It’s always wonderful for people to take art into their own hands, to forego the norm and decorate as they see fit. And for us at Tile Addict it’s even better when ceramics are involved.

Susan Gardner of Brooklyn has done exactly this – taking to the walls of her home to produce a sprawling mosaic of celebration. Using anything from shells, to CDs, to buttons, the building’s facade is awash with colour.

Dancers, flowers, and characters of all kinds decorate the home, bursting with life and happiness and demonstrating how much joy can be found when one simply starts gluing things to the walls.

Of course, the old faithful ceramics feature in the artwork, with mosaic tiles and chipped fragments featuring amongst the mixed media. But our philosophy is that tile is not only defined by the materials used to create them, but also through the way they are utilised and the method behind their application (which is why you’ll find us raving about artworks made with cigarette butts, street artists that spray paint the look of tiles onto surfaces, and mosaic portraits created with keys from computer keyboards). With blessings (and material donations) from her neighbours, Gardner’s home and its exuberant adornments continues to grow, extending upwards, and onto the metal fence.

A new post by Hanna Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, July 2020.