Dynamics

Well, I’ve been back from Coverings for a few days now, and I’ve had a chance to catch up on my sleep and to think a bit about all the beautiful tiles I saw while I was there. The show is always a sensory overload situation for me, and it usually takes a few days to digest the massive quantities of information I gather. This year, Coverings was held in Las Vegas, so it was even more overstimulating than usual--but in a good way. ;)

So, what was new at Coverings? ...OK, where do I start? (This is going to take multiple posts.)

Last night’s larger-than-usual moon was one inspiration for tonight’s post.

InterStyle Glass Tile

The image above is two very large slabs of glass which could be used as cabinet doors or counter tops. 

The moon’s a sword of keen, barbaric gold,

Plunged to the hilt into a pitch black cloud.

From Mid-March by Lizette Woodworth Reese 

I was thinking about the moon’s influence on the tides and it occurred to me that I saw a lot of wave patterns in tile this year. 

Stone mosaics from the Walker Zanger Showroom

There were relief tiles--even more than previously--yet the hard geometric shapes of past years seem to have given way to softer forms, such as circles and curves. In case you were wondering how to make cement look sexy, I couldn't take my hands of this new line:

Dimensional cement tile

These small ceramic dots were hard to stop touching, too.

Walker Zanger showroom

It’s a beautiful world, you said,

with these trees, marshes, deserts,

grasses, rivers and seas

and so on. And the moon is really something

in its circuits

of relative radiance. 

from Light-Years by Hester Knibbe

Sicis glass mosaic "Nude"

Eddies and swirls were a theme

There’s something so permanent about a tile wall, and yet, the flowing lines of swirls, circles and waves counterbalance this solidity and permanence by creating movement and giving the surface life. 

 

... life, light, and energy. Which I guess was something of a theme for a journey to Vegas...

:)