I received these photos from a returning customer who was in the process of listing her home for sale, and wanted to be added to my mailing list so she could purchase more tiles for her next home! Talk about a true tile lover. Before she sold her house, she wanted to share the stunningly beautiful, one-of-a-kind installation she created using a collection of tiles from different makers, including yours truly:
I made many of the 2"x2"s featured in this fabulous medallion, including the deer, dragonfly, hawk, butterfly, spider, fox, cicada, chipmunk and possum. The light teal / mint green tiles are from Avalon Rose Craftworks in North Carolina. The central tree and surrounding moon, hummingbird, sun and turtle are by the fantastic SoMi tileworks, which, sadly, no longer seems to be active. Handmade tile companies are often small, one-person operations so it only takes one retirement or career change for the company to disappear. The tiles remain, though!
In the picture above, the 4x4 inch blue "bird at nest" tile and the framed 2x2 inch duck, frog and squirrel tiles were made by the inimitable Rick and Tonya of Whistling Frog Tile, which is happily still in business! Get 'em while you can at https://www.whistlingfrog.net/ Even though we have never met in person, I count Rick and Tonya among my tilemaking mentors. I made the rest of the 2x2s in the picture above. The 4x4 green and white leaf tile is from SoMi.
There is one other crafter who made it into these photos. In the picture below, to the right of the wooden utensil box is a bee tile with some teal, gold leaf and unfinished terracotta background. That artist is Janet Tobler.
I adore the bold combination of colors and patterns in this installation. Projects like this one show that it is completely possible to mix tiles from different sources and create a beautiful and cohesive look. The deep teal of the cabinets and open shelves helps tie it all together. Under the shelves, you can see a patchwork quilt of vibrant 2x10 inch field tiles, interlaced with more art tiles, included one of my 4x4 inch sunflowers as well as a 2x2 inch fern, wild turkey and crow, as well as another small SoMi tile featuring a bee.
Since sending these pictures, my customer has relocated to a beautiful century home and is dreaming of future tile projects. We both hope that the new owner of her previous home loves this beautiful tile installation as much as we do. Thank you so much, EH, for including my tiles in this lovely project and for taking the time to send pictures!
