As Tile Addicts, it’s not uncommon to spy noteworthy tiles wherever we go. Exciting street art, a colourful facade, an intriguing cafe floor or even restaurant bathroom can spark joy and tickle tile-addicted tastebuds, but today’s find is a little more out-of-the-box and perfect for our week of artists. Wandering aimlessly along the streets of Margate led us to a small shop window with some … Continue reading Art BruTILE
This week it’s all about artists. We’re bringing you three distinct talents with ties to tile and the wonderful works they’ve welcomed into the world. Today the spotlight is on Adriana Varejão, a Brazilian artist with a habit of highlighting tiles across many marvellous medias. Up close and personal with ceramic-encased interiors, Varejão’s Saunas and Baths series strings together a sequence of spaces head to … Continue reading Visions of Tiles
Tiling bathrooms, kitchens, and fireplaces is all well and good. But what about tiling your body? It sounds unusual, but that’s what tattoo artist Noa Margalit offers her clients. Margalit’s love of abstract art and ability to blend realistic depictions with surreal compositions has created a tattoo style that absorbs the decorative nature of tiles and gives them new purpose and meaning. Giving people a … Continue reading Tile your body
The curiousities continue with July’s edition. We’ve got colour, shape, and some weirdly wonderful designs. 1) VP12830 This curious wibbly sea kelp style tile from Ceramica Pinto is fun, fresh, and extremely unusual. The marks of the artist are present in the paint strokes adding even more personality to the tiles. 2) Harlequin Handmade Tropical Found on Etsy, these wonderfully colourful handmade terrazzo style speckled … Continue reading Cyberspace Curiosities VII
The London Underground’s Tottenham Court Road is home to 950sq metres of tantalising tile art. Originally completed in 1986 by Scottish artist and Pop Art pioneer Eduardo Paolozzi, the vibrantly colourful mosaics spread across the Northern and Cental line platforms, offering an abstracted view of urban life. Curious curves and passages form references to the cogs and gears of machinery, whilst various facets of the … Continue reading Paolozzi’s Underground Genius
An artist from a young age, London-based Helen Beard has made a living observing life and translating it into ink and watercolour. With bespoke pieces ranging from bowls and vases to decorative ornaments, Beard’s hand-painted ceramics offer joyful scenes with unusual, quaint themes. Transferring lightly pigmented and delicately detailed paintings into ceramics is no easy feat. The process begins with freehand outlines, created using a … Continue reading Scenes of London Life
Back in 2019 we shared one of our favourite tile-centred eco projects – Volvo’s Living Seawall. Now, three years on (and on Earth Day) we thought we’d have a look at how things have changed. Each 3D printed hexagonal tile was formed to mimic the roots of mangroves, a species once abundant on the coast of Sydney. Fifty tiles were place along these urbanised coastlines … Continue reading Update: The Living Seawall
Pixel perfect scenes of daily life spread a touch of vintage joy at the Berlin-Wannsee train station. Created by Christoph Niemann and unveiled in 2018, two parallel murals welcome visitors with sweet stories and charming tableaux. Almost 20,000 100 by 100mm tiles were used to create the two 40 metre long storyscapes with a retro palette creating comfy vibes. Drawing on and continuing the NYC … Continue reading Holidays in Wannsee
Another of our Surface Design Show discoveries is surface designer Emily Hatton. Based in Bournemouth, Hatton creates from the waste up, experimentally casting both household and industrial waste to assess aesthetic value and product potential. Her Abstract Waste project saw how grass cuttings, egg-shell, sawdust and wood shavings affected eco resin, with each producing a texturally varied result and unique surface pattern. As well as … Continue reading Emily Hatton Design
Used, discarded, and forgotton metal scraps find a new home and bright future with Matt Small. Though predominantly a painter, London-based Small has always sought to make use of ‘waste’ items in his work, utilising old car bonnets and wood in place of traditional canvases. Continuing this theme through to a different medium, rusted, worn, and misshapen bits of metal are shaped and sliced to … Continue reading Metal Mosaic Master
