500 Tiles: An Inspiring Collection of International Work

500 Series

by Suzanne J.E. Tourtillott (Editor), Lark Books

From press-molded pieces to carved works showcasing spectacular surface treatments, these magnificent tiles will inspire beginners and professionals, as well as collectors and enthusiasts. Some of the larger handcrafted displays here were made to decorate public and private spaces; others use single tiles to interpret nature, tell a story, or make a bold cultural observation. As always in this acclaimed series, all the contributors are accomplished artists, renowned in the field. Mary Lynn Buss creates the ultimate kitchen backsplash: a field of mosaic-tiled long-necked irises. Peter King and his wife and working partner Xinia Marín fashion large, expressively rendered, and sculptural installations. And Melody Ellis’s low-relief earthenware tiles pack intriguing narratives into every tile.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

420 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Suzanne Tourtillott was born in post-war Germany but lives and works, happily, in Asheville, North Carolina. After studying and then teaching fine art and commercial photography, she turned to writing arts journalism for periodicals and, ultimately, to writing and editing craft books. Suzanne has edited more than 50 titles in jewelry, ceramics, needle crafts--even poetry. Her business/Twitter is @editorious; see the site at http://editorious.org and tweets via #editorious. you can follow Suzanne's visual interests on Pinterest (pinning as username suzanne33).

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm no tile expert, so I don't know exactly what criteria are used in accessing tiles. Technique? Originality of design? Complexity of process? I would have guessed some combination of those, but although some of the pieces here are interesting or impressive, many look just like the ones I can buy at any gift shop or garden store. And some of the images on them are copied from paintings -- is that considered legit in the art tile world?

I'm currently reading another art book from Lark and being even more disappointed, so I should probably make a note to not get things from this publisher.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some fantastic pieces of art in this book. But there were also some tiles that I wasn't really sure how they made it into the book because they were not impressive. I enjoyed looking through this book, but it wasn't amazing. I might recommend if you were in to these kinds of books.

*Taken from my book reviews blog: http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2010...

[Ligaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great range of tile styles - some I loved, some not so much. I would have liked knowing where the site-specific tiles were located and maybe some bio information on each artist, but as it is, this book is more centered on contemporary tiles. Inspirational and quirky.

[Scott Andrews · Rating 2 out of 5]

12-15 tiles were useful references. The majourity of the rest were art therapy atrocities. And, for context, I have a Masters in Art History and spent over a decade at the Smithsonian.

[Edie Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Points for the sheer variety of tiles presented, but there were only a few I actually liked.

[Nita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book...Had some amazing tiles. Everything from avant garde to whimsical. I found "Pear Pair" and "Dog Faced Boy" amusing and loved "Lady Guadalupe" and "The Devil and the Swordfish." Intriguing book to peek at if you're taking a class in ceramics/pottery.

[Terri]

Like little quilts. Great inspiration here.

[Kel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous. Beautiful tiles that fun the gamut from incredibly detailed to very abstract and everything in-between. Fun, serious, smooth, tactile, amazing.