Montana Gallery Wall

We love how our 5 inch mounted squares are right at home in this Montana gallery wall. These handmade stoneware ceramic and semiprecious stone mosaic tiles are approximately 5 x 5 x 1” each and are mounted and ready to hang.  Find these made to order along with more original artwork in our shop.  

Red Poppy Serving Bowl Set

With the holiday season approaching we felt like it was time to introduce a few serving pieces suitable for tabletop use for family gatherings.  These larger serving pieces often get snapped up for holiday, housewarming, and wedding gifts too.  Select the gift wrap option when ordering, add your gift message at check out, and we will take care of the rest!  

The 12 1/2” pasta bowl easily handles a pound of your favorite pasta.  The generous 15” salad bowl can take on an aggressive amount of leafy greens with room to toss comfortably!  Red Poppy pattern shown here.

We freehand draw, hand paint and sign each piece individually. Through the use of several layers of underglaze, our pieces boast a rich vibrant color palette. These bowls are functional and food safe.  Find them in our shop>>>

Thistle Ceramic Pendant Necklace in Gift Pouch

A sweet gift for mother, daughter, sister, grandma, gardener, flower lover, nature lover, teacher, dog walker…  Find Thistle Ceramic Pendant Necklace in our shop Made to Order.  Magnetic barrel closure on an 18” coated cable with a 2 1/4 x 1 1/2” Turkish silver-plated pendant filled with our handcarved ceramic tile.  Like all of our jewelry and belt buckles, this necklace comes ready for gifting in a one-of-a-kind, pretty gift pouch (each pouch varies in color and design).  Please order early as each piece is individually hand carved and made to order but worth the wait!

Dragonfly Ceramic and Mosaic Art Bowl

This custom ordered stoneware ceramic and mosaic art bowl was ordered by a longtime client in Michigan.  Because she wanted to feature the bowl on her oversized coffee table, she asked us to make the largest bowl we could. We asked our friend Monte Young to throw this 20 inch bowl for us and we carved this whimsical pattern into the raw clay, then bisque fired, glazed in this bold palette, and fired again. She especially likes dragonflies so we incorporated them here and added mosaic accents of turquoise, amethyst, cultured pearl, and bits of coral as well.

We enjoy the process of working with customers to create a piece that suits their needs.  If you are interested in a custom piece of your own, find more info here.  Find more handcarved art bowls in our online shop.

Treasure Hunt!

Last week we set aside a day to go treasure hunting, which for us is something that makes us say #ilovemyjob. It is so much fun searching out unique items that need a bit of attention and then bringing them back to our studio where we reimagine them into colorful works of art enhanced with our handmade ceramic tiles and semiprecious gemstones.

We create a lot of pieces which are purely decorative in nature, but we also create pieces which are beautiful as well as functional such as entryway coat hangers, mounted key hooks, little jewelry cabinets, shelves, colorful wall brackets, ceramic mosaic side tables, and pottery enhanced mirrors. Oftentimes some of our favorite projects are brought to us by our friends and customers such as this Michigan party barn hutch or this custom cabinet for one of our artist friends or this embellishment of a travel keepsake from Mexico.

If one of the items in the photo speaks to you, please let us know and we can work together to transform it in to a special piece to fit your needs! In the meantime we will be working away and you can check back in our online etsy shop to see some of our new work.

Eastlake Wall Mounted Coat Rack with Handmade Tile Mosaic Art

We are excited to be back in the Louisville area this Saturday and Sunday (10 am- 5 pm) at Art in Speed Park, Sellersburg, Indiana!  We will bring along this wall mounted coat rack that we reimagined from an antique Eastlake children’s bed and some antique hardware.  It is brightened up with one of our cheerful handmade stoneware and semiprecious stone tiles “Happy Landing.” Great for an entryway dropping off point, a natural in a mudroom, or a nice addition to a bedroom. Semiprecious stones included here are jade, turquoise, magnesite, coral, and amethyst. See more of our one of a kind wall art here>>>

Side note… the cowgirl hat in the picture is a treasure recently rediscovered and handed down to Romy by her mother who wore it as a child.  Seems right at home on this piece!

