Valletta by Alva
Valletta draws its artistic inspiration from the traditional tile work found on the Isle of Malta. The historic capitol city of Valletta has been a cultural crossroads for centuries, making its art and culture a blend of many eras and traditions.
The base of Valletta is a stury red stoneware clay body with a wire cut texture. To create Valletta, Alvafires the tile then applies a layer of white clay engobe to prepare the tile for decoration. It is then hand painted by artists. To add the timeless apearance, they then rub a bit of decoration and engobe from the edges of the tile. From there, they apply a clear satin matte crackle glaze and fire the tiles again, fusing the tile, engobe, decoration, and top glaze. After the second firing, the final step is to enhance the crackle with black mason's stain and sealer.
