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Gilded Ceramic Tile - Butterfly Design

Justin and Tom Kistner | ©2011

Gilding that sparkles! On a black ceramic tile, the beautiful gilding grabs the light and dazzles your eye.

A butterfly is an insect with a four stage life cycle consisting of: egg, larve, pupa and adult. Butterflies have large, often brightly colored wings and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The coloration of a butterflies wings is created by minute scales which are pigmented with melinins that give them blacks and browns but the other colors (blues, reds and greens) are created by the microstructure of the scales which cling loosely to the wing and come off easily without harm to the butterfly. At Gild n' Tile we take those scales and transform them into a reflective foil making those already beautiful little flying insects into something even nature cannot duplicte. Check them out and see for yourself!

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Gilded Ceramic Tile - Moose Design

Justin and Tom Kistner | ©2011

Gilding that sparkles! On a black ceramic tile, the beautiful gilding grabs the light and dazzles your eye.

The North American moose is the largest living species in the deer family and are distinguished by the antlers of the males. In Northeastern North America the history of the moose is well documented as the meat and hide were staples of Native Americans going back centuries. There are believed to be approx. 300,000 moose now living in the United states. Gild n' Tile has honored this majestic creature with our own version of foil color that mother nature didn't have the ability to acheive. We hope you like it!

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Gilded Ceramic Tile - E Pluribus Unum Design

Justin and Tom Kistner | ©2011

Gilding that sparkles! On a black ceramic tile, the beautiful gilding grabs the light and dazzles your eye.

E Pluribus Unum - SAYS IT ALL!

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Gilded Ceramic Tile - Wolf Design

Justin and Tom Kistner | ©2011

Gilding that sparkles! On a black ceramic tile, the beautiful gilding grabs the light and dazzles your eye.

Wolves are mammals and the largest members of the dog family. They are carnivores, have a six to eight year life span and can vary in weight from 40 to 175 lbs. Gray wolves are by far the most common but because of misconceptions have been hunted to near extinction. They are known for their spine tingling howl, which is the way they communicate. Gild n' Tile has captured that howling pose and added a brilliant array of colored foils in an effort to recapture the lost beauty of this misunderstood creature of nature.

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Gilded Ceramic Tile - Crane Design

Justin and Tom Kistner | ©2011

Gilding that sparkles! On a black ceramic tile, the beautiful gilding grabs the light and dazzles your eye.

Cranes are of the family Gruidae and are large long-legged and long-necked birds which are found on all continents except Antarctica and South America and are also the world's tallest flying bird. Their plumage varies by habitat but their habitat at Gild n' Tile allows for the kind of plumage that can only be seen gilded beautifully on this black ceramic tile!

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Gilded Ceramic Tile - Giraffe Eating Design

Justin and Tom Kistner | ©2011

Gilding that sparkles! On a black ceramic tile, the beautiful gilding grabs the light and dazzles your eye.

The giraffe is an African mammal and the tallest of all land living animal species reaching from 17 to 20 feet in height. The average size for an adult male is 2600 lbs while the female weighs in at 1800 lbs. At Gild n' Tile we've taken the beauty of this towering animal to a new level the likes of which you will see nowhere else. The bright, rich reflective foil colors will add a touch of beauty to any place in your home that you choose to display it.

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Gilded Ceramic Tiles

The concept of printing or decorating tiles has been around since tiles have been produced so what Gild n' Tile is doing is not totally new but is just taking what already existed to a whole new level. About a year ago we found a resin based material that could be printed on our home based printer that produced quality images that could then be transfered to just about any non porous substrate with results that are nothing short of amazing. Imagine anything from fine art to high quality photos or something as simple as just text being viewed on items like ceramic, wood or marble tiles. In fact it goes beyond that, it can be applied to just about anything.
For folks like Justin and I (my photography and Justin's art skills) this opened possibilities we could in the past only dream about. It started out simple with taking a basic piece of line art and applying it to a 4.25" x 4.25" white ceramic tile. After a few weeks of trial and error we figured it all out. Next came the thought to try a photo and while that was a bit more tricky it worked out fine also. At that point, never being able to just be satisfied, Justin decided to take it all a step further and came up with what is an age old technique of using an art form known as gilding. Gilding is a process of using a metal like gold or silver in the form of foil, better known as leaf to decorate objects like pottery and even picture frames. The reflective property of these metals make for a most impressive presentation.
Justin decided that this gilding process could be combined with what we were already doing to come up with a piece of art unlike anything else being done. By using a multi-colored foil instead of the traditional gold, silver and copper foil he was able, with his keen eye and steady hand, to take gilding to a whole new level. Our Gilded Ceramic Tiles area has some scans that will show you the fine art gilded animals that, to me, are so stunning, they're hard to describe and I might add fairly hard to scan or photograph properly to get the full effect. These are scans, which show you a good look at how they appear when viewed straight on but only show one view. When viewed from all other perspectives and adding in the factor of available light they take on a completely different look. One of my favorite things about the project is that we can do custom work, so really there are no limits to what can be accomplished. We both thank you for taking time to check out our work and if you're interested just conact us and we'd be happy to discuss your project and answer any questions you might have.

Justin and Tom Kistner