DIY octopus mural from glass penny tile

[Davy]

Very nice work.

[GordonB]

Wow, Anya!
That looks fabulous.
I'm an old guy and I grew up in a world filled with colorful ceramic tiled bathrooms.
It breaks my heart when I go into our local tile stores and find aisle after aisle of Roman-Bath-looking brown stone, brown stone, brown stone, or, if I want something different, down at the very end of aisle 5, I can find some ... grayish-brown stone.
The fanciful artwork and rich, saturated color of your room brings me joy.
Well done.

[PC7060]

Wow! Amazing work!

[cx]

Gordon, I'm curious about where you grew up that had all the colorful tile work. Can you give us a hint?

[GordonB]

CX,
I grew up just north of Detroit.

Perhaps I mislead you about the nature of the tilework I grew up with. I did not mean to suggest that Anya's bathroom was typical of our local style back then. Hers is really special and would have been really special back then too.

In our neighborhood, the tile was mostly 4 1/4" square in a wide array of colors, along with all the special trim pieces that made the job look attractive. Most bathroom walls were mudded, and trimmed with large radius bullnose tiles in either a matching or contrasting color. Of course, the trim pieces included all the special corner pieces, cove bases, etc. in any chosen color. Just from memory, I seem to recall pink, blue, and green being popular choices, along with black-and-white schemes.

Floors were often done with rectified mosaics in complementary colors or perhaps with basketweave, pinwheel, etc.

I guess I was just complaining about the utter lack of colorful ceramic tile available at the local tile stores these days.
It seems to be nothing but brown stone or enormous-format ceramics. It is difficult to find colorful glazed ceramic field tiles and almost impossible to find the special trim pieces that make it look right.

Sorry about the complaining. I didn't mean to detract from Anya's thread. Her bathroom is wonderful.

[cx]

Yes, her bathroom is striking, no question about that. I, for one, wouldn't want to be in it for more than about a minute, but that's simply personal taste. I'm far more attuned to the "brown stone" and "grayish brown stone" and other earth-tones that you find so heartbreaking.

I'm also familiar with the old, and awful, green and pink four-and-a-quarters from the past in the older sections of San Antonio and even further out here in the Hill Country. Nope, don't like those, either. Bottom line: no accounting for taste, one way or the other.

But if a fella wants something dramatic, and likes a lot of color, I'd certainly recommend you call Anya if you have the patience to wait for that level of creativity.

And I agree with James (post #30) and hope a moderator will put her project in one of the bathroom albums.

[strangerousanya]

Thank you everyone! We are delighted with it (and delighted it is done!!). I promise it's not quite so eye-blindingly vibrant in person but I also understand that some folks may find quieter colors more soothing!

(Don't get me started on those wandering hex tiles... we had to hide some real ugly spots under the tub and vanity to correct the drift. These tiles are irregular in every dimension - they're not perfect hexagons, sliiiightly more squat than they are wide, not the same length on each side, but not enough that you can tell by eye; they vary in size from tile to tile by up to a quarter inch; and they aren't flat!)