Handmade Tile

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...

I never know when customer installation pictures will show up in my inbox. When they do, opening the files feels like unwrapping a gift! It is so fun to see the creative ways in which people incorporate my tiles into their living space. It was definitely a treat to wake up to this lovely set of photos: This is actually the second time these tiles have been featured on this blog, the first time they were photographed uninstalled and as part of a montage. It is so great to seem them in their forever home over the sink and in...

What a great concept: take an art tile, frame it with art tiles, and presto! Durable, washable wall art for the kitchen. Bonus: this is wall art that never needs straightening (after the initial installation, of course). This kitchen features three 6"x6" art tiles in northern lights glaze, framed up with a combination of 3"x6" and 3"x3" art tiles in buckwheat glaze: I can't tell from these pictures if the field tiles are natural stone or ceramic; in any case the color harmonizes beautifully with the buckwheat and northern lights glazes. The homeowner described the arrangement above as a "Sunburst."...