Handmade Tiles

Tree art is a natural choice for fireplace decor, since fireplaces burn wood & wood comes from trees. Using representations of trees in hearth design pays homage to the trees that are burned there. These installation photos I recently received are a great illustration of this idea. And as an added bonus, one of tree tiles featured is my brand new 4"x4" oak leaf tile. It looks great installed! Close up of the oak leaf tile in the afternoon sun. The color of the glaze looks so right with the stone tile and wood floor. Earth tones and neutrals blend together...

I've been busy this week sculpting various 4"x4" tiles, including a completely new Rooster design. The Honey Bee was already available as a 2"x2" tile and I am re-sizing it. I am also working on enlarging one of my cat tiles, but it is not ready for the public eye. The rooster and bee, however, are almost finished:  I am going to fiddle with the wings and feathers a bit more, and then make molds. The mold making process will destroy the original proofs, but that is ok because with the finished molds I can make hundreds of reproductions of...

Seeing customer installation pictures never fails to make me happy, so getting these photos from Nan S. was quite a treat. She has a stairway in her home, and she wanted to increase the visual impact of this transitional space with tiles. She achieved her goal brilliantly, but not in the way you might expect. Instead of tiling the stair treads and risers, she tiled the walls and ceiling of the stairwell. And lucky for me, she took lots of pictures: The view up the stairs. Art tiles are 6"x6" Tree of Life and 4"x4" Acorn The upper wall and...

The new heron tile I have been working on is ready at last. It is pictured here alongside my original heron tile. Both are shown glazed in Watercolor Blue. As you can see, the new tile is a mirror image of the original, so now you can order two heron tiles that face each other in my online store.  A pair of these would look great installed on opposite sides of a fireplace; or maybe over a kitchen stove along with some cattail or cypress tiles. There are lots of possibilities & I look forward to seeing what ideas people come up with...

Plain, undecorated "field tiles" are once again available in my online store. I used to love making 4"x4" and 6"x6" field tiles until limited kiln space forced me to stop. Now that I have my new large kiln up and running, I am ready to start cranking them out again. They are available in 12 glazes, you can order all one color or you can mix them up: Above: multicolored 4"x4" field tiles In addition to bringing back 4"x4" and 6"x6" sizes, I will now be offering 3"x6" subway tiles. Most small to medium sized field tile orders should ship within...

We are savoring to the end of summer here in Northeast Ohio. The days are still warm and sunny, but they are getting shorter & the nights are getting cooler. I feel less like swimming and more like hiking. When DRU and I took our morning walk today, and I was glad to be wearing long pants instead of shorts. I would have grabbed a jacket, too, if the cool, crisp air weren't so refreshing. The trees are still quite green, but DRU managed to find a perfect orange & red leaf sitting in the middle of the sidewalk. More...

It never occurred to me that the "Birds on a Branch Triptych" could be installed with a border made up of 2"x2" field tiles and blossom tiles. Fortunately for me, the idea did occur to a clever couple who made it happen, and then were kind enough to send me pictures. I am quite impressed with how well their kitchen installation turned out. The border does double duty: it gives the art tiles more presence while softening the transition to the surrounding linen colored subway tiles. "Birds on a Branch" and border tiles are all glazed in "Autumn." Field tiles are...

That was the file name of one of the three customer installation photos I received through facebook yesterday. I think that name suits all three pictures. Why have a plain shower, when you can have a "pretty shower"? 3"x6" white subway tiles with a band of blue and green glass mosaic tiles and my 2"x2" ginkgo leaf tiles in northern lights glaze. Plain subway tiles are subtle and tasteful on their own; adding a colorful band of tiles made this installation sparkle. It could also be described as a "pretty bath"! I didn't make the plain mosaic tiles or wave...