Maiolica tile kitchen

I lived in Italy when I was a girl and fell in love with Deruta maiolica. I’ve spent the past few years learning the technique of maiolica (tin-glazed terra-cotta). I made 167 terracotta tiles and painted them with metallic oxides on a maiolica base for this kitchen backsplash. I usually build picture frames
and sculpture stands to exhibit my art. I designed these tiles specifically for 
this space so installation involved building a kitchen (good ploy, yes?). My
 husband, Doug Piotter of Piotter Construction, made the cabinets to my design and I custom mixed the color and hand painted them (because they didn’t use paint sprayers at Versailles!). I also custom mixed light gray stain to soften color of oak floor.