Portuguese Inspired Tiles

Portuguese tiles can be seen inside and outside of houses, palaces, shops, and even train-stations in Portugal - they are called azulejos in Portuguese.  Since I am Portuguese and grew up seeing these all around me, it is no coincidence they have inspired me to create my own tile designs.

[PT]  Em Portugal podes ver azulejos no interior e exterior de casas, palacios, lojas, e ate' em estacoes de comboios.  Ja' que sou Portuguesa e vivi com estes azulejos 'a minha volta, nao e' coincidencia que eles me tenham inspirado para fazer os meus proprios desenhos para azulejos. 

I got a couple of pictures from the web so you can see the tiles on the outside of houses and stairs.

[PT]  Fui buscar estas fotos na net para poderem ver os azulejos nas paredes de casas e em escadas.

Tiles on the outside walls of a house in Portugal

Tiles on the stairs

I decided to carve my designs on soft block (shown below) so I could print them over and over, create different designs, and use them in different colors.  By itself, each tile does not look like much, but the design comes alive when you put several tiles together.

[PT]  Decidi esculpir um bloco de borracha com o desenho para os azulejos (na foto) para poder usa'-los repetidamente, fazer desenhos diferentes com cores variadas.

I started out with this design on a 1.5 inch tile:

[PT]  Comecei com este desenho para o meu azulejo (3,8 cm)

Tile design carved on soft block and printed (on the left)

One of my Pieces on Etsy created with this design and painted with watercolors

Then started creating other designs on 1 inch tiles.  This one is called Hearts, and even though you can't tell from an individual tile, the hearts appear when you put two or more together.

[PT]  Depois comecei a fazer outros desenhos para azulejos de 2,5 cm.  Este chama-se Coracoes, e embora nao se possa ver num so' azulejo, os coracoes aparecem quando se poe mais do que um azulejo junto.

Carved block of Heart tile design

Carved block printed and painted with watercolors.  Each "tile" is 1 inch square.

This piece was created by digitally modifying a scan of the watercolor painted tiles.  

I created a few other designs but have really enjoyed the swirls:

[PT] Fiz outros desenhos, mas gosto muito de trabalhar com estes redemoinhos:

Each tile is 1 inch square, and 24 tiles were painted with watercolors and outlined with Pen & Ink to create this piece.

I love how these watercolor painted tiles look on Zazzle products.

I am currently going through my tile designs on Zazzle and creating a lot of different products with them.  I digitally modified some of the tile art (as the design in purple on the mug above and in the pillow below) and having a lot of fun to see how they look on different products.  For instance, I created this pillow last night and absolutely love it.

[PT] Agora estou a passar pelos meus desenhos de azulejos na minha loja na Zazzle e a fazer muitos produtos diferentes com eles.  Modifiquei alguns digitalmente (como o desenho na caneca e nesta almofada) e estou-me a divertir a ver como ficam nos produtos.  Por exemplo, puz um dos desenhos de azulejo nesta almofada ontem 'a noite e adoro como saiu.

The art on this pillow is a digitized version of one of the watercolor painted tiles.

And here are some other products from other shops on Zazzle with Portuguese tiles.

[PT]  E agora alguns outros produtos de outras lojas na Zazzle com azulejos.

  

Vintage Portuguese Azulejo Iphone 4 Covers by gavila_pt
Customize your iPhone 4S cover online at zazzle.com

Azulejo Sticker by gavila_pt
Create my own sticker at zazzle.com

Azulejos Magnet by homydesign
Make your own personal fridge magnets at zazzle.com