Maple Ridge Community Mosaic: Tile Manufacturing

4th February 2020 By Admin

We worked closely with Interstyle Ceramic + Glass to develop unique ceramic glazes to match the twelve Maple Ridge Community Mosaic colours as closely as possible. The twelve colours used for this project were selected from the palette of landscape colours we received over Fall 2018 from public photo submissions.

Triangle tile colour matching samples

Mixing 12 bespoke colour glazes and firing the ~14,500 tiles needed is a complicated task and Interstyle are industry experts.

Colour kitchen

Interstyle is a family owned and operated tile manufacturer located in Burnaby, BC. They have been in operation since 1977 and are among the only tile manufactures remaining in Canada.

Interstyle Ceramic + Glass. Burnaby, BC.

The Maple Ridge Community Mosaic will use equilateral tiles specially made for this project from Earthenglass, a tile produced from powdered recycled glass and locally sourced clays.

Blank tile bisque

Rebecca inspecting the tile bisque

Sheets of ‘Maple Ridge Dark Green’ triangle tiles

Maple Ridge Community Mosaic: Design Process

23rd January 2020 By Admin

Following the public pattern making workshop series held across the City of Maple Ridge during February 2019 we returned to our studio to work on the next stage of the Maple Ridge Community Mosaic, the Design Phase.

We had collected and documented approximately 540 unique triangular patterns during the public workshops and now it was time to study them all and consider ways in which we could blend as many of them together to form a cohesive whole.

During the workshops we had encouraged participants to use groups of themed colours that represented the seasons and this helped us arrange different patterns together.  Over a six week period we tested hundreds of combinations of patterns and colour combinations before we settled on the final design.

Once the final design was approved by the City of Maple Ridge we were ready to begin the next phase: fabrication…almost!

All of the tiles for the Maple Ridge Community Mosaic need to be custom made for this project.  To make sure we ordered the correct numbers of coloured tiles to cover the 410 SF wall spaces inside the Maple Ridge Leisure Centre each of the 14,000+ tiles in the mosaic had to be counted first!

Maple Ridge Community Mosaic: Community Engagement

22nd October 2019 By Admin

The Maple Ridge Leisure Centre is an important hub for the neighbourhoods it serves.  Our new artwork intends to reaffirm the Maple Ridge Leisure Centre as a shared place where the wider community interacts daily.

The Maple Ridge Community Mosaic is created from content gathered from artist-­run community workshops.  Our role, as lead artists, is one of interpreters of the research and to create a new patterned design that represents the unique fabric of the local Maple Ridge community.  Traditional and contemporary patterns and motifs created by local people have been woven together and combined to form the final artwork.

In February 2019 we held community pattern making workshops with local groups at:

● Saturday 9 February
○ Maple Ridge Public Library (Repair Cafe)

● Wednesday 13 February
○ Maple Ridge Leisure Centre (Parents and Child Playtime)

○ Harry Hooge Elementary School

● Thursday 14 February
○ Chartwell Willow Manor

○ Maple Ridge Public Library

● Monday 18 February
○ ACT Arts Centre (Family Day)

● Tuesday 19 February
○ Kanaka Elementary School

○ Maple Ridge Public Library

● Thursday 21 February
○ Kanaka Elementary School
○ Thomas Haney High School

During these public workshops we collected and documented approximately 540 unique patterns.  We had a wonderful turn out and we collected amazing patterns from local people of all ages.  For more information and images about the workshops and the project see our Facebook page.