Handmade Tile

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.

Thursday night, I sculpted a new tile.  Yesterday I made a plaster cast of that tile so I will be able to reproduce the new design. Once the plaster dries, I will be able to pack this full of clay and reproduce the original again and again.  You may be wondering what the design on the tile is.  It kinda looks like an abstract, art deco heart.  But that isn't what I had in mind.  Thanks to Photoshop, you can see what a set of four of them together will look like: It is going to be a four tile...

Geometric #1 has been a popular tile lately, so I have a fair number of them drying in the studio at the moment.  I think they look pretty together.  They are different colors because the clay isn't completely dry yet.  

Thanks to everyone who helped make 2011 the best year ever here at Emu Tile!    We wish you health and happiness in 2012.