Handmade Tile

Meet "Hazel Tree Interiors," the newest addition to the list of shops that carry Emu Tile. (60’ mural on the side of the building by Kelly James Tighe) As an UA alum with a lot of love for Akron, Ohio, I had been hoping for years that I would find a venue for my art tiles somewhere in the Rubber City. I can't imagine a better place than Hazel Tree Interiors. Today, I met Karen Starr and Jon Haidet at their beautiful interior design studio / framing shop on the near west side. I felt right at home there and...

The first test firing of our "new" kiln was a success! This vintage piece of brick and electronics came to us courtesy of our neighbor, who came across it while helping her mother-in-law clean out her garage.  This kiln had been left there by one of her sons who moved away, and our neighbor thought we might be able to use it.  We gratefully accepted the gift, then proceeded to store it for many moons.  Recently, with the increased volume of orders and and requests for field tiles, it occured to me that another kiln that is almost twice a...

I am working on new print materials to go with the spiffed up website, and this is what I have come up with so far.  Also thinking of designing stickers and postcards with a similar feel. Can't wait to get them printed so I can include them with orders! 

The sun came out this afternoon. The blue sky was irresistible, so DRU and I walked downtown and then up to campus. Despite the icy wind in my face, when I looked up at the brilliant blue I could almost imagine it was a summer day. To keep the illusion going, I am going to make a new tile with a summer theme. Not that I mind the winter, mind you. I just sometimes miss warm weather things, like swimming outdoors, wearing shorts, and picking dandelions. Ok, I don't exactly pick dandilions much anymore, I mostly pull them out of...

Remember the new mold I made earlier this month?  The first set of tiles I made from it is out of the kiln! It is a set of four 4"x4" tiles that fit together to form a pattern that is about 8"x8" square, shown in autumn glaze.  I have added to the online store here and here. The design is based on the 3"x3" tile, "geometric blossom", and I think the larger and smaller versions would combine well.  In a kitchen, the 8"x8" version could go over the range or in another prominent spot, and the 3"x3" could be peppered...

A whole colony of bats just came out of the kiln! I just finished a large set of 2"x2" Bat tiles in Northern Lights Glaze for a customer. This is the most bats I have ever made at the same time, so I thought it was worth documenting.  I love bats, I think they are adorable. If you look close, you can see that my bats are smiling: We have had a real, live bat end up in our studio on two separate occasions. The first one was flying in circles around the room, so we just turned off the...

11 years ago today, Drupal version 1.0 was released. DRU and I celebrated early by giving the Drupal “Drop” a plaster bath. Earlier in the week, I had sculpted two tiles based on the Drupal logo, so over the weekend I made a mold of them while DRU took pictures. Ready to pour the plaster. It would have been nice to have pictures of the finished tiles today, but that didn't quite happen. All you Drupalists out there will just have to wait a little longer to see the world's first handmade Drupal tiles.  (Update 2/15/12: Link to Finished Tile)...

The weather has been sunny and warmish here for the last few days, which has me thinking about the coming spring.  The nice weather was just the inspiration I needed to sculpt this 4"x8" tile of daffodils and a tulip: It is based on this sketch.  I modified it slightly by switching from four to three flowers, I thought four would be a bit crowded.  Right now, I am happy with the results, but I am going to sleep on it.  If I am still satisfied with it tomorrow, I will make a mold.