An art consultant contacted us this winter, asking for help in designing a tile mural for a residential installation. The art consultant sent us images of the client’s living room to give us an idea of style and color.

The client liked the idea of a botanical design.  We sketched the following design and the client loved it:

We proposed a mural of 9, 12″ square tiles to fill the wall leading into the space.  The client worked with her interior designer, taping paper cut-outs on the wall to determine spacing. Here’s what they initially came up with.

"Before" shot

We made a counter proposal which the client really liked.  We glazed the piece in honey, jade, and cashew.  Here’s the finished piece:

Vine, handmade, ceramic wall art tile by Natalie Blake Studios

Here’s the piece installed in the space.

Vine, installed

These three murals were commissioned by an art consultant for a hospital installation.  The tiles are each 12″ x 12″.

The glazes she chose are: Moss, Apricot, Honey, Blue, Turquoise, Cashew

handmade, sgraffito-carved, ceramic wall tile by Natalie Blake Studios

handmade, sgraffito-carved, ceramic wall tile by Natalie Blake Studios

handmade, sgraffito-carved, ceramic wall tile by Natalie Blake Studios

Natalie just returned from her 2-week epic trip to the American Craft Council Retail Show in Baltimore and the Palm Beach Fine Craft Show. Both shows went very well for Natalie.

She did return with this piece, which is now available for us to sell off the internet.  The piece is called Dawn Dusk Skies. It measures 28″ wide x 56″ high. We are offering this piece at a discounted price of  $3,400 (regularly $3,880). Contact the studio if you are interested: 802.254.9761 or info@natalieblake.com

Dawn Dusk Skies, 14" tiles

In 2011 Natalie Blake Studios was awarded a public art grant from Chabot College in Hayward, CA. We’ve posted several articles about our work on this grant. We now have installation shots from Natalie’s recent trip to install some of the work.

Finally installed, the Grandmother tree looks like it has been there for a century. The Grandmother tree’s long flowing lines draw the eye up from the waterfall of blue tiles at the center of Chabot’s faculty building.  The second floor balcony provides another vantage point for this central oasis.

Grandmother Tree, installed at Chabot College

Grandmother Tree, installed at Chabot College

The Chavez Plaza where students gather outside the Student Center now has two new pieces installed: the Chavez Tree and the Mandala. The Chavez Tree was inspired by sliding thumb puzzles (those little plastic square puzzles from the 80′s where you slide the little squares to unscramble the image)  giving the eyes a game to play moving from color to color and section to section. When carving this one section at a time I was immersed in roots then trunks, branches then leaves. Each section had a different quality from the next. The roots are at eye level; the rest tower above in their architectural niche.

Chavez Tree Installed at Chabot College

Installing Natalie Blake Studio tiles at Chabot College

The Mandala resonates on a human scale. The life force expands outwards flickering into different colors. It ties into the quatrefoil architectural motif found around the campus. (Quatrefoil:  an ornamental design of four lobes or leaves as used in architectural tracery, resembling a flower or four-leaf clover).

Mandala being installed at Chabot College

Mandala installed at Chabot College

We just received more images of our tiles installed at the Hawaii residence. We made murals and name plates for guest suites at a residence in Hawaii. See our earlier posts on this project.

These latest murals are glazed in  russet, persimmon, jade and turquoise.  Click here to see closeups of each of these murals.

Natalie Blake Studios handmade, ceramic wall art tile, residential installation

Natalie Blake Studios handmade ceramic wall art tile installed in Hawaii

Natalie Blake Studios handmade, ceramic wall art tile, residential installation

Natalie Blake Studios handmade, ceramic wall art tile, residential installation

We worked closely with this client to design a nautical theme for her home in Florida. She chose the cashew glaze to go with the accent colors in this gorgeous room!

Natalie Blake Studios wall tiles installed

Testimony from our client:

“I had the pleasure of meeting Natalie Blake and viewing her work at the American Craft Convention held in Baltimore, Md., now two years ago.  Her designs and vision were exciting and inspirational, while the quality of her pieces was extraordinay.

We’re created four more tile murals for the residence in Hawaii that we blogged about in December.

These four murals will adorn the walls outside of guest rooms on the property.  The mural designs reflect the flora of the area and are glazed in adobe, turquoise, persimmon and jade.

Handmade, ceramic wall tiles

Handmade, ceramic wall tiles, glazed in jade

Handmade, ceramic wall tiles

Handmade, ceramic wall tiles, glazed in turquoise

Natalie’s recent mural is now hanging on a rock wall at a residence in Hawaii. Natalie and Nick flew down to install the piece and to take a much-needed vacation.

Ceramic Wall Tiles installed in Hawaii

This piece was commissioned for a hospital lobby. The piece measures 36″ wide by 24″ high.  It is glazed in Robin’s Egg, Jade, and Honey, with a touch of Adobe on the center of the flower.

We think it would also make a beautiful backsplash!

Botanical abstract, 12" tiles

This Tree of Life, is beautifully mounted on a painted wall. We love the look of the darker paint behind the mural.

Tree of Life