Artists at work!

The other side of the Guadalquivir River is home to many ceramics artists, and the students visited one of the oldest ceramic workshops in Sevilla. Bea told us that this ceramics “taller” had been owned by her family for three generations and that they live in the house above the shop. After sharing the history, she welcomed us into the taller.

Once inside, we took our seats at tables while Bea explained that the paints get their color from metals and that it is important not to mix them and to rinse the brush well between colors since the reaction can cause the paint to change color when exposed to the high oven temperatures. The most traditional colors were green, orange, yellow, and cobalt blue, but there were also other shades of blue, teal, and pink.

The tiles the students painted had an Arabic, geometric pattern, but the students had the option to paint any design over it. After the students finished painting, they signed the back of their tiles and left them at the taller to be baked in the oven. A few days later, the tiles were brought to class at EUSA so that students could pick up their final product.