Ceramic Mosaic Pendant Necklaces

We consider these little pieces of wearable art.  We slab roll clay, cut it into pieces, stamp textures into the clay, then draw on and carve away some of the background to create raised flowers and plants. Then we glaze, raku fire, add semiprecious stones, and grout these beautiful treasures.  The pendant tiles are either added to a leather cord or are set into a silver plated pendant frame and slipped onto a cable and ready to wear. Find them here>>>

Global Folk Botanic Split Square Ceramic Pendant Necklace on adjustable leather cord (18” - 26” approx).

Semiprecious Stone Mosaic Tile

In the studio with the door and windows open listen to the birds chirp on this beautiful day setting in the semiprecious stones to create the mosaic parts of these individually carved tiles. The stoneware tiles we create start as a lump of clay and after about a dozen steps, we have our finished artwork or jewelry component.  This pic shows Romy in the process of adding the semiprecious stones to the tiles.  We especially love using turquoise, coral, jade, carnelian, ruby, cultured pearl, and amethyst.  

Because we are the only two artists creating these pieces in small batches, the length of time to complete a project may vary.  Depending upon work flow, we typically can finish most orders in one to three weeks.  Larger projects may take much longer depending upon the scope and detail of the project.  Each piece is a one of a kind.  We may use the same imagery or patterns, but each piece is hand drawn, hand carved, mosaiced, and finished individually in our Jasper, Indiana studio. Find our handmade ceramic art here>>>

Ann Arbor Art Fair

We are well into Day 2 of the Ann Arbor Art Fair in Ann Arbor, Michigan, July 18 - 21.  This fair is actually four fairs in one and we are part of the South University Art Fair located on the beautiful campus of the University of Michigan.  With over 1000 artists from across the nation, we are always honored to jury into this show.  Every year we are amazed by the quality of the artwork and this year certainly is no exception. 

Despite the large number of artists exhibiting the booths are well spaced so it never feels over crowded. Diverse buyers come from all over to buy art. Many have been coming for years and have made it a tradition to travel back to the area just for this show. It’s a great feeling for us to get to visit again with these customers / friends.

This pic shows a little bit of our ceramic and mosaic earrings, rings, necklaces, and bracelets.  They are perched on a piece of our colorful hand carved stoneware clay tile artwork.  You can snap up these pieces at the South U show in Ann Arbor (Booth number 1017) or have a look in our online shop>>

Just getting this Mid Century inspired, mounted clay tile mosaic wall art ready to ship to Australia today!  It’s a great feeling to know that we can share our work, not only in our own neck of the woods, but also worldwide.  We have to give a shout out to etsy here, as etsy is our online storefront which allows us to reach customers all around the world right from the comfort of our small studio in southern Indiana.  

After slab rolling stoneware clay, we hand carve the design into the clay. After bisque firing, glazing, firing and a trip to the raku pit, we then gild the lilly by adding magnesite, coral, jade, amethyst, and cultured pearl.  It is then grouted and mounted so that it may be hung as colorful wall art. This piece is approximately 4.75” x 12.75” x 1.5”

We have never been to Australia but it’s on the list!  We follow a few Australian artists and Tammy Kanat, a weaver, is a standout among them.  Her work is wonderfully colorful with intriguing patterns and textures.  Have a look!

See our Mid Century Blossoms in our etsy shop>>

Travel Treasure from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Upon their travels to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, our clients purchased the then unadorned cutting board for their Louisville area historic home.  They asked us if we could embellish it with one of our handmade ceramic mosaic tiles.  Shown here hanging in their home, this is the end result.  We presented them several sketched ideas, they selected one, and off we went carving in clay. 

The long piece in the photo they purchased from us at a show.   It is a vintage Turkish dough riser which we repurposed into this one of a kind rustic wall art piece.  We love how they look together and feel right at home in this elegant Kentucky kitchen.  Please contact us if you have a custom project you would like to discuss. See similar items in our Global Folk series here>>

Ironically enough, during her time at DePauw University, Clare spent a winter term in San Miguel de Allende where she took a batik class and a jewelry class.  She stayed with a family in a home which had a beautiful courtyard and is looking forward to visiting this colorful colonial city again soon!

