze fits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted January 6 Report Share Posted January 6 3 hours ago, craftykrb said: How do you know if the clay is fully vitrified and that the glaze fits? Link here on how to determine if your clay is suitable for outdoor work that undergoes freeze and thaw cycles. https://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/topic/23472-frostproof/ Link here on one method of glaze fit testing. https://digitalfire.com/test/bwiw#:~:text=-Select samples (or shards),ice water for three minutes. Rae Reich 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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