HAND-PAINTED TILES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 73, Issue 460, 29 December 1930, Page 2

HAND-PAINTED TILES

Why not have tiles hand painted for individual homes} Then there will be no question of having to make shift with patterned ones that are not exactly what are needed. Artists to-day) are becoming much more practical in the application of their art and there are many designers who are ready to provide things specially for particular clients. Miss Eleanor Best is one of the practical artists who has recently taken up the decorating of machine-made tiles. These she paints by her own process. She prefers the machine products to the hand-made, as they are perfectly flat without the warp inevitable in a hand-made tile. Miss Best makes delightful flower groups, in soft, clear colourings, so designed that when the tiles are fitted together the picture is complete. These can be used in many different ways, as table tops, in bathrooms and in fireplaces. For instance, what could be a more suitable to p for a table to be used out of doors or in a conservatory than one composed of such gay hand-painted ceramics? They are fitted in such a way as to eliminate the possibility of moisture lodging underneath and, as the tables are somewhat heavy, they are set on castors to obviate the necessity of lifting. Ingenious, too, is the way in which Miss Best has an ornamental decoration for a bathroom fitted into a damp-proof frame, which can be fixed into a space flush with the plain tiles lining a bathroom wall. The advantage of having them set in a frame is that if a change is Wanted it is easy to substitute others. There are many charming ways in which these hand-painted tiles can be used, and it is Miss Best's delight to work oui a colour scheme and pattern th at will harmonise with any particular room in which they are to go.—Special from Monitor Bureau.