Photography by Brandon Sullivan Jocelyne Canestrelli sits beside a hand-painted fireplace surround. Called “Josephine,” the pattern is named for a relative.

A love affair with 16th-century art and architecture inspired Jocelyne Canestrelli to experiment with painting tile in a style that would have made the great artists of the Renaissance feel right at home.

That experiment turned out so well that Canestrelli now owns Via Pietra, a company specializing in painted frescoes, scrollwork and other Old World-inspired designs on stone tiles. The tiles have been used to accent everything from kitchen backsplashes to outdoor barbecues, and installed  as floor inlays, mirror frames, stair risers, fireplace and alcove surrounds, and shower niches. Most often, her material of choice is travertine, but the artist also has applied paint to marble, limestone and Saltillo. “Polished stone doesn’t work, but any other stone can be painted,” she notes.

Clients are interior designers or homeowners who have seen examples of her work at Facings of America in Phoenix or Scottsdale or at one of the other 24 showrooms in the West that carry her products. Canestrelli does not paint on-site, but rather works out of her Glendale, Arizona, studio. Once a client selects the stone, it’s sent to the artist. She first sands the travertine to “open it up,” and then paints the tile with a water-soluble acrylic, often using a template. Before sealing, she sands the stone again so the design “looks like it’s existed forever.” After the tile is sealed, she says the paint appears aged but does not fade.
 

This custom floor medallion with rope framing was painted on 16" x 16"  filled travertine tiles from Italy.

Projects can take Canestrelli anywhere from two days to three weeks, depending on the size and quantity of tiles needed. Once painted, the tiles are shipped back to the showroom for installation in the client’s home. While frescoes and scrolls make up the bulk of her business, Canestrelli also takes commissioned work that reflects her more expansive interest in history. The artist recently completed a family crest with a modern twist for an Arizona client. “I did quite a bit of research to determine what details could be altered or removed to make it possible for me to paint the design, because not everything can fit,” she explains. “I also wanted to stay true to the colors of the 17th century.” She adds that it’s unusual to see blues or purples in her work, as those hues were very expensive to produce during that era.

Staying true to time periods is one reason Ken Tims is a fan of Canestrelli’s. A co-owner of Facings of America, Tims says the painter’s work is unique. “There are other people, of course, who paint on tiles, but no one other than Jocelyne uses the colors and textures so authentically to replicate something that would have been done hundreds of years ago,” he points out.