Cloud Porcelain My New Tile Product

I have some good news that has been hard to keep to myself. Over the past 2 years, I've been developing a new collection of porcelain tile designs and finally CLOUD PORCELAIN is launching in Ann Sacks’ 20 showrooms nationwide.

My primary interests over the years have been in custom ceramics and tile projects but every so often my designing mind comes up with a product uniquely suited for reproduction.

When I begin a new collection, it always seems so simple and in my mind’s eye I can see it coming together from inception to launch all in the span of about 3 months. While CLOUD took an especially long time, creating a reproducible product is never simple or speedy. It is in fact a huge amount of work and a long process full of unforeseen hurdles that need to be addressed on the front end rather than after all the infrastructure has been put in place. It’s painful to be in the middle of a large order with a tight deadline and to have to revisit and perhaps rework a fundamental part of your process. We do everything we can to avoid this and thanks to lots of experience and many mistakes, we’re better at this than ever.

Our process creating CLOUD would have taken a year from the twinkle in my eye to completed product in the showrooms, but when working with a big company like Ann Sacks (Kohler), there are many levels of approval one’s product has to undergo and this takes months. On top of this they have new product launches lined up for years in advance so I had to wait 2 years to get into the competitive queue.

I had the hunch that this aesthetic was innovative and timed perfectly for release 2 years ago and agonized over whether to work with many small dealers instead to get this product out there when the time was right. In the end I stayed with Ann Sacks because I’ve worked with them before and they are not only wonderful to work with at every level but also are experts in marketing and selling tile. I knew that my product would have its best chance of success with Ann Sacks.

The creative seed that began CLOUD grew out of a collection of dishes Rob Streff and I made. While in the process of experimenting, I kept wondering, hmmm…..would this work in a tile? and what about this? and this? As it turned out, pouring 2 different areas of color in a cast tile did work and using Neriage on the surface of a cast tile also worked and the results yielded a fresh and graphic look that excited me.

Feather Neriage in Velvet Blue with Neriage in Ash/Raw

CLOUD PORCELAIN has a simple and bold aesthetic that is both minimalist and graphic.

The 4 designs that make up this collection are unlike any tiles I’ve shown previously both in technique and look. Pigmented vitreous porcelain is cast in 5-1/2” squares and sweeping painterly brush strokes are used to evoke distant horizons and the traditional Japanese technique Neriage creates rhythm and gesture.

These are tile designs that can fill an airport hallway or hotel lobby with poignant presence, like the Landscapes below in black and white -

LANDSCAPES in Ink/Raw

Or work well harmonizing within a small space like a kitchen backsplash, like these DUALS below in Sky or FEATHER NERIAGE in Juniper -

Something I love about this collection is that by turning each tile, completely new looks are created.

While the designs are reproduced, each tile is also one of a kind. Each Neriage batch has its own character and every pour for a LANDSCAPE tile is unique.

Adding pigment to porcelain slip

Stripe Neriage in process

Stripe Neriage in Ochre with Ash/Raw Neriage

The 4 designs:
Landscapes:
Bold painterly brush strokes evoke a distant horizon line or textile-like pattern

Duals: Half gloss, half matte are quiet and harmonious

Feather Neriage: Uses the traditional Japanese technique called Neriage that layers pigmented clay to create gestural patterns.

Stripe Neriage uses the same technique as Feather for a linear pattern.

Feather Neriage in Mushroom with Ink/Raw Neriage

Formulating the palette came about seemlessly. A contemporary and tranquil palette made perfect sense to support and balance the bold graphic aesthetic:

To see another presentation of the collection, take a look at the Ann Sacks website:
http://www.annsacks.com/collections/cloud

Or of course, if you have a local showroom close by, stop in to see and feel them! We sand each tile to a soft tactile finish and they feel as smooth as skin.

Thank you for reading my story and I not only welcome but truly enjoy your comments so don’t be shy!

All text, designs and photos are original, by and the property of Ruth Frances Greenberg