Since returning from my hiatus, I have been blissfully busy in my newly clean & organized studio. But I have let this blog (and Facebook and twitter) lapse because I have too much to say and I don't know where to begin.
Closing the studio for the first time felt really scary, but it was so worth it. Coming back, I feel energized & excited, it is like I am falling in love with making tiles all over again. I realize now that occasionally taking time off is essential for me to refill my well of inspiration, and clean and improve my work-space. Fortunately, taking a break doesn't seem to have hurt business. (Thank you to everyone who waited for me to re-open to place an order!) I was wonderful having the chance to make improvements to the studio, take stock of how things are going, and dream of new tile designs and new directions for the business.
my new and improved glazing area
I am currently using my renewed enthusiasm to fill orders and create new tiles. Here are some "in progress" photos of the new 1"x6" liner tiles I came up with last week:
I am going to make little 1"x1" tiles that coordinate with each design, to be used for corners. For example, a person could use four of one of the new 1"x6" tiles to frame a 6"x6" tile, then use a tiny 1"x1" at each corner. The mini tiles are going to be fun for me to make, since I love tiny things.
But big is beautiful, too! That is why I resized the 2"x2" possum, wild turkey and raccoon up to the 4"x4" size:
And I scaled the 2"x2" caterpillar and ladybug up to the 3"x3" size. They will make a fun addition to my 3"x3" bug collection. Here are the first two, fresh from the new mold:
The ever popular 4"x8" herons got the opposite treatment, I re-sculpted them in the smaller 3"x6" size.
Pictures of the glaze and fired tiles are coming! Also, I got some wonderful installation pictures recently which I will be posting here on the blog soon. I can hardly wait to share them with you, so please stay tuned :-)
Handmade Tiles Referenced:
