Handmade Tile

Yesterday, I took two big boxes of tiles down to McKay Bricker Gallery in downtown Kent. Now, they once again have a wide selection of Emu Tiles in stock.  Many different designs and sizes are available to view and purchase.  They are mostly glazed in Autumn, but if you ask, the gallery now has a full set of glaze samples behind the counter.  This makes it easy to place a special order through the gallery. So if you are in Kent or the surrounding area, and you want to see some handmade tiles, go to McKay Bricker Gallery.  Not only...

Hand made art tile are excellent because they make a home personalized. Reason #2 of 101 reasons art tile are great.Here is a swell article found in a local Patch.com for Monrovia.The article shows some excellent pictures of historical Batchelder tiles which are very beautiful as they have the appearance of stone or perhaps something out of the Lord of the Rings. Notice in the pictures the subtle earth tone glazes. This is surely the tile of Rivendell. Yes, we here at Emu Tile like the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.Fantastic!The full handmade tile article on Patch.com. Handmade Tiles...

Here are pictures from a customer who loves art, and has a knack for displaying it her home.  In her kitchen, she had 4"X4" tree themed art tiles installed along with stone field tile, with fantastic results. I love her shelf of art pottery at the end of the wooden counter!  Great use of natural materials.  Here is another view of the area above the stove: And here is a picture of the sink side of the kitchen: Love the soapstone counters and art pottery display! Everything integrates so well in this room.  Thanks for sending pictures.  It makes me...

Q. How long do handmade tiles last? A. A very long time. Tiles are forever, almost. Fired clay can last a very long time and tend to do so which is why archeologists are always digging up ceramic pottery. Under the right conditions ceramic tile or any other type of ceramic can last thousands of years, this is especially true of stoneware and porcelain. Not many other man-made materials will last as long without changing in some way. Strength of tile increases when this tiles are thick, like for instance Emu Tile's handmade tile. Some of our tile are very...

So the whole idea of my blog will be reasons, many reasons, that handmade ceramic art tile are great. In the upcoming months, and years, I will be posting quick tidbits of information about handmade tile and start conversations about tile that is hand-made using the traditional methods. Today this is the first post so I will leave readers with the thought that more is on the way so subscribe to this RSS feed! Thank you! -Emu Art Tile

This past weekend was a working weekend here at Emu Tile.  DRU and I took the whole studio apart, then deep cleaned and rearranged it.  It was not the most fun we have ever had on a weekend, but it was so worth it.  It is like I have a new studio!  The new arrangement makes my work flow better.  And cleaner = safer in a ceramics studio.  We do have a industrial air cleaner to reduce our exposure to silica dust, but cleaning is still important.   I am very lucky to have a husband who cares enough to spend...

It never fails to brighten my day when a customer takes the time to send me pictures of Emu Art Tiles in installed in their home.  Seeing all of the different ways in which people display and interact with my work reminds me that the world is full of possibilities, and gives me a feeling of connectedness.   An art tile installation is a collaboration between the person who makes the tiles, the person who decides where and how to display them,  and the person who actually installs them.  Since each of these steps is equally important, it is tremendously...

On my wish list for a while now has been a test kiln that would hold just a small number of tiles.  As the name implies, it would be great for testing a new glaze, clay or firing technique.  In my situation, having one would also enable me to get certain orders in the mail more quickly while saving energy.   Sometimes I get a small order the day after I do one of my normal firings, and then my choices are either make the customer wait for my next scheduled firing, or to fire a large kiln that is only...