Product description: This is a 6"x6" Plaster-of -Paris tile with a vibrant violet stain and precise, raised golden and black line work. Sinister lines and repeated rotations of simple geometric shapes combine with the golden and violet color scheme to create an air of mystery in this tablet.

Process description: I took air-dried clay and molded it into a 6"x6" slab. Then, I used a straight edge to impress several lines into the slab. Plastic geometric shapes were them impressed into the tole before surrounding it with a raised cardboard frame and pouting plaster of Paris over top of it. Once dry, I removed the plaster tile from the clay by scrubbing it away with water and a toothbrush. I accomplished the violet staining with undiluted water color pigment. Then, I painted the raised lines black and gold (with a metallic marker).

Lessons learned: Oil paints are NOT good for adorning tiles -- they cake up and reduce the precision of the line work. Also, imprecision in line work in the clay becomes amplified in the final plaster product.