Tiles

Posted on October 3, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Ceramics, Creativity, Potteries, Potteries Museum and art gallery, Random, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Thinking, TilesLeave a comment

One thing about living in Stoke is that you get to see beautiful pottery. For instance these tiles may be simple for or wall decorations, but they signify the creativity of the City.

You visit the Potteries Museum and art gallery, in the city centre (Hanley), you will see amazing beauty and talent in the history of the city of Stoke-on-Trent.

A whole history and creativity that has gradually dwindled as austerity has crippled the country. Manufacturing has reduced, has been driven offshore by costs, and although some had started to return, the current situation has made things worse again. Life continues…..

Flying chimney

Posted on August 22, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Blue, Bricks, Building, Chimney, Clouds, Ideas, Layout app, Patterns, Sky, Thoughts, TilesLeave a comment

Creating strange images. Floating objects. Buildings not held down by gravity. Defying the laws of physics, playful, a rocket, chimney, identified flying object. Old tiles and bricks badly laid. Clouds cracking to let the blue sky through. Can I see faces or animals in them. Your choice.

Blue and orange

Posted on March 5, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Blue, Design, Fun, Orange, Painting, Patterns, Tiles, Tiny paintingsLeave a comment

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Patterns created to look like tiles.

Taken from tiny paintings, duplicated and made into a grid. A couple of years old, I think it is probably too jazzy for today’s minimalist people.

I call it having fun with blue and orange. Not much else to say really.

Designing tiles

Posted on February 15, 2020February 15, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged art nouveau, Arts and crafts, Colour, Design, Digital drawing, Fun, Monochrome, Pattern, Tiles, TreeLeave a comment

I decided to make a drawing of a tree shape then played with it in various apps to change its colour and shape.

I love old fashioned Art Nouveau and Rennie Mackintosh designs from the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century. Also the Arts and Crafts movement. We have become so interested in glossy and sleek, modern, monochrome that we don’t seem to recognise that patterns can be exciting and interesting. You can do anything you want really.

Tessellations

Posted on January 18, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Design, Digital sketch, Drawing, Ellipses, Pattern, Sketch, Squares, Tessellation, Tiles2 Comments

Only just found a couple of extra options on my phone sketch app, so thought I’d have a play with creating tessellations. Quite nice. Where blocks or tiles join up to form larger repeating patterns.

Phil Hardakers’ Piano.

Posted on September 17, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Ceramics, Piano, Pottery, Sculpter, Spode site, Stoke-on trent, Stoke-upon-Trent, TilesLeave a comment

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I hope I’ve got his name correct. He’s a really unique artist who uses found pottery and hand made pieces together in large mosaics on various objects. In this case a grand piano. I wonder how much more it weighs with all the tiles and broken pots. It’s on display at the hotel on Spode site.

Hopefully I will be going round the BCB (British Ceramic Biannual event). There is lots going on there. Will see what’s on display.

Where was I?

Posted on July 6, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on hardboard, Blue, Design, Minton, Ochre, Painting on hardboard, Pale yellow, Penkhull, Penkhull mystery play, Red ochre, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Tiles, WhiteLeave a comment

An attempt at a Minton tile and my own design in minton colours, both for the mystery play. The one based on the minton design was hard to get right. It’s a bit wobbly. The second one has a bit of a Tudor rose feel to it. I started with the outside on the Minton copy and the inside with my own design. Im not sure it works, but when you put them together it makes a nice pattern. Hopefully they will like it for the play.

Most of the rest of the day was spent rehearsing and recovering from last nights show. These days I get tired more quickly. It’s annoying. Tomorrow is another rehearsal day. Only a week to go till the play.

Tiles in the church

Posted on June 28, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Blogging, Colours, Design, Geometric shapes, Life, Minton, Minton tiles, Tiles2 Comments

Today I got some photos of Minton tiles in St Thomas’s Church penkhull. I’ve got to paint some for the Mystery play so I needed to see the genuine article. I’m hoping I can get a realistic look to them. They are in a scene where they have to be sold to raise money.

What I like are the simple colours, browns, pale ochres, blues and white. The interesting geometric patterns and curves. I may struggle to replicate them. But you have to try!

Minton tiles

Posted on June 20, 2019June 20, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Ceramics, Life, making, Minton, Minton tiles, Potteries, Staffordshire, Stoke your gratitude, Stoke-on trent, TilesLeave a comment

One thing I have got to do is paint some images of minton tiles. These were made in their millions over many years and can often be found in the hallways of town houses especially in Stoke-on-Trent. People are enthusiastic about them even now and get excited about them when they find them in old houses.

There were apparently 12 original designs which are documented in a little book called touching history by Hans van Lemmen and Bret Shah. This is available through StokeYourGratitude.org.uk #StokeYourGratitude

Started something new

Posted on May 19, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Design, Garden, Plant, Poppies, Poppy, Tiles2 Comments

This is going to be a poppy painting mimicking the style of old tiles so I’m going to section it off as if it’s split into three. Then add a dark green background to be displayed vertical, horizontal or even diagonally. Might put pale or dark centres in the poppies.

Acrylic on canvas 24 x 8″ approx.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Tiles