Home Sweet Home

For several years I have pondered the look and feel of my circa 1960s home.  Somehow the house seemed to be missing something... something that would make it unique.

I love the setting and I am thrilled by the animal life in the area- it's a cozy spot not only for me but for birds of all species, foxes, woodchucks, raccoon, possum, rabbits, chipmunk, squirrels, and skunk...  most of whom have made a home under my neighbor's decrepit deck.  My gardener tells me there are many garter snakes in my garden... they too like the space.  I don't mind sharing it with them so long as they don't slither across my path!

I have felt connected to the menagerie.  Where in Atlanta and Central NJ it was all about the plants in my garden here it's definitely the critters who get top billing here.

Left Side of Stairs- Before

Angled Ceiling Over Stairs- Before

Right Side of  Stairs - Before

I had been hitting an artist's block trying to choose tile to use in my kitchen and was also hitting a dead end as I looked around the interior of the house.  In these days of economic belt tightening with house values so weak, instead of continuing to fantasize about a room addition, where perhaps only the upstairs addition would be above water :-o I've been looking for small projects I can do that would add character to my charming but somewhat plain house.  Here are pix of the area in question before the mosaic went in.


It would be an inner journey- focusing on the interior of the house.  I was still stymied by the kitchen so began daydreaming about the foyer.  After looking over Talaveras tiles, Santa Barbara tiles, Italian tiles, Portuguese tiles, and more mainstream field tile, I realized that some of the tile when set up in a pattern was just going to look like wallpaper... and it would be a lot harder to change than wall paper!   I had already ruled out Art Deco as the house is too young to carry it off.  Most of it was lovely (as I have good taste :-) but impersonal and I was afraid I'd get tired of it.  So I started shifting from my favorite Mission style to Arts and Crafts.

I finally decided that my at least some areas in my house can be an homage to Arts and Crafts without having all the characteristics/ attributes of a true Craftsman (roof line, windows/ doors etc.)

 I wanted to do something in the house to honor the animals who are my outdoors family- and that's where the art begins.

Assembling the Pieces

The process could not be rushed.  I had done a grail quest looking for the right tile.  I found it-  at EMUTILE. http://emutile.com/  The artisan, Emily connects to her art form so well each tile is like a painting or sculpture.  I ordered an inital batch of her tile and realized that for me, they were like Runes- with images on them of the various animals and plants I see in my surroundings!  

After getting the first ones and wondering what I was going o do with them... field tile?  A pattern?  Mix them in in spare quantities?  Set them up in a very geometric pattern?  I got the brainstorm of mixing them with a relatively inexpensive material, travertine.  But not just any travertine- tumbled travertine in several sizes- 1x1s, 1x2s and 4x4s.  Why?  Because ideas were starting to percolate and I wanted it intricate but simple, complex and contained but flowing!  Here is what travertine looked like when I first met it.  It was love at first sight! (Photo courtesy of Amazon.com)

I didn't realize I was getting into a deep art space in my interior- I did irritate a contractor friend to the point he wouldn't speak to me as he didn't get "what is the big deal?!  It isn't life or death it's just tile."  He kept stalling/ pushing out the start date for the install and I realized he couldn't help me with this art project as he didn't understand/ share the vision and to him it was about getting tile up on the wall end of discussion.

He actually did me a  great service- as part of his stalling technique was to tell me: "why don't'cha just lay it out on the floor the way you are gonna want it as that's what we are gonna need to put it up?"  That is where the magic happened for me-  I realized that touching the stone and the tile was a different kind of art- not like pen and ink, or acrylic paint or markers...it was more primordial.  It was like the rocks were talking!  And the tiles were talking!  So as I worked on the layouts and watched them take form, and started to realize it was an expression of Self, I came to understand it was like a mandala or sand painting.

There were mechanics to be factored in... the arts and crafts tile is thick- as much as half an inch in places, and every firing with the glazes will yield unique results.  I trusted Emily to do the best quality work- and I decided to take some chances with glaze color selections as I had a sense going with just one glaze would be less interesting.   I then chose the travertine as it is chunkier and thicker than ceramic tile- and much more interesting.  Working with the 1x2s was like playing with dominoes!

Emily's Acorn With a Frame of Travertine 1 x 2s

Design Phase

So I went into a deep space and did the design.  I also invested in a water saw, and a diamond blade since it was clear the contractor had no enthusiasm for the project- I was going to do it myself!  But then I thought-  what if I wreck the materials?  Or cut myself?  Or it doesn't go on straight?  or it doesn't stick?  Oh my oh my!  So I was paused mid-air with  90% of my living room floor covered with travertine layouts on cardboard patterns...  And I lost my nerve.  I decided to look for a tile company that I could contract out the installation to- and knew I'd be at their mercy!  But I wanted to make sure I found a company that was highly competent at working with travertine- a company where marble and travertine or other stones were their sweet spot.

I sent the water saw and blade back to Amazon.com with my regrets!

When I First Discovered I Loved Working with Tile Layout and Design

Calling in the Big Guns

I was VERY fortunate to have found T&C Stone in Willowbrook, IL first on-line and then in person http://www.tcstoneenterprise.com/TC_Stone_Enterprise/Home.html .  I had looked over many sites, and many companies wondering who would be the right choice.  When I spoke to the woman at T&C she said she'd check if the company's owner could stop by and give me an estimate.  I was concerned- since I had provided all the materials- and was not sure how the bid would come out.  I met Carlo before work one day, he looked over my mosaics and was very thoughtful- he commented on the type of personality required to do installation of this type of detail work and then left.  His bid was more than fair- and I 

gave them the key to my house and left town for a week due to a family emergency.

While I was out of town I trusted Carlo's employee to do a meticulous job- and he did WONDERFUL work- in fact he executed the vision I had as I laid out the mosaics.  Bottom line- he did a much better job than I could have hoped to- and I made the right decision in hiring a professional to execute that phase of the project.  I don't know if when other people look at it it warms their heart as it does mine- but the mosaics are for me like a tapestry- of what my life in Willow Springs is like, the beauty around me, the quiet focus on nature/ and organic matter... stones, creatures and me.  :-D

I want to thank both Emily of Emu Tile and Carlo of T&C Stone for helping me bring this vision to fruition... what may be just a wall with some tile to some viewers, to me is full of magic and it makes me happy to look at it.   I also want to thank the staff at Hodgkins' The Tile Store as they were helpful with my other project!

Grasshopper From a Distance

Grasshopper Closer up

The Story Telling Tile

More Story Telling About my Garden

The Rest of the Story

What It Looks Like from the Front Entry - Right Side of Stairs After

The Visual Impact

The Stairwell Angled Ceiling After the Mosaic Installation

The Lower Left Side of the Stairs from the Entry

The Upper Part of the Outer Wall Facing Down Stairs

Here it is.  I may do mosaics for a friend from work- not for a fee but for the joy of doing art.  Others I may design for commercially.  

I do hope to do a wall like this for my parents at their mountain home but I haven't made the arrangements yet... there I would need to do the installation so I need to learn how to do it so it will look professional/ be meticulous!

In closing apologies for the poorly lit photographs- I was anxious to get this done so was shooting at night.  I will do better pix with daylight soon!

Namaste,



Nan   :-D