Dutch Delft Blue Tile Painting Workshop Amsterdam

The art studio on the Oudeschans canal

Your workshop takes place in an art studio at Oudeschans 17A, on one of the most picturesque canals in old Amsterdam. The Oudeschans was dug in 1516 as a defensive moat outside the medieval city wall, and the Montelbaanstoren, a brick tower built the same year, still stands at its end. Its elegant openwork spire was added in 1606, and the tower once guarded the harbour where ships gathered before sailing to the East.

Today the quiet canal is lined with houseboats, gabled warehouses and bicycles leaning on the railings, a calm setting for a creative break between museums. The studio is bright and friendly, with long tables, aprons and all the tools laid out, and sessions of up to 24 guests keep the atmosphere relaxed. Arrive a few minutes early to choose your seat and take a photo of the tower.

The story of Delft Blue

Each class opens with the history of Delftware. Tin-glazed earthenware, white and smooth like porcelain, was first developed in the Islamic world, travelled through Moorish Spain to the potters of Renaissance Italy, and reached the Low Countries in the sixteenth century. In the early 1600s Dutch East India Company ships began bringing Chinese blue-and-white porcelain to Amsterdam, and demand far exceeded supply.

Potters in the town of Delft answered with their own blue-and-white earthenware, and by the late seventeenth century dozens of workshops there produced plates, vases and tiles for all of Europe. Tiles covered fireplaces, kitchens and stairwells in Dutch houses, decorated with ships, windmills, flowers, children's games and Bible scenes. Your host explains how to recognise genuine Delftware and why the blue colour became a symbol of the Netherlands.

Painting your own tile

After the story, the host guides you through the technique step by step. You trace or sketch your chosen design, outline it with a fine brush, then build up shading by layering thinner and thicker strokes of blue, the same principle used by Delft painters for centuries. Choose from a wide range of classic motifs, including tulips, windmills, sailing ships and corner ornaments, or go modern with your own drawing, initials or a message.

No experience is needed, and the host walks around the tables helping each guest. Children enjoy the class as much as adults, and many families paint a set of tiles together. The painting part lasts about 75 minutes, followed by a short break with self-service coffee, tea and mini stroopwafels. Your finished tile is packed in a gift box with instructions for baking it in a regular kitchen oven to make the colour permanent.

Nieuwmarkt and the old centre nearby

The studio is a few minutes on foot from Nieuwmarkt, a lively square dominated by De Waag, a fortified gate built in 1488 as part of the city wall and later used as a weigh house and guild hall. It is the oldest surviving non-religious building in Amsterdam. On Saturdays the square hosts an organic market, and the cafes around it are popular for an outdoor coffee.

From here it is easy to continue your day: the Rembrandt House Museum is about five minutes away on Jodenbreestraat, the colourful shops of Chinatown line the Zeedijk, and Central Station is a 10-minute walk. Combining this Amsterdam art workshop with these sights makes a well-paced cultural morning or afternoon, and your painted tile is one of the most personal souvenirs you can bring back from the Netherlands.