Tag Archives: Ceramic Tile

Ceramic Tile

/ February 20, 2013
District Tile is inset into Moleskin marble to create panels. The glazes of District Tile are rich with dark pooling while the decoration is created by changing the grid pattern.

District Tile is inset into Moleskin marble to create panels. The glazes of District Tile are rich with dark pooling while the decoration is created by changing the grid pattern.Slideshow

Exceptional creamy white ceramic tile with a fine crackle is my personal choice for nearly every tile surface in my own house. Additionally, the molding is crisp and the one piece corner is a very polished detail.
Hand made ceramic tile often has a slightly uneven surface and gentle color variation. This wall is a good example of that but especially beautiful.
The slightly uneven surface of this handmade wall of tile is expected. The color has a gentle variation and the grout joints are very tight.
I am glad to see that Nate Berkus loves tile as much as I do. He installed a large scale glossy black ceramic tile with a lighter grout color installed floor to ceiling. The installation feels urban and sophisticated.
This is one of my favorite tiled bathrooms. The space is clad floor to ceiling with just the smallest detail of different size liners. Creamy white and watery green, classic and traditional but with a timeless freshness.
Luxe Interiors + Design, Winter 2013
A great deep blue bath tiled from floor to ceiling creates a memorable space. The crisp white floor tile anchors the bath and ties back to the white fixtures.
A dark blue panel of ceramic embedded in a wall of Bardiglio marble is simply stunning. The color variation of the tile, the vertical orientation of the material forms the perfect placement to highlight the shower fitting.
A full wall of tile in a slightly lavender toned gray. The 3x3 tiles set on the diagonal are framed by 6x6 tiles and a molding. A well shaped baseboard finishes the installation.
Crisp white tile for a kitchen backsplash is always in style. This one has been installed with a gray grout which accents the grid.
Laundry rooms are my new favorite spaces. Often they are relegated to the basement or a tiny closet. I like to celebrate clean clothes and the mindless chore of folding them, especially in well designed and lighted spaces with tiles walls.
Large scale blue tile, the color of the sky on a perfect day, is a great compliment to the Statuary floors. This is a great color and, despite its depth, is amazingly neutral.
A dark gray blend of penny round tiles makes an interesting backsplash.

It seems as if we are in a stone moment. Our overwhelming enthusiasm for stone should not eclipse ceramic tile as a fabulous material for backsplashes, fireplaces, kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms and mudrooms. It is extraordinarily versatile, with unique palettes, easy maintenance  and architecturally as well as structurally interesting. Personally, I think there is nothing more beautiful than a wall of handmade tile. There are nuances of glaze variation, surface irregularities and artistic expression in each tile.

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Handmade Tile

/ February 22, 2012
Steven Gambrel_HB_Architectonics

Slideshow

A lovely installation of soft green hand-made tiles with transparent glaze. The tile is complimented by the decorative mosaic border and the herringbone pattern on the floor.
Wet clay tiles being trimmed by hand.
Wet clay tile being transported to drying racks.
Prior to glaze application all tiles are dusted to remove impurities.
Setting racks filled with glazed tiles ready for firing in the large kiln.
Custom hand made tiles allow the client to select the color best suited for the space. These are buckets of glazes that have been developed over time.
Moldings being laid out after inspection prior to firing.
This table holds many of the test samples and experiments, some that eventually go in to production. The unsuccessful tests become scrap used finally in road beds.

I have written about handmade ceramic tile before and will probably do so again. I recently visited one of my favorite handmade tile factories in Southern California and remembered again why the material is so special. First, it is all organic. Next, there are countless opportunities for customization, from the color to the shape of the trim. It seems that we are in a stone moment, but I don’t want to forget about the beauty of ceramic tile.

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British Ceramics Biennial, Stoke On Trent

/ January 18, 2012
The Old Spode Factory site. This was the main building. The former site is made up of a series of buildings – so it is like walking into a small town.

The Old Spode Factory site. This was the main building. The former site is made up of a series of buildings – so it is like walking into a small town.Slideshow

Moulds for plates leftover form the Spode Factory.
Rongen Showroom
A bathroom by DTile. They also have some tiles with a chalkboard finish – which were a lot fun.
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Designs from Flux, created by students from Staffordshire University. They had a display at Maison et Objet this year to sell to retailers.
Work by artist Bethan Lloyd Worthington.
One of the artwork installations. I like the use of coils - a reminder of how pots were made before the advent of the potter's wheel.
Sculpture
Sculpture
Pieces by Merete Rasmussen. She uses matte, single colours to emphasis the form of her pieces. Some of them appear to be made by machine or with plastic – but are in fact all handmade with clay.
The finished exterior of St Pancras.
Some of Charnwoods hand made bricks created for the St Pancras project.

Please welcome Sarah Watson who runs the bath furnishings company, Balineum, in the UK as our guest blogger to THE PERFECT BATH. She lives in London with her husband (who does not work in the world of bathrooms, has no interest in ceramics, and whose only interest is cricket—-not the insect). www.balineum.co.uk.

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Handmade Ceramic Tile

/ March 2, 2011
A block of raw clay ready for the extruder that will flatten the material and make it ready for cuts.

A block of raw clay ready for the extruder that will flatten the material and make it ready for cuts.Slideshow

A border just after emerging from its mold. The excess clay will be cut off and recycled . The final step is a meticulous cleaning of the design to keep the carving crisp.
Loving hands carefully sponging material before it is ready for drying and bisque firing.
Tiles ready for the application of glaze prior to their firing at 1900 degress for 12 hours.
Finished tile ready for inspection, boxing and shipping (the final of 6 inspection sites).
A typical handmade rail. Note that in handmade tile no two pieces are ever exactly the same. Some may be slightly bowed and the color will vary.
Lovely crackle glaze on a tradional three-dimensional acanthus border.
A hand painted border in a neo-classical design.
This frieze border was inspired a frieze in house in Charleston. It is very graphic in a tailored vernacular. Shown here in a light brown, it is really outstanding in cream or white.
A rosettle that is part of a group of trims that are in the Classic Revival style. They are very useful around door frames or windows.
An installation of hand made tile using two sizes of tile and two colors to create drama. You can see the slight uneven quality of the tile.
A soft shade of heather called Crepe, 3x3 tiles set on the diagonal, a border row of 6x6 and a decorative border give the panel structure.
There are countless classical moldings originally documented for wood trim. We have used this and other drawings as inspiration for the moldings in our handmade tile lines.

Those of you who know me, know that I love ceramic tile. It is the tactile experience of the material that is most appealing. It feels smooth and silky on its glazed face and unfinished on the back where only the raw fired clay is visible until installed. Handmade ceramic tile can be refined and elegant or chunky and casual on white or red clay bodies. The choices you make influence the design direction and the visual scale and balance of the space.

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