My wife Michelle has been tossing around ideas of how to keep her mind off of my absence while I'm in the States driving a truck; the longest we've been apart in the past 14 years is 10 days, when she toured Europe with her mom and daughter. She has always had an affinity for painting tiles; the walls of her first pastry shop in Norfolk 17 years ago were adorned with hand-painted tiles she created. We still have several mirrors framed with tiles she painted during that time. When we opened our café here in Cuenca we decorated the sides of the counter with tiles she had painted during her last year in Norfolk; I turned down countless offers from customers hoping to purchase all or some of these tiles. While here we have learned that the plain white ceramic tiles that can be found in great abundance in Lowes or Home Depot, in the typical 4" X 4" size, do not exist here. Nor do ceramic markers, though that's a problem easily solved by having them muled down from the States.
What are sold here in a plethora of colors and shapes are very small accent or decorative tiles, and can be had for a nice small amount if you know where to look. Michelle's first idea was to tile portions of wall in our condo, especially around and above where our future electric fireplace is going to be located. Opposing walls on the other side of the room were also going to feature her tilework. That idea has been put on temporary hold, giving way to the idea of tiling furniture. Her first 'test' project was a $15 wooden table purchased at a small market known as the 'Rotary Market.'
Several weeks later, her table is finished. There really is not another square centimeter that can accommodate even a single glass bead, which she also used in decorating this table. Small glass beads in a wide assortment of colors are available at Coral, Ecuador's version of Wally World. Coral sells motorcycles too however, a market Wal*Mart hasn't explored yet. Not even in The South.
I thought the table looked great with just the tiles and beads, and then she grouted it. The finished work is simply amazing. This table, her first, will no doubt remain with us for the rest of our lives. If a demand for such work materializes here, this may be the very thing that keeps her busy while I'm gone. Currently there is nothing in the city that compares to this kind of work, much like there was nothing in the city that compared to her pastries, breads, soups, or salads while Popacuchu Café was in existence. The closest thing I've seen is a very cheap, very lightweight table at a Pakistani store nearby, with a mass-produced paint job and a $300 sticker.
Below: The Table...
