If You Give A Girl A Tile…

She must paint the tile. She will need a paintbrush, colors, and instructions in Portuguese tile painting. Then she will ask you to pass the stencils (because she is no Van Gogh) and will decide on one another person is using. As she waits she will pray that the woman will hurry up already so she can start her own masterpiece. Then she will ask the woman to pass the stencil only to be told that another person has it (This was actually pretty annoying since she asked first. Really, people these days...). When the girl finally gets the stencil she has forgotten the instructions and will ask you again because she’s a perfectionist. Once she understands she can finally begin…
My friend Sidney and I in front of Lisbon Cathedral

After tile painting, I went outside and saw this. Beautiful right?
Today in Lisbon I learned about Portuguese tile painting. The buildings in Portugal are very colorful but not all are painted with pastels or bright colors. Some are covered in patterned tiles. These tiles come in as many patterns and designs as there are stars in the sky it seems, and after seeing so many my first day I was extremely excited to paint my very own tile. As most classic Portuguese tiles are painted in shades of blue and yellow, we also used shades of these colors. After finally receiving the sail boat stencil I wanted—I got to work. Painting lasted no short duration because I wanted it to be as extraordinary as I could make it in the time and with the artistic ability I possess. The sail boat part looks okay because I was following the charcoal lines (these disappear in the kiln—what Color-Me-Mine uses). I painted an ocean underneath the boat that goes higher than I wanted it to because I kept trying to make it perfect. Then I added a cloud, some birds, and a weather vane, instead of stenciling a border, because I wanted to add some originality J. After this program was over we returned to the ship, and on the ship I am staying because I am still exhausted after the last two days of endless walking. Tomorrow is our last day in Portugal and my friends and I are hoping to find an internet café so I can finally update you on all my adventures!

 Update: We found wi-fi and I'm drinking Vinho Verde. Hope all of you are well!

 -Alexis

Comments

  1. MomKariJune 25, 2014 at 10:27 AM

    Great pictures! Thanks for the blog posts. Keep them coming. We love you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. TrishaaaaaJune 28, 2014 at 12:24 AM

    Dyslexis your blogs make me miss you even MORE :)

    ReplyDelete

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