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. :)

Dealer Display Package Options

  • View the individual tiles mentioned in these packages by going to clay-decor.com, and putting the tile name into the search box in the lower right hand corner.
  • Clay Decor can choose the finish colors from the most popular, or you can choose what works in your market (we notice that different colors tend to vary by area of the country).
  • Pricing for tiles and packages can be obtained by emailing info@clay-decor.com, and telling us a little bit about your showroom and location.

1.  Order any tile or concept board design in any stock Finish Color to a minimum $300.

2.   Large Tile Package

This package includes our very popular large tiles in the most frequently ordered designs:

  • Concordia
  • Aurelia Horizontal
  • Imaginatio
  • Quies Imperial
  • Fruit Tableau
  • Irish Lace
  • Leilani Ellipse

3.  Small Tile Package 

This package includes an example of all 4x4 and smaller deco tiles, loose: 27 total

4.  Moldings Sampler

This package includes an example of all Molding tile designs, loose:  21 total

5.  Color Chips

This includes a 3x3 sample of all current glaze Finish Colors.

6.  Medium Tile Package 

Medium tiles include select popular designs from 6x6 to 12 x 12

  • Quies
  • Aquarius 9x9
  • Anaglypto
  • Sidereus 8x8
  • Renaissance
  • Corono 6x6
  • Concordia Sero
  • Gemino 6x6
  • Foliatus

7.  Borders Package 

This package includes a selection of popular wide and narrow borders.

  • Gothic Border
  • Sidereus Border
  • Garden Border
  • Lucescere
  • Fluvidus
  • Thorn Flower
  • Tulip Vine
  • Ventillo
  • Lily Consero

8.  Mural Package 

This package includes the top 3 mural designs, loose.  Make these into a concept board using moldings as a frame, or install them with different materials from your store, such as stone.

  • Concordia with 2 Concordia Sero side panels
  • Reflection 4-piece mural
  • Elegance Mural

9.  Glass Packages

Our glass tiles are currently offered in a limited number of designs and sizes.  Here are options that include currently available designs:

9A:  Small Glass Accents:  All 2x2 (#5) and 1x1 (#1) tile designs

9B:  Glass Tiles, Medium:  Corono 4x4, Aquarius 7x7, Gothic Border, Ventillo

9C:  Glass Moldings:  1 each of Ornate Frame and Chair Rail Moldings

9D:  Glass Concordia:  21 x 14 inch, 9 mm thick

10.  Concept Boards

These boards are priced individually, and due to their size, will be delivered loose with an installation map.  Feel free to make your own composition of tiles and frames to make a board fit to your space.

  • Concordia with Kallisto Molding Frame:  total size 21 x 28
  • Irish Lace with 4-part surround and Ornate Frame Molding:  total size 25 x 20
  • Aurelia Horizontal with 4-part surround and Chair Rail frame:  total size 21 x 26
  • Fruit Tableau, Gothic Border, Chair Rail frame:  Total size 26 x 29
  • Aquarius 7x7 (#9) with Chair Rail:  Total size 26 x 26

How to Become a New Dealer

How to Become a Clay Decor Dealer

Thank you so much for your interest in Clay Decor's 100% handmade artisan products!  Our tiles and sinks are individually hand-made and hand-glazed.  Each piece is UNIQUE--it will never come out of the kiln the same way twice, and this guarantees true artistic quality.

 Who are Our Partners?

Our partner stores are typically small, boutique style stores with designers or highly experienced sales people willing to work with the clients on custom projects.   These stores are in high-end markets with consumers that have traditional sensibilities.

These are ARTISAN products made by an artist.  If you are looking for off-the-shelf, pre-made items that offer consistency and uniformity, Clay Decor's products are not a good fit.  Each tile is an individual work of art with a unique appearance, that is made to-order only (applies to all works, even large quantities of plain field tiles).  Tiles come together create beautiful, unique total compositions.

 

What is the Lead Time?

Because every tile is custom-made for each client, there are no items 'in stock'.  Most orders have a 6-week window from the time the Purchase Order is received until the ship date.  We are happy to try and work with you, so if occasionally there is an urgent need, check with us and we'll consult the current production schedule and let you know at the time of inquiry.

 

What is the Buy-in?

We require a minimum initial display purchase of $300.  Display pricing is 1/2 of wholesale prices.  All stock finish colors, with the exception of hand-rubbed colors using 'Antiquity' in the name, are the same price.  Antiquity colors add $50 to medallion orders and more if applying to a number of fields.

 

Do We Offer Exclusivity?

The short answer is 'no'.  In general, we try to maintain a 20 minute driving distance between partner stores.  Of course, that will be less distance in a highly dense market such as a major city.  Clay Decor offers no guarantees of territory/exclusivity.

 

How Do You Choose a Display?

Displays are as custom as the individual client orders.  You can order whatever designs you want, in any of the stock colors.  You can order a combination of loose tiles and/or concept boards.  All concept boards will be shipped to you in loose tiles with a map for installation on site with backing materials of your choice.  As an alternative, we have several packages you can choose from, made up of the most popular designs/colors.

New Glass Tiles

Our new glass tiles were just unveiled at Coverings 2012, and are now part of Clay Decor's offerings.  We're not abandoning our clay (ever!), but this is a fun new direction of artwork and a chance to experiment with color and light in our relief designs.  So far, we have a limited number of our designs, from 1x1 to 21 x 15 Concordia.  Designs are incised into the glass as reverse-relief, or can appear almost three dimensional as you see the design in the back through a smooth top layer of glass.  Here's a picture of Concordia glass tile framed by glass Ornate Frame Moldings and surrounded by commercial mosaics (from the Coverings display).  Little bit of a bear to photograph glass... :)

Clay Decor's Mural Featured on Cover of Kitchen and Bath Design News

Our Leilani Ellipse medallion was featured on Kitchen and Bath Design News magazine's cover page in November 2011.  Our original Leilani medallion (14" diameter), was the inspiration for this new elliptical tile.  Leilani Ellipse is featured here with a custom-sized 4 part surround, custom molding (it's actually a cut piece of our Pencil Molding), then Gothic Border and all enclosed in Chair Rail molding.  The Leilani Ellipse and Gothic Border designs were created just for this project, and are now part of the collection for everyone to enjoy.  That's the beauty of artisan tile--there's no such thing as off-the-shelf--it's all custom created for each client, sometimes even down to the design of the tile itself!

New SITE!!!

Clay Decor just launched a new Web site!  The new clay-decor.com has an updated look and is much easier to use.  We cut the fat--so to speak--and made the site 18 pages as opposed to over 120!  The pictures are much faster to download now and are compatible with different browsers and different devices (like smart phones).  Check it out and let us know what you think!