Custom Cabinet for Fellow Artist

We created this handmade tile embellished cabinet for a fellow-artist and friend, Sharon Tesser.  She gave us the approximate dimensions, we found this cabinet on one of our journeys, sketched up some ideas, and after Sharon’s approval got to work!  She uses it in her studio to store her supplies.  We are so honored to be asked to create a piece for her.  Please have a look at her amazing original fabric collage wall art, scarves, and pillows at https://sharontesser.com/

We had fun with the window view of the cheerful birds on the whimsical tree branches.  Each tile here started by hand carving slab stoneware clay and after its final raku firing is mosaiced with semiprecious stones and grout. Here we used cultured pearls, magnasite, coral, jade, and others.  Please contact us if you have a project you would like to discuss.

Custom Handmade Ceramic Mosaic Wall Art

Hello!  Here we are just outside our studio (Clare on left, Romy on right) with a commission we finished a little while back.  Our client particularly wanted to include little blue birds throughout as a reminder of a visit to California.  It’s a very joyful piece and wanted to share it!

If you are interested in creating a custom stoneware clay tile mosaic art piece, it all starts with a simple conversation.  Whether it is one of our clay tile mosaic wall art pieces or bringing new life to an old furniture piece, just reach out to us.  You can see us in person at one of our shows, email us at romyandclare@gmail.com, convo us through etsy convo, or phone us. 

Just let us know what you are interested in creating and include some measurements to help us get started.  To find out more about our custom order process visit http://www.romyandclare.com/custom or click link in bio and select “custom order” from menu.

Peacock Pair Mosaic Wall Art in Repurposed Vintage Frame

Fortunately we had a pretty day yesterday and snapped a shot of “Peacock Pair” just outside our studio.  This handcarved stoneware clay tile mosaic piece we show here is actually made up of several tiles (we carve the slab clay and then cut into separate tiles) and then the tiles are set into one of our “finds,” a repurposed vintage frame that we painted black.  Semiprecious stones included in this mosaic are cultured pearl, amethyst, jade, magnesite and coral.  This is a statement piece.  Overall Dimensions: 29.5” x 29.5” x 2.5”

You can find it (and more!) in our booth at Cincinnati’s Summerfair this weekend, May 31-June 2!  Shop early for best selection!

Colorful Pottery Wall Art Entryway Coat Hook

We love the joyful feel of bright colors. We are often asked how we get such bright colors.  Our palette of glazes and underglazes consists of 13 colors, but since we layer these colors, the number and depths of the colors are multiplied. After glazing we raku fire the tiles which usually adds a bit of iridescence and some unexpected personality.

This repurposed vintage trim wall shelf features a set of our colorful handmade clay tile mosaics in varying patterns of dots, vine, suzani, etc. We add semiprecious stones into the tiles to add a little more sparkle and texture.  With the set of repurposed vintage coat hooks, it’s what we like to call functional wall art.  We think it would look great in a mudroom or entryway. Find it here>>

Turquoise Bracelet with Smoky Quartz and Recycled Glass Beads from Africa

The idea of using recycled materials in our work not only because it makes us feel good that we are diverting materials from the waste stream, but also because they just have a charm and patina all of their own.  We made this three strand chain link bracelet with turquoise and smoky quartz but also sourced recycled glass beads from Africa. These brown beads are produced in large part by the African Krobo tribe using a century’s old method where powdered glass is poured into clay molds and baked in a specialized oven. The bicone shaped metal beads are handmade individually and are from Ethiopia. 

We love the ethnic look when all the stones and beads are combined.  Each bracelet, and really each jewelry piece we create, are unique pieces due to the use of these natural materials. We may make several of these bracelets but they will not be exact duplications of stones and beads, but they will be made in the same spirit as the one you see pictured. See this bracelet and more of our jewelry in our shop>>>

The Zen of Jewelry Making

We really love what we do and feel so lucky to sort of be in charge of our day…. most days.  It’s great to be able to have a long term larger commission to work on or a bigger project which requires more detailed thought and planning.  But, man, it can be so satisfying to sit down at our worktable and just create little works or art in the form of jewelry.  Wearable art. 

Instead of a palette of glazes and underglazes before us, we have trays of stones and findings and little ceramic compositions we made from stoneware clay.  The earrings in the picture are made from the semiprecious stones of turquoise and smoky quartz sandwiched around a decorative metal cap.  Find them in our shop >>

See more of our jewelry collections >>