Sketches for You--Did You Know??

Did you know that we do line renderings of tile layouts regularly?  There is a archive of these drawings on the Design Ideas page, under Layout Sketches.  The sketches can give you new ideas, or help your clients visualize tiles together.  We can also do renderings of new designs as part of a new project proposal! Reflection, Quies Imperial, Gothic Border, custom design tiles, plain tile panels, and Chair Rail Moldings

Reflection, Quies Imperial, Gothic Border, custom design tiles, plain tile panels, and Chair Rail Moldings

Thank you, Skippack tile for this project!

Completed and installed Fireplace in Green Shadow Glaze

Here are just a few of the dozens of sketches available on Design Ideas:

3 Aurelia Companions with Chair Rail Frames

Acanthus Flower Medallion, 4-part Surround, Chair Rail, and Wrapped Field Tiles

Anaglypto Fireplace with 4x8 Subway Fields Hearth

Backsplash Featuring Aquarius 7x7 Compiled Medallion with Chair Rail Frame, with Rhomboid Fields

Aquarius 7x7 Medallion with Chair Rail Frame

Aurelia Centerpiece with 2 Aurelia Companions and Chair Rail Frames

Medallion with Aurelia Centerpiece and 2 Aurelia Companions, with custom fields and Chair Rail Frame

Backsplash Featuring Aurelia Centerpiece Medallion, Liners, and 4x8 fields in Green and White

Concordia Sero-Elaborate Tile Design Sketch with Narrow Rope and Chair Rail Molding

Mural with Concordia and Concordia Seros, 6-part Surround Lucescere, Chair Rail, and 6x6 Fields

Corono 3x3 Fireplace with Handmade 4x4 Fields

Dragonfly Garden mural horizontal

Dragonfly Mural Tall Panels

Elaborate Bloom Mural with Sculpted Leaf and Chair Rail

Elegance Mural with Sculpted Leaf and Chair Rail

Fireplace with Imaginatio, Delicatus, Quies, Custom Fields and Chair Rail

Foliage Medallion-Surr-chair rail

Medallion with Fruit Tableau, Gothic Border and Chair Rail

Fireplace with Quies', Imaginatios, Delicatus and Chair Rail

Tall Panel with Imaginatios Mirrored with Chair Rail

Leilani 14-surr-chair rail

Quies Imperial cut into an Oval with Blank Surround and Chair Rail

Medallion Featuring Shell Medallion, 4-part Surround, Pencil Molding, Custom Fields, Chair Rail and Wrapped Fields

3 Vinaceus Panels with Chair Rail Frames

 

 

New VIDEOs From Anne

Anne Foulke, the artist behind Clay Decor, LLC, has just uploaded new videos!  Watch a clay tile being created, get a glimpse into the studio, or check out how glass tiles are made!

Clay Decor Videos:

My Favorite Magazines

#1 Ceramics Monthly:  This fabulous magazine has been a staple since I graduated from college.  It features inspirational work of other ceramic artists, as well as a wealth of technical information.  If I need a new glaze, I usually find it from Ceramics Monthly.  Also a great place to find workshops and equipment. #2 Veranda:  Oh the luxury of this magazine!  And I'm not talking the ads.  The photography in this magazine is a feast of color and composition.  Just seeing the cover gives me an idea of what colors/shades are trending.  The articles give a peak inside classic designs in the most elite environments.  It's not that I want my work to be a bastion of the wealthy, rather a translation of the look and feel of this magazine in some small way.

#3  This Old House Magazine:   I LOVE old houses.  The architecture and attention to detail, especially carved embellishment, never fail to fascinate me.   This magazine is a celebration of craftsmanship by hands of the past and present.  I find wonderful ideas for restoration and re-use of salvaged materials for modern living.  As most of my work is inspired by designs of the late 1800s and early 1900s, I love the historical connections this magazine provides.

As an aside, I have tried to read fashion magazines...yawn...  When you dress in T-shirts/sweatshirts and jeans to work in 'dirt' everyday, one tends to loose interest. :)

Stuff I Love! What Inspires My Work

I'm starting a new blog category to share all of the influences that inspire me on a day to day basis.  As an artist, I hungrily consume visual and kinesthetic (touch) experiences. I love color, rich saturated hues (not white, not tan..blech).  I'm so happy those kitchens with white cabinets and splashes with my Gloss White glaze have gone out of vogue.  Not that it was an ugly look, it was very clean.   Those subtle colors just seem to subdue my large designs, and I much prefer to have color to liven-up a space.  Then again, I'm not a quiet person.  I wear purple eye shadow (every day), and have red hair (dyed not to look natural, I hope), and I can happily talk your ear off if given the chance.  :)

I'm not a huge fan of pattern as it seems visually 'noisy' to me, so when you see my more elaborate tiles, they will always be draped in a consistent glaze.  What I love about pattern, is when it is raised, i.e. when it is a texture.  I don't like a repeated design painted on fabric, but embroider the same design, especially with a heavy wool or silk thread, and I'm drawn to it.  This is why my repeating designs (like Anaglypto) are more inspired by a repetition of texture that glaze reacts to, rather than a pattern contrasted with background like in hand-painted examples.

To this end, I love luxury that is beautiful but touchable.  At a recent trade show, people kept coming up to the glass Concordia and touching the surface.  I was thrilled!  Creating an interaction of the visual and the kinesthetic connects me, connects my work, to the outside world.  This is why I insist on carving my own wood tile molds, rather than using a carving machine (CNC), and refuse to use a tile press instead of my own hands to form the tiles and sinks.  I need to touch the wood, interact with the lines as they take shape, feel the depth and texture of the design.  When pressing the tiles, I feel the clay being worked into the mold, my finger prints are on the backs of the tile as I manually refine the pressing.  Glazing is also an interaction of liquid flowing over the surface of the tile, whether I'm hand-dipping or pouring it over a larger piece.  As the heavy-cream consistency  of the glaze cascades over each design it creates a totally unique visual life for each piece.  If I tilt the same two tiles in different directions, the same designs and same materials become one of a kind, as liquid never flows the same way twice.

So this blog will focus on things that speak to me personally.  It's not that I think everyone should agree with my somewhat-odd preferences, but you will have a better understanding of the artist behind the artwork. :)