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South Texas Palm Trees by Malou Flato
Photo CreditGSA\Juan R. Griego Jr.
South Texas Palm Trees
Photo CreditGSA\Juan R. Griego Jr.

South Texas Palm Trees

Artist
Year1993
Classification painting
Medium painted and fired ceramic tile
Dimensions26 feet 4 inches × 3 feet 4 inches. (316 × 40 in.)
Credits Commissioned through the Art in Architecture Program
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Location


  • An early childhood memory of seeing rows and rows of palm trees while visiting the Rio Grande Valley is the subject matter of South Texas Palm Trees.  Flato's impressionistic brushwork, lively palatte and sparkling glazes enhance an ordinary grove of palm trees into a light-filled landscape.



    The artist's working process involves working from Ektachrome slides where she sketches a concept and finishes it with watercolors.  Using the watercolor as her guide for the tiles, the artist draws the sketch on the tiles, paints with glazes them, and then overglazes the tiles by hand.  Once glazed, the tiles are then fired overnight.