My Kitchen Back splash: Hand Painted Ceramic Tile

Pin It
Kitchen back splash ceramic  tile hand painted hand formed raku

Have you ever seen something so lovely that it "haunted" you for a year afterwards?  Well, that was the case when I found my hand painted kitchen back splash tile; proving, once again,

that, Good things come to those who wait work their butt off and don't take "no" for an answer!

I had seen it in a local tile store.  All they would tell me was that it was hand formed and hand painted by two ladies that had a small tile company some where in Canada.  That's all I knew...for a year...that and the fact that I had to have it in my kitchen.

A year later, we began construction of our home and, when it came time to design the kitchen, I knew that the tile was going to play a central role. I chose cabinets and counter tops that would coordinate with the tile that I had seen.

Kitchen back splash ceramic  tile hand painted hand formed raku

Everything was progressing smoothly...until my tile source went out of business. Our home took just over a year to build and I spent that time looking for another tile that I would love as much as the one that I had seen nearly two years earlier.


I found....nothing.  Nothing would compare to the crackled glaze and hand formed tiles....nothing came close to the range of color found in raku.  This tile haunted me!  

We moved into our home and the kitchen was without tile for nearly two years after that (for those of you keeping track...this is nearly four years from the first time that I saw this tile)


Kitchen back splash ceramic  tile hand painted hand formed raku

Over the next several months, I scoured the Internet, searching, in every conceivable way, for hand painted, hand formed, ceramic back splash tile....then, one day, I found it! I called the lovely ladies in Canada and explained my situation and they agreed to work with me.


It took nearly another year before the tile was finished and installed. Each time there was a revision to the colors or to how I wanted it painted, it took 12 weeks for the new sample of the tile to leave Canada,  clear customs and make it to Illinois.

After all that, I can still say that I love this tile!  So much, in fact, that I decided that I'd like to install something similar in my new kitchen...different colors, of course, and a slightly different pattern, but I want to work with these ladies.

So, you can imagine my disappointment when I realized that I've lost the name and address of the company!!!!!

Kitchen back splash ceramic  tile hand painted hand formed raku

If any of you happens to recognize this tile or knows the name of the small, Canadian, tile makers that this may have come from....please message me....otherwise, I'll be searching the Internet...again...

Kitchen back splash ceramic  tile hand painted hand formed raku

No, I don't have a new home chosen...yet.

I do know that it will likely be a rehab and that it will involve a new kitchen....and hand painted ceramic back splash tile...from this company...if I can find them.  You may wonder why I'm looking when I haven't even found a place yet... Well, this time, I'd like to have my tile installed in less than five years....that seems reasonable, doesn't it?

xo,
Kimberly