Natalie Blake Studios
29 June 2010
“A Constant Light”
This is some of the damnedest tile I believe I have ever seen. Actually, I was introduced to it by Paul Anater who is a kitchen designer who writes a wonderful blog. You can link to it here, if you’re interested. But as I looked at this tile, I knew I wanted to talk about it myself, because tile is one of the dominate interests I have developed since getting into this blogging world. Long time readers may have noticed that I am always in a good mood when I write my blogs, but that’s by design. I believe life is too short for negativity, so I only write about things I like. Actually, the process is to go tripping through the Internet until I find something I love, at which point, I start wriggling the old fingers. But tile, as I said, is one of the items I find easiest to write about, simply because of the endless innovation and artistry that is so often brought to it.
One of the things that tile can be used for is as a decorative motif. Well, actually any tile worth writing about is decorative, but it is typically decorative in addition to being practical. So we may see, for example, a very striking tile used for a shower enclosure, but that tile has a job to do-protecting the wall from the water.
I have sometimes seen tile used to highlight a wall, and that is also a wonderful idea at times. And there are some who simply make of their tile a work of art that has no real practical application, thereby qualifying its creator as an artist as opposed to an artisan. I have never understood that distinction and have long railed against it. Just because a slumped glass sink has a practical purpose does not mean it is not a work of art, but still the distinction is that if it has a practical purpose those who create it are artisans. Architects, though, are artists! So, figure that one out! But I digress.
Today I wanted to talk about a lady who is undeniably an artist who is creating porcelain wall art tiles that are nothing short of masterpieces. Natalie Blake, who works out of her Natalie Blake Studios in Brattleboro, Vermont, has developed what she calls Unalun Tile, so named because of their undulating quality. These tiles are made with a process that is as revolutionary as the finished product. They’re made by draping 12″ or 14″ squares of porcelainia-stoneware clay over simple shapes to create undulation in each tile. After the clay has firmed up, the tiles are removed from the molds and a slip of red iron oxide is brushed onto them.
They then turn to a traditional style of carving called sgraffitto, which is an Italian term meaning “to scratch.” Working entirely freehand, they use a clay carving tool to carve a design into the clay by strategically removing portions of the top layer to reveal the contrasting layer below. (Artist Cynthia Houghton demonstrates the method for us in the accompanying photo.) After slow-drying 
the tiles are fired in a bisque kiln to 1900 degrees Fahrenheit. They then add color by hand spraying the tiles with glazes, which are followed with another firing at a temperature of 2140 degrees Fahrenheit.
All of that, though, is mere mechanics, techniques that must be mastered if one is to prosper in a field like this, but technique just the same. Beyond it, and inspiring it, is a feeling, a driving concept, a passion, that most of all, I suspect, a passion. I come to these blogs, and my own woodworking, from the standpoint of a writer, as that is what first interested me and still floats my boat, frankly. So whenever I wish to express myself, I simply pick up a pencil and have at it. What I have found especially interesting in these blogs, though, is the occasional artist who seeks to express herself,
not in words, but in art, because it is the sort of thing that seems, at first blush, to be impossible, but every now and again you come across someone with a “mission statement” that she then deftly translates into pure art. Our case in point is Natalie Blake, who says of her art, “I want my work to make a bold and prominent statement, yet reserve restful composure.”
One of her more popular motifs is the Tree of Life, which we show here in several permutations, but, really, she creates an incredible number of motifs, and for each of these, there are variations and colorations, and always, always, a masterpiece that is, by the simple fact of its being handmade, unique. These tiles can be placed indoors or out and can be mounted using a multidirectional hanging system or grouted in place for permanent installation. The tiles themselves can form a single design, or they can be mixed together in a freeform design. There is only one constant: brilliance.
Joseph
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