Artist Lucy Stein translates the underground passages of West Cornwall into a tiled installation with her Wet Room exhibition. These Neolithic spaces are believed to have been sites for ritual rebirthing ceremonies, a theme reflected in Stein’s choice to have water flow perpetually into and out of the bath and sink in the central piece. Though the majority of the exhibition’s artworks are paintings and … Continue reading Wet Room
A couple more curiosities from cyberspace for ceramic-loving civilians. 1) Triennale This iconic ‘four curve’ puzzle piece style tile was designed by Gio Ponti and Alberto Rosselli in the 60s. We’ve seen quite a bit of it amongst Marazzi‘s designs, especially it’s colour-blocked varieties, but marble effects, patchworks patterns, terrazzo style, and more make it worth a mention in our curiosities. 2) Ogi Matcha Gloss … Continue reading Cyberspace Curiosities III
Looking to interact with Barcelona and its inhabitants, a project was conceived to form a thread with tiles. Artist Joan Juncosa creates colourful interpretations of the city’s tiles, both on canvas and on panots, and sets them out for all to see. #tilesaroundtheworld invites people to take, reposition, and engage creatively with these artworks for a novel, collaborative urban art initiative. Initially four tiles were … Continue reading Sharing the Streets of Barcelona
Wisconsin born Anne Marie Price began life as a mosaic artist in the basement of her home. In between working and raising children she honed her skills with the help of online artists and by 2011 she’d moved to California and began full-time work as an artist. In September of 2014 she was awarded the 2014 Robin Brett Scholarship from the Society of American Mosaic … Continue reading AMP Art
The weird and wonderful world of tiles has cooked up a fair few curiosities so we’re hoping to make this a regular segment for 2022. So here are five more! 1) Eskayel Dance from Clé Tile Made in collaboration with New York textile designers Eskayel, Dance is one of eight patterns transformed to tile. These abstract Rorschach test-like images deceive the eye into seeing many … Continue reading Cyberspace Curiosities II
Feast your eyes on the fabulous tiles of Falkirk’s Nikki Monaghan. With a creative history spanning textiles, silversmithing, and interior design, today it’s cheerful scenes and townscapes that are the focus of her talent. Amongst these delightful prints, paintings, and unique funishings is a small collection of artworks transfered to tiles. Gloriously coloured, these works of tile art are wonderfully joyful featuring homes, cityscapes, and … Continue reading The Dreamy Streets of Nikki Monaghan
After sourcing our first lot of marvellous murals, we decided to collect five more, each with a distinctive style and message. 1. Villa Harvey Mandel Called Neighbors Helping Neighbors: A Tribute to Donors, Volunteers & Staff, this mosaic on the west-facing wall of Villa Harvey Mandel stands 72 feet tall and stretches 42 feet from side to side. Creating the vibrant, spirited imagery is stained … Continue reading Five More Marvellous Murals
Recycling spent ceramics back into production is an important aim to increase the sustainability of mass produced tableware and tiles. Though we’ve covered the work of Hanneke de Leeuw of Fabrique Pu which makes use of discarded vases, mugs, and plates, today’s feature takes the process a step further. The unstable nature of glazed ceramics complicates recycling as the fired materials become impure. Finding a … Continue reading OTT Korean glaze
A long-term mosaic art installation, mapscapes, and rockworks are just three of Sager Mosaics‘ gifts to the creative world. Located in Whitsett, Pennsylvania the studio of The Forager Mosaicist, otherwise known as Rachel Sager, acts as both a respite for travellers on the trail and a place to create immeasurable beauty. Amongst these creations is the impressive Ruins Project. Born amidst the ruins of a … Continue reading The Forager Mosaicist
We’re always up for a novel bit of glazing, and especially one that creatively utilises waste. But today’s feature deifnitely takes experimentation a little farther than we’re used to. With urine. We’ve covered wee-based creations before (in brick form) and are well aware of its historical uses from leather tanning to medicine, but I think a urine glaze might still be a tough sell. But … Continue reading Peeing on porcelain
