Design & Carving

• It all starts with an inspiration. Collectively as a family we sketch out new tile ideas. Aspects from Susan and Howard's architectural background and Lindsay's anthropological background are utilized in each design. After the design is selected, it is carved and a master tile is made.

Die Shop

• Once a the master tile is complete, molds are made for test tiles to make sure the design continues correctly and is suitable for production. Depending on the design a press, slip, or extruder die is made.
  

• We make our tile several different ways. Our unique murals and accent tiles are slip cast, which means liquid clay is poured into plaster molds. More popular decorative shapes are pressed between two plaster like molds with an air release system. This allows for us to make hundreds of tile in a day compared to slip casting which only allows for us to make one a day per mold. Our field tile and moldings are extruded and cut down to size. Our extruder is essentially a large pasta or playdo machine. Clay goes in and is squeezed out through a profile die.

• After the tile is made it is hand finished. Here we take carving tools to fine tune the designs and remove any debris or sharp edges. If a tile doesn't fit within our quality standards it is recycled. All of our scrap is ground down to powder and water is reintroduced to make it back into moldable clay.

• Once the tile is hand finished it goes into our bisque kilns. By bisque firing our tile before glazing we are able to cut down on warpage and other glaze defects. This makes for a high quality tile.

• Each tile is hand glazed. This is either done by spray application or hand painting. By hand glazing our tile we are able to get the beautiful watercolor like variation that makes our tile have a soothing feel. After our tile is glazed we reclaim the overspray glaze and reconstitute it into new glaze making for minimal waste! Sometimes even Grandma will even come in to help out.

• Once the glaze is applied it is fired to a high enough temperature to seal and make a glass like surface.

• After the final firing all orders are layed out for quality control inspection. Each order is blended and approved according to our approved color swatches. Once it is approved a control piece is kept with the customers information in case additional tile is ordered.

• We make all of our sample and display boards in house. This allows for us to make custom boards and have control over the quality and assembly of our display material.