Tag: Alaska

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4″ Raven Tile in Signature Red Oak Frame

  • 4" raven tile in oak frame
    Oak Framed Raven Tile
  • 4" Raven in Oak Frame
    Oak Framed Raven Tile
  • 4" Leaning Raven in Oak Frame
    Oak Framed Raven Tile

Pulled up to the gas pump and spied nearby this raven snacking on a spilt bag of Dorito’s.

I had some custom frames made by a family run wood working business in Ohio. The edge that the tile is resting on is behind the tile. For the smaller sizes, the oak frame costs more than the art tile. The tiles are $42 for the 4″ size, and the frame is $55.

Most of my tiles are online now and should help with sales during the winter. This past year has been the only time where the inventory was in good shape. Usually I can’t keep up with sales. The Anchorage Native Heritage Center will be reopening for the Summer Season on Mother’s Day. The main ingredient in the tile body is the glacial clay from the mudflats next to Anchorage.

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Three New Four-Inch Tiles

Seal2018
Four-Inch Seal
This is one of several new designs for this summer season.

Four-Inch Otter Tile
This is a four-inch otter tile. Alaska has river and sea otters.
I like the eyes of the otter, so the new seal and fox designs might be reworked to have similar eyes. The x-ray style, common among the Alaskan Coastal peoples, is hinted at with the inclusion of the red ribs

FoxPlate2018
Thick Paper Cut Out of a Fox
This is what the paper cut outs look like before the pieces are separated and glued onto a matte board plate. The plate is impressed into clay to make the tiles.

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Four of Fox Card Tile

12″ x 9.5″ Card Tile
This tile is one of three card tiles made for an upcoming May show at the Anchorage Humanities Forum. There will also be about twenty 12″ x 12″ tiles, every 12″ tile that I have designed and made, in the show. I’m about 3/4’s done.

It has been over a year since I last added a post to this tile blog/website. I blame Facebook. The Anchorage Native Heritage Center helped a group of us start Etsy stores connected to Facebook, and we all got caught up in the never ending connectedness of Facebook. Nothing is for sell in the Etsy store…yet.

I will be selling at the Denver March Powwow from March 25-26. Then I’m attending a ceramics event in London, the Ceramics Art of London, March 31-April 2. Since I’m there, I’ll throw in a extra few days to sight see.

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Tile Backing for Wood Stove

Close-up

This is the tile wall behind a wood stove that an acquaintance installed in his house. I also made the field tiles surrounding the art tiles. It will be featured in the next quarterly issue of Alaska Home magazine. The nice speckled brown field tiles are all the same glaze, so the difference in appearance is due to the placement in the kiln. An enlarged drawing of the entire area was provided so that plate/stencils could easily be made, especially for the odd shaped tiles, near the top. All the tiles are made from the local clay from the Anchorage mud flats, a part of the Boot Legger Clay formation, and they are stamped on the back with “Cook Inlet Glacial Clay”.

WoodStove
Wood Stove Tile Installation

The Fur Rondy sales begin tomorrow at the Dimond Mall (in Anchorage) and I will be heading to the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona for the Indian Art Market on Thursday.

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Two-Inch Pendants

2-inch Pendants
2-inch Pendants
These are recent tests for a two-inch size pendant. None sold at the Colorado Indian Market last month, but I’ll see how they do this summer. If they didn’t have holes, they could be tiles. To be installed with tiles, they would need to be slightly smaller, like 1-7/8″, so they could fit four to the same area as a four-inch tile, plus they would need to be just a tad thicker.

I’m working half time on tiles while I prepare taxes and work on the fish-skin coat that will have some of the buttons from the previous post.