Motawi Art Tiles Made in Ann Arbor
Fine Handmade Ceramics for Framing, Fireplaces, Kitchens, Baths
Brother and sister partners Karim and Nawal Motawi of Motawi Tileworks began making clay art tiles in their garage in the early 1990s. Karin is the trained ceramic artist and her brother is the operational guru who has also learned to develop glazes, make molds and fire kilns. Together they are creating what they call "New Arts and Crafts Pottery." Their names are Arabic, as their father is from Egypt.
Designs Include Stylized Symbols of Nature
Heavily influenced by Arts and Crafts designs of the 1920s and '30s, Nawal creates tile images such as tulips, fish, iris, acanthus leaves, birds, and cyclamen. Other designs include a peacock feather, roses, bellflowers, floating spheres, willows, songbirds and mountain landscapes. The colors used in glazes are usually muted and subtle.
Where Motawi Art Tiles are Used
The tiles appear in fine homes and public buildings, on entry walls, as murals on exterior walls, in kitchen backsplashes, in bathrooms and around fireplaces, Roughly half of the total output is sold in individual tiles, as art objects to be framed or set on a small easel.
The Frank Lloyd Wrght Collection
Motawi Tileworks has an exclusive licensing agreement with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to produce a collection of tiles from Wright's designs. So far, the most popular is March Balloons, an enchanting image of overlapping balloon shapes, a prime example of asymmetrical composition. Other images include Confetti and Blue Balloon. Nawal draws on Wright's work with stained glass, rugs and magazine covers, from designs and sketches found in the architect's archives at the Foundation in Arizona.
Hand-Crafting the Tiles
Although the pair now has an automated press that squeezes balls of clay into tile molds, the molds are handmade. When each tile is taken out of a mold, it is hand-sculpted to round the edges, creating a subtle dome on every tile. Nawal creates the vibrant matte glazes, which are applied with the Cuenca or raised line method, where the design is outlined with walls of clay, then each section is filled with glaze by hand, using a bulb-like applicator. The method is quite labor intensive, which is why the company produces fewer than 20,000 square feet of tiles every year, as opposed to millions by other tile manufacturers.
Famous People and Organizations That Have Bought Motawi Tiles
Their tiles have appeared in the homes of the rich and famous, including Steven Spielberg, Nicholas Cage and David Letterman. In Disney's Grand Californian Hotel in Anaheim a panel titled "Boy Reading" is installed in the Storytellers Cafe. They have also created custom tiles to be used in a Yale University Library project. Foodies may remember the backsplash they created for a dream kitchen makeover that appeared on the Food Channel.
Where to Find Them
Motawi tiles are sold by special order in tile showrooms and gift shops all over the country , and in their factory showroom in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Tours of their workshop are available, where a special sale is held every November.
Balloon Tile with Frank Lloyd Design
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