A quick little video showing how I designed this table pattern:
www.instagram.com/reel/CePEFHHgXxk/
I’ve been working on this simple midcentury-inspired table to hold some plants.
I’ll post a few more photos when it’s done.
Update:
I finished up this project last night. The plants seem a lot happier in their new spot. They’re getting a lot more natural light. ☀️
I designed this for myself but thought others might like one. Available now in my online shop:
It’s been years since I made a stop-motion animated video. Romy, Ollie, and I made a couple when they were little but it really started when I was a student at MassArt a long, long time ago. This one got cut short but there will be more coming!
Thank you Susan Yeley Homes for posting these photos on Instagram.
It’s so cool to finally see all the monkey tiles that I made last year getting installed in their new home. I remember being nervous about the consistency of finish as I unloaded the kiln. There was a fair amount of variation due to when tiles were dipped (the glaze got thicker as I went along) and where the tiles were located in the kiln (centrally placed tiles were hotter and glossier). There’s no way I could match the consistency of the computer rendering but I think the installer, Instile, has done a nice job of interspersing lights and darks to create a beautiful surface.
www.instagram.com/reel/CayZuVXghcP/
Been busy the past couple of months experimenting with some composite tiles and new panel designs. In these new tiles, I’m combining pressed pieces with slip cast pieces. It’s been a challenge to get the drying times right as cracking can happen when thin pieces dry too quickly but I’ve had mostly good results. The photos aren’t great but I’ll be posting more as layering colors and finishes is underway.
There are a lot of steps that go into making a simple ceramic tile and through the years I’ve learned to enjoy doing all these different tasks. However, like most tile makers, my favorite part of the process is designing a new tile. I was recently asked if I had any farm animals besides the sheep. Unfortunately, I didn’t but thought the request was a great opportunity to start designing this year’s first new tiles. I usually don’t come up with new designs until the spring but I’ve decided to start a bit earlier this year.
The sheep, goat, cow, and pig are the first of the series and I may add a chicken or a duck too. I’m especially fond of the pig because when I first showed these tiles to my husband he thought the pig looked a little sad. I had to agree – the pig did seem a little out of place. A few adjustments in the mouth and cheeks seemed to do the trick. I think the happy pig is surprisingly cute.
I’ve been playing around with time lapse videos and posting them on Instagram. It’s fun to show the process even if my kids tease me about my soundtrack choices. 😂
Check them out if you get a chance!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CXfjZdkgirh/
A few months ago, I designed a few miniature versions of some of my most popular tiles. At the time, I thought I might use them as borders on some of my larger tile panels. While I still plan on doing that, I began to think about other ways to use these little tiles. This led to experimenting with making clocks, buttons, and most recently, soap dishes.
The clocks are kind of cool but working with porcelain has been a challenge. There has been some warping and cracking with the first attempts. I’ve tried using low-fire finishing techniques to circumvent some of the problems but I just don’t like the look of the finishes as much. I’ll try switching to another clay body at some point but I do love how clean and clear colors are on porcelain and I have a lot of it in my studio to use before it dries up.
The buttons should be a fun addition to some of my sewing projects. During the coldest winter months it’s not much fun working in my unheated studio space. A couple of years ago I moved to the warmer rooms in the house and started designing fabrics based on my tile patterns. I dug out my old sewing machine and made some tote bags with the fabric. I’d like to make more of them this winter.
The latest application of these mini tiles has been this series of soap dishes. I’ve been wanting to add a few non-tile items to my Etsy shop before the holidays. I guess they’re still tiles. Anyway, they’ve been a lot fun to make and the first few are now available for purchase: www. Etsy/shop/goodpressceramics
They’re here! They’re finally here!!
Actually, they’ve been here for awhile but I’m finally getting around to posting some photos of this year’s new tiles. Every spring I try to create 3 or 4 new designs. This year was a little different than previous years because I received a couple of requests: one for a cicada and another for a lizard. I was delighted to take on these challenges and I’m very happy with the way they turned out. The Cicada is a nice addition to the hexagon insect series and the Lizard, combined with a Hibiscus flower turned out to be very flexible. It works well as an individual accent tile, a group arranged in a column or row, or as a pair of opposing accent tiles.
In addition, I’ve been wanting to make a sheep for awhile because I think it lends itself beautifully to repetition. The Grumpy Bird tile is a companion piece to last year’s Hungry Bird (formerly known as Baby Bird). I think too many Hungry Birds can be overwhelming so a more stoic counterpart was needed. While all the new designs are tessellations, I’ve been more interested in simple geometries lately. They’re a little less fussy than the more complicated tiles like the Sharks and Sea Lions but, who knows, the pendulum may swing back next year.
It’s been so long since posting anything here – seems like time for an update.
It’s been a beautiful, but unusually dry summer here in Seattle. I stepped away from clay for a few weeks but have been busy with a number of things since then. Most notably, I’ve designed three brand new tiles and made some modifications/variations to a few previous designs. These tiles are still in development so I’ll post more about them, with hopefully good photos, next time.
I’ve also been working on a set of trim tile templates for all of my animal tiles. These are intended to allow individual and pairs of animal tiles to easily be set into standard square and subway tile patterns. Next step is glazing and photographing these in some type of context. Maybe boards or instructional videos, not quite sure yet.
I’ve also been starting to work my way through several bags of hard clay. A hard bag of clay isn’t great for tile making or wheel throwing but it’s fine for making slabs so I’ve been using it for slab built sgraffito pieces for serving ware. Stuff gets broken around here a lot, especially serving plates. Hand building with porcelain is challenging (warping and cracking) but if the piece makes it to the leather hard stage, I get to enjoy the relaxing task of carving fruits and vegetables into it!