our new tiles are already making waves in Hollywood
10th June 2016
I’m so pleased to be able to show you some new images of our handmade tiles. The little studio in the grounds of Cotes Mill is the perfect place to get all creative. A beautiful old building painted white with a pantile roof, some vintage kilns and drying racks and views outside of the comings and goings of Mill life. There are carpenters, potters, gardeners, peacocks and folk always dashing here and there, busy getting kitchens ready for customers. It’s such a creative place that having a ceramics studio seemed the ideal ‘next thing for deVOL’. It began with wanting to make Belfast sinks for our kitchens but has quickly become an integral part of deVOL life and with the addition of Hannah and soon Clare Fowler (when she graduates) and of course Ed the sink man!! it almost seems like it was just meant to be. Our aim is always to give our customers something unique, stylish and of course cool, but also something that will stand the test of time. We like to make the choices easy for our customers, so we narrow down the options, what we offer is what we love, with no exceptions. These tiles are definitely our new love and I really hope these little patterned squares of gorgeousness do it for you too.
I sometimes think how great it would be to make things all day, radio on, sun shining, letting your imagination and talent just flow. Well Hannah, who makes our tiles has this job and she has spent the last six months creating and perfecting a small range of ceramic wall tiles to sell here at the Mill. The life of a ceramicist is actually much more of a science that I ever realised, the creative bit is how it begins but it also involves a lot of patience and determination to get your tiles to a point where you are happy with the glaze, the consistency, the size and design and finally the way they look once they are up.
The tiles that Hannah has made have a lovely texture to them, you instantly want to run your fingers over the patterns, it’s almost therapeutic, if you could walk on them they would be instant reflexology! Some of the designs have been made using traditional Indian printing blocks that we have gathered from antique fairs over the years. Each wooden block is 70-100 years old, hand-carved and originally used for fabric printing, but they work so beautifully with clay too. I hope the image below gives you an idea of the space where Hannah creates and makes these beautiful tiles.
I think they have a slightly Moorish, slightly Mediterranean look to them, a little bit rustic and most definitely handmade. The way they are fired and the glaze used gives a slightly mottled effect to the surface of the tile, it changes from tile to tile making them all just a little bit different, creating a vintage aged look which is really hard to achieve. They would look great above a basin, just 9 or 12 for starters, but then imagine a whole wet room! amazing.
I always love this rustic, Mediterranean yet simple contemporary look. My favourite ceramics to date are from Astier De Viallette, their products are too lovely, well our tiles are getting me the same way. Their styling is also impeccable and so spot on, check out their new shop in Paris.
If you like the look of our new tiles then do give our sister company Floors of Stone a call on 01509 234000 or email Hannah directly hannah@floorsofstone.com she has already had a request from a design studio on ‘Santa Monica Boulevard’ in Hollywood, that’s a good start!!
– You can also check out Floors of Stone’s website here
