The most amazing thing about art is that you never know where it will take you. If you've seen my work, you probably know that I am intrigued with architecture from all cultures. It just amazes me how people can create such elaborate and enormous structures from their imaginations, without allowing the lack of supporting technology to stop them. “Where there is a will, there is a way.” (Old English Proverb)
The more I learn about architecture, the more I learn about building materials and methods of construction. I don’t really put any boundaries on my work, my only limitations are my own skills. I like many creative outlets. So, near the end of last year a ceramic manufacturer in Deruta, Italy contacted me to design a wall tile treatment that was something new, something different.
We’ll what I came up with wasn’t really new, but it was different, well sort of.
I have always loved the beautiful tile with the Mayan design motif featured in the movie Blade Runner. This tile was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Ennis House in Los Angeles, Ca. Here is another great website about the incredible work of Frank Lloyd Wright if you want to learn more about him and his life.
Earlier last year, I designed a kitchen backsplash for a display featured in the Architectural Digest Home Design Show in New York City.
The backsplash tile is also a hand made ceramic from Deruta, Italy with a metallic copper glaze over lava stone. This tile was also somewhat inspired by this motif.
For this new project, I wanted to go back to the roots of this type of design, so I studied some of the design of the handmade stone blocks of Tiwanaku, Bolivia.
These stone blocks have been dated to approximately 14,000 years old.
They are quite intriguing, from a technological standpoint, and for their design motif. Yes, there are many theories of who these people were, but the stone blocks of Puma Punku remain a mystery. What a great jumping off point for design inspiration.
