This Tree of Life, ceramic wall tile mural, will be installed in a hospital lobby. The piece measures 46″ x 46″. Our trademark wooden backings will be put on the tiles and security hardware will be attached to these backings.
The glazes used in this piece are: adobe, blue, turquoise, jade, persimmon and honey.
Click here to see more of our Tree of Life designs.
Tree of Life
Just completed this Live Oak for a homeowner who commissioned the piece at the American Craft Exposition in August. The owner says “I can’t wait to display this beautiful piece in our home for all to see—more importantly– for my wife and I to enjoy as we’re walking up and down our steps each day.”
You can see more of the Live Oak design under “Tree of Life” in our “Tile Catalogue”. Click here.
Live Oak
This piece was commissioned by an interior designer for a client who wanted a piece for over her baby grand piano. .
The client really liked the large mural Natalie created for an auto lobby at the 1706 Rittenhouse Square condominiums in Philadelphia, PA, but wanted only a few of those tiles. She chose these three and we glazed them in our Robin’s Egg glaze to complement the colors in the room.
handmade, sgraffito-carved, ceramic wall tiles
Tree of Life, 24″ x 36″, blue glaze, residential installation
A New Hampshire couple commissioned this tile piece from Natalie at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen Fair. They liked the tree of life motif that they saw at the fair but needed a smaller piece for their space.
Here is a picture of the installed piece. According to the homeowner, “Photos do not do it justice… just beautiful!”
You can see more of our Tree of Life design under our “Tile Catalogue”–click here.
Tree of Life
This is a shower installation done with unalun tile in smooth finishes. The jade, celedon and cream glazes were used here to create a lush environment connoting jungle and sea forms. The result is a verdant and soft environment suitable for a small space.
I created 4″x8″ cream colored tiles for the side walls of the shower and bath wall. These are undulating tiles that I placed in a somewhat random pattern to interweave the concept of the bulging tile with the flat tile, so as to tie together the totally undulating back wall. They are woven in with handmade tiles from Trikeenan Tileworks in Keene, NH. Fellow ceramic artists and now friends, Kristen and Chris, have been working in tile for years with a highly successful business. They now create tile for Whole Foods.
Click on the image to enlarge.
Shower installation
We recently completed this Tree of Life piece for the Radiology Oncology facility at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, VT.
The request for proposals (RFP) stated that patients in the radiology department who are undergoing radiation treatments to eliminate cancer tumors or to alleviate pain caused by the tumors will be virtually underground all day. The light-well in the waiting area is their only connection with nature. The RFP goes on to state that the design concept for the project is the idea of being under a canopy of trees. In the corridors outside the vaults, the skylights are large enough so that one can look up and see the branches of trees in the planters that run along the skylight on the roof.
Our piece was chosen from a pool of applicants for this installation because it addressed the thematic considerations of the request for proposals. Specifically, the selection committee was looking for art that:
Click here to see the work as it was being made.
Tree of Life, ceramic wall tile mural
Check out a Powerpoint presentation on our handmade, ceramic wall and backsplash tiles.
This winter a homeowner contacted Natalie and commissioned a tile mural for her new home.
The homeowner requested a piece that would include rolling hills, and a mountain with a swirling current river with a full moon. She wanted the light to sparkle on the water and suggested that a bat would be in the piece, as well as bamboo on the river bank. With that direction Natalie went to work sketching. Here is Natalie’s first sketch:
Initial Sketch for Tile Mural
The client loved the sketch and asked Natalie what colors she was thinking of. By then Natalie had put her thoughts down on clay and had carved the piece. She used Photoshop to overlay her color ideas onto the piece. Photoshop is a useful tool in our design process. It allows clients to get an idea of where the glazes will go on the piece. However Photoshop does not always give an accurate representation of our glaze colors. We sent the client color chips to show her the actual colors. Natalie suggested jade, honey and cashew as colors.
Here is the Photoshopped image of the piece:
Color sketch for tile mural
Unfortunately, a few of the tiles cracked in the firing process but in remaking the piece, Natalie came up with an improved design. The client also requested that the Chinese symbol for destiny be incorporated into the design. Here is the new piece, carved and not yet fired. Can you find the symbol?
Chinese symbol for destiny
carved tile mural
Stay tuned for the next update on this piece!
