Restoration
La Bibliothèque de l'Assemblée nationale du Québec
At FabArgile we are thrilled and honored to be fabricating tiles for the limited restoration of the library’s floors. Designing and making floor tiles presents a safety challenge. What is unseen, the internal ceramic structure, has to be carefully constructed and tested to provide a sound technical substructure for the visual elements of the tile. The process of matching colors and surface design comes after this.
In my opinion, the affective design of the ceramic floor of the Library stands in strong counterpoint to the grand structures of its architecture. The patterns of the mosaic floor tiles harken to the tapestry of rugs, both then and now. The allusion to rugs, something with which we are all familiar, provides a note of intimacy in an otherwise grand space.
In helping to restore these old works, I marvel at the impeccable skill in design and execution. Perhaps humility and wonder are their timeless gifts to us.
At FabArgile we are thrilled and honored to be fabricating tiles for the limited restoration of the library’s floors. Designing and making floor tiles presents a safety challenge. What is unseen, the internal ceramic structure, has to be carefully constructed and tested to provide a sound technical substructure for the visual elements of the tile. The process of matching colors and surface design comes after this.
In my opinion, the affective design of the ceramic floor of the Library stands in strong counterpoint to the grand structures of its architecture. The patterns of the mosaic floor tiles harken to the tapestry of rugs, both then and now. The allusion to rugs, something with which we are all familiar, provides a note of intimacy in an otherwise grand space.
In helping to restore these old works, I marvel at the impeccable skill in design and execution. Perhaps humility and wonder are their timeless gifts to us.
The floor is made of very small tiles.
The base glaze and clay body developed at FabArgile for the library floor tiles have met and surpassed industry-certified tests for slip-resistance and abrasion.
Cathédrale Sainte-Thérès-d'Avila, Amos, Québec, built 1922
At FabArgile we are restoring the Cathedral's architectural outdoor ceramic murals.
Development Processes
Hunting the Byzantine blue
Making tiles at FabArgile
Contamination! Suddenly iron specks appeared throughout. It took us several weeks to find the culprit.
The blue tiles, fresh from the kiln.
Leaf tiles 10x10 cm
Historic Murals
RESTORATION COMPLETED 2023
Cathédrale Sainte-Thérèse-d'Avila, Amos, Québec
Many thanks to team Atwill Morin for the opportunity to help restore these historic murals .
Crawling Blue
The 'crawling' surface patterns are created when excessive surface tension in the glaze is designed to randomly 'tear' the glaze apart during the firing, 4x4 inch/10x10cm.
The work presented in CUBIC VESSELS is an ongoing exploration of rhythmic relationships of form and surface. It's inspired by the music of Dave Brubeck; a master of beguiling rhythms.The clay is a mid range clay adapted from one of SIAL’s clay bodies.The glazes are made in house. They are composed of frits, spars, metal oxides, clay, and silica.This part of the exploration is focused on the cube as vessel, the analog and digital, the yin and yang, the rhythm of stop and rhythm of go.
If you're into Brubeck's music try this. Start Take Five in one page, let it play for about five seconds, and then open a new page and start Take Five again. I could swear that together they form a fugue of sorts, sometimes clashing, other times harmonizing, one motif chasing another! Ah, what might that look like?
If you're into Brubeck's music try this. Start Take Five in one page, let it play for about five seconds, and then open a new page and start Take Five again. I could swear that together they form a fugue of sorts, sometimes clashing, other times harmonizing, one motif chasing another! Ah, what might that look like?
Start the audio track of Take Five to accompany you through Cubic Vessels.
Cubic Vessels
Slides
Tulip Vase 9 1/2"H / May 2021
Tulip Vase 9" H / April 2021
Long-stemmed vase 40 cm H/August 2021
Vase 15 in. H June 2021
Gramophone Vase 42 cm H / July 2021
Seasonal Works
FLEUR de LYS paper weight 14 x 14 x 2 cm MAPLE LEAF paper weight 17 x 17 x 2 cm
The Post-Apocalypse flower pot
June 2021
June 2021
MAPLE LEAF paper weight 17 x 17 x 2 cm
Corporate gift contract Winter 2020
Corporate gift contract Winter 2020