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

We sketched the designs and chose colors for each of the four guest suites (see below)

handmade, ceramic wall art tile by Natalie Blake Studios

Here are three of the four murals, carved and drying before bisque-firing.

Here is one of the finished murals, glazed in fern:

Mural glazed in fern

handmade, ceramic wall art tile by Natalie Blake Studios

This glaze is amethyst.

handmade, ceramic wall art tile by Natalie Blake Studios

This glaze is yellow

The interior designer then commissioned name plaques to designate each guest suite.

Here’s the result:

Handmade, ceramic, name plaques by Natalie Blake Studios

Here are some installation shots of the murals:

ceramic wall art tile

custom ceramic wall art tile glazed in amethyst

custom ceramic wall art tile glazed in blue

custom ceramic wall art tile glazed in fern

Here’s what the happy client had to say: “I can’t thank you enough for your help in making my bathroom one-of-a-kind!”

Shower tiles by Natalie Blake Studios

Here’s what Natalie had to say about the piece:

“This piece was inspired by Lake Geneva, which can be seen from the dining room and kitchen windows of this home in Wisconson.  The day I went to look at the walls I had been talking about with my client, the sun was warm and inviting, the water and sky blue with a lovely breeze. We sat out on the veranda and had breakfast and talked about wall art and the last few years of my adventures into wall sculpture and ceramic art tile. My client was inspired by the undulation in tile that gives the murals such life and motion. She liked the idea of her wall coming alive with a three dimensional hand carved rendition of her perfect view. We chose warm colors that came from the outdoors as well as colors in the wood, carpets, furnishings of her home.

The colors worked beautifully in the room! She had the perfect lighting already installed in the ceilings, that “scraped” the piece from top down to accentuate the undulation and texture in the handmade, handcarved, tiles.   Success!”

Lake Geneva, Handmade, custom, ceramic wall art tile by Natalie Blake Studios

Lake Geneva, WI installation

handmade, ceramic wall art tile by Natalie Blake Studios

Here’s what Natalie had to say about these tiles:

“This commission was made at the Des Moines Art Festival in 2009.  The client had been searching for some original art for her foyer. My fiance, Nick and I went to visit her home, and we learned that the family loved music. The client and her daughter also loved butterflies. I came away from their house trying to imagine a mural that would suit the space but not overwhelm it.   Nick suggested on our drive back to Vermont that I break out of the square and create a piece I had not done before. Over the course of the next two years, I worked on designs, and the client renovated a large part of her house, including the stair and foyer.

I created large ceramic tiles that were abstracted instruments that morphed into animated abstractions, and then into abstracted butterfly designs.

I call the piece, “Diapason Unfurling”

Diapason means:

diapason |ˌdīəˈpāzən; -sən|noun (also open diapason or stopped diapason ):  an organ stop sounding a main register of flue pipes, typically of eight-foot pitch.

• poetic/literary the entire compass, range, or scope of something.

• figurative a grand swelling burst of harmony.

The last line is the best description of this piece. It is the first piece in the unfurling of a completely new approach to ceramic tile wall sculpture!  I am very excited to create other pieces in this fluid, breaking-out-of-square method.

The saxophone piece measures 42″ tall and 40″ wide, to give a sense of scale. The two middle sized notes are approximately a foot in length.”

Natalie and Nick installing wall art tile for a client

Butterfly tiles, handmade, ceramic wall tiles by Natalie Blake Studios

Butterfly: handmade, shaped, ceramic wall tile

handmade, ceramic wall tiles by Natalie Blake Studios

Natalie sent these pictures from the road in Iowa..

This is a blade of a windmill being transported down the highway.

We love the way they are positioned on the corner of the two walls.

Here’s what Valerie had to say about the work:

“I want to first thank you both for all of your cooperation, quick responses and action on this project.  I really appreciate it and wanted to let you know that your professionalism has as much to do with my wanting to work with you again as the quality and beauty of the actual tiles.

We all just loved the effect of these tiles on the wall and how well  they work together and with the painting on the opposite wall.”

Residential installation of wall tiles

We created the Nautilus design for Ann Sacks Tile Co.   If you are interested in this particular design, please contact an Ann Sacks showroom.  We’d be happy to design one for you!

Barbara’s quote: “Thanks again for the beautifully executed tiles.”

Wave, installed

Wave, 12" tiles