November 2007
Handmade Tile Association Newsletter
Main Body
Another great year ahead
The goals for the HTA
What's in Name?
Picking the cover
Proofing Party November 14th, & 15th from 11 - 5pm at Clay Squared to Infinity
Upcoming meetings
Side Bar
Halloween Party
Let's Make Tile Intro to Tile at Sheryl Tuorila Studio
Picking the 08 cover
Kiln For Sale
The board vote
Booth sitting Thank you
Attendance for October meeting
Host Clay Squared - Josh Blanc
David Aichinger, Nancy Froseth, Mim, Patrick Murphy, Chad Fitch, Leann Johnson, Stephanie Kaczrowski, Anne Krocak.
Another great year ahead
One of the best parts about putting the directory together every year is to see first hand the new ideas, projects and inventions artists are coming up with. Over the year artists have been talking to me about their ideas and consulting each other in the organization to modify and develop their concepts. It is very exciting as the images come in the actual products and projects resulting from their hard work. The 2008 Directory will be our best yet. This years biggest break through is we have attracted national advertising at our highest rate ever growing from 29 to 35 advertisers. This is a sign that the directory is reaching a bigger audience that advertisers want to be in front of. Thank you all for participating in the directory. We should look forward to a great year!
Some goals for the HTA membership
Some of the most frequent questions the HTA office gets how do I make my tiles flat? Why do my tiles crack? How do I make a mold? What type of adhesive do I use to mosaic with? One of the biggest missing parts that this association has is there is very little written or promoted on how to make tile, set tile, and mosaic techniques to give people broad knowledgeable answers.
As we move forward with the building of the organization education programming we would like artists to consider doing short process how to's and problem solving techniques that the public can access. We are not looking for proprietary techniques more we want general information that would help people understand the process and add to the organizations website. One of the most important goals of the HTA website is to get people to keep coming back and viewing it. The more educational the website is the more artists will be viewed and be considered for commissions. It is all interconnected. If you are interested please view our paid article writing program on the HTA website.
What's in Name?
At the last HTA meeting and in previous meetings the idea of changing the name of the Minnesota Tile Festival has been brought up. The reasons are two fold. One is some would like to see the name say art in the title so that the public knows it is not their imagination that it is a show about tile but art as well. Second mosaic artists would like to have the term mosaic somewhere in the title or marketed with them in mind.
In the press releases and advertising both concepts were heavily promoted and even in the radio ads we did change the name to say the MN Art Tile Festival. In the survey of artist participating in the tile festival we asked if they would like to see the name changed. The vote was 17 people for the same name, 2 people did not like the name and four people wrote down the name MN Art Tile Festival.
One of the goals with the Handmade Tile Association goal is to get the public and the trades to think about and imagine tile in new ways other than white, Italian, or Mexican tile. The biggest challenge the HTA works with is everyone makes such unique and distinctive styles and types of artists. We have tile makers, tile artists, mosaic artists who use found objects, mosaic artists who make their own tile, and some that use both. Sculptors who use tiles, architectural tile artist, artist who make tile, and potters who make tile just to name a few. There are subcategories of each of those categories as well ie majolica, raku, stoneware, glass, terra cotta, etc. It could be argued that if we start picking direction or style instead of being broad would not be beneficial to the overall organization.
In the end most tile, mosaic, tile artists are tied together with the common uses of how we install our work, the materials used in those installations, the questions asked by all of our clients lead us back to needing the greater organization to fill in the gaps that individuals cannot supply or provide as individuals. We will for years to come when we tell people about the MN Tile Festival have to explain what it is. Just like when we started the HTA people did not know handmade tiles and mosaic artists even existed. Today people are starting to expect choices and just assume what they are looking for exists. The issue now is how to find us easier. It is unlikely that a name change will make large amounts of people really attend the show. It is more important that communicating in all of our marketing what tile can be and the name “tile” will become synonymous with beauty, choices, and style in home remodeling, decorating, and art.
Proofing Party November 14th, & 15th
from 11 - 5pm at Clay Squared to Infinity
The proofing party is spread over 2 days so people can come in and proof their ad and the whole directory. This is very important to the quality of the directory that information is correct and spelled right. If you live out of state or just can not make it please request a copy of your ad and we will e-mail it to you.
The board vote
All board members were re elected during our annual board vote which took place at the last meeting and when people came in to drop off there ads for the directory. Below is a count of the vote.
HTA board Vote - 16 votes were cast
Josh Blanc - 16
Laura McCaul - 14
Norma Hanlon - 13
Roger Mayland - 14
Lucy Yogerst - 11
Upcoming meetings
We are looking for venues to have meetings starting in Mid to late January. If you would like to host a meeting please contact the HTA to set one up.
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Halloween Party
Chad Fitch of Mosaic Realm is having a Halloween Party and is inviting the members of the HTA to attend. Saturday November 3rd From 7:11 to Midnight
Live music at 10pm questions call
651-983-7378
1282 Englewood Ave,
St. Paul, MN 55104
Let's Make Tile Intro to Tile at Sheryl Tuorila Studio
An introduction to tile making for mosaics. Students will explore texture, shape, and glazing while making terra cotta tile suitable for interior or exterior applications. Students are encouraged to bring cookie cutters and unique textures. Students will finish class with 1-2 square feet of tile. Last class includes a basic introduction to tile adhesives and installation techniques including mesh mounting.
Class meets for three nights.November 6th, 8th and 13th 6-9pm
December 11th, 13th and 17th 6-9pm
www.sheryltuorila.com. Feel free to phone me with any questions or to register -
612-423-9197.
Picking the 08 cover
We have four great choices for the 2008 cover of the directory. As part of the proofing party November 14th and 15th you can come in and get a sneak peak and vote for your favorite. The winner will be used as the cover.
Kiln For Sale
A Paragon kiln Energy Saver automatic kiln setter
240 volt
10800 watts
45 amps
Max temp 2300 degrees
Cone 8
One shelf
Price $400
call 612-781-6409
Booth sitting Thank you
The HTA had made a trade with the Arts and Crafts show at the State fair a week after the tile festival. We had two HTA members staff the booth Leann Johnson who has been a super volenteer this year and Barbara Schmidt who came all the way from Chicago to volenteer her time to staff the booth for the whole weekend! This was a tremendous help and allowed the HTA to hand out over 200 directories and chat up the directory. Thank you
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