When Pat paints her large ceramic tile
    paintings, she lays out the tiles on the
    floor and paints them as a whole.  She
    does not grid the painting out and work
    on one tile at a time. The artist works
    on several paintings at a time.
Pat and Chip Denison create large unique paintings as well as their annual  6" x 8" silk screened tile series.
    There is a lot of
    hand painting
    on the silk
    screened tiles.
    Chip does all the
    hair and
    fingernails.
    Pat does all the
    eyeballs, eye catch
    lights, and big
    splooshy areas
    (Chip hates to
    paint outside the
    lines). Chip paints
    ALL the black
    edges, free hand.
The artist cuts the lacquer film used to adhere to the
screen to make a stencil for applying  glaze to a ceramic tile.
    Pat and Chip work, comfortably,
    sitting on their studio floor. Chip is
    feeding tiles to Pat so she can squeegee the
    underglaze through the silk screen stencil.
    Each color needs at least two applications to
    be the right intensity when fired. Each color
    requires a separate screen stencil cut and
    made to make up the layers. It usually takes
    5 or 6 stencils to complete the design (plus
    one more stencil for the metallic accents that
    screen on after the first firing,the gold gets
    fired in a second firing).
PAT CUSTER DENISON
is the artist of the
husband and wife
ceramic tile team,
DENISON TILES. Pat
sketches from life and
imagination and has
more ideas than she will
ever have time to
execute (even with a
regular studio schedule
of long hours and full
weeks).
    Chip painting one of the three
    layers of glaze that will make
    the tiles look shiny after the tiles
    are fired in the electric kiln.
Pat cuts and applies ceramic decals to some
glazed tiles.
These tiles will be used on the bodies of the wood  
cut-outs.The decals add a lot of pattern and detail. The
images are ceramic glaze and require another kiln firing.
    Dandelion, the Denisons 23
    year old Amazon parrot
    decides to entertain Pat by
    bathing in the pan of decals.
    That is Pat's cue to give Dandy a
    pan of clean water in which to play.
Chip
bandsaws
plywood
into a  
shape
from Pat's
design.
    Pat has her work
    cut out for her.
    After Chip cuts the
    wood shape from
    Pat's pattern,  Pat
    draws the design
    for Chip to carve.
    Chip carving the wood shape that
    Pat has drawn on. He uses a
    Dremel tool and a lot of control.
    Tiles stacked in the
    kiln, waiting for Chip
    to unload them after
    their first firing at
    temperature 1865  F.
    The tiles still need
    metallic accents
    screened on and
    another firing.
Pat painting a floor load of carved,
double primed, plywood shapes. She
uses latex enamel paint and paints at
least two coats.
    These photos show just a
    few of the more visual steps
    in the many times  Pat and
    Chip pick up, alter and juggle
    the materials used to create a
    Denison Tlles artwork. They
    do not price their work by
    the hour and do not keep
    track of all the time spent on
    one individual piece. The
    Denisons evaluate their yearly
    income, add in the fun factor
    and privilege of working at
    home, together, and decide
    on a price structure. Their
    prices are low for all the
    labor involved, but, then, the
    Denisons really enjoy their
    life.
    One of the last
    steps in the
    lengthy process is
    for Pat to pound
    in the upholstery
    nail
    embellishments
    that add texture,
    pattern and
    interest to the
    Denison art.
The Denisons aren't secretive about their process. They are happy to share sources, and answer
questions. They love art and artists. Please be respectful of their time though. They don't teach or give
seminars. The Denisons art is about creativity, energy, and labor, not secret recipes.