Hand-Glazed Tiles
Shortly after buying our building at 213 N. Kinsley Ave in 2017, Brian and I took a trip to Old Town Albuquerque to check out shops and saw a collection of hand-glazed Made-in-USA tiles that we loved. The company used an old Spanish technique called Cuerda Seca to create the colorful Day-of-the-Dead inspired tiles, a process that uses a thin wax line to keep the glazes from running into each other. We thought they’d be perfect for our future store.
Earthtones began in a garage in Tucson Arizona by a family with a dream. With hard work and dedication Earthtones became a well established, respected nationwide business. Now owned and operated by Kim Brooks, Hand-N-Hand Designs continues the family dream in Tucson and is proud to be a woman owned business.
From Hand-N-Hand Designs
Over the years working to prep the building for opening, though, we’d misplaced the information about the tiles and I couldn’t find them on the web. Then last summer, I stopped at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo and aha! There they were, sitting in the gift shop. As soon as I got back to Winslow, I contacted the company and got the ball rolling to get the Made-in-USA hand-glazed tiles for the Mercantile, including one very special tile.
Hand-Glazed Tile Exclusive to the Mercantile
In addition to a selection of eleven other tiles, we created a custom tile exclusively for the Mercantile, a Day-of-the-Dead inspired Winslow Arizona Hand-Glazed Tile.
Our collection of designs are illustrated exclusively for Hand-N-Hand Designs by our in house artists. Each design is transferred onto authentic Italian Red Quarry Tile and then hand glazed by our skilled artisans in our studio located in Tucson, AZ. Our tiles are fired at over 1800 degrees to create a durable finish that is fadeproof, weatherproof and stain resistant.
From Hand-N-Hand Designs
Hand-N-Hand Designs
When choosing products for the Mercantile, we also look at the company philosophy so the items in the store have meaning, like the makers of our knit products who recycle the milled cotton ends that are normally thrown away, or our t-shirts we buy from the family who grows the cotton, hats and jackets made in New York by third-generation families. Hand-N-Hand fits right in with the kind of thing we like: handmade in the USA, kind, and eco-friendly.
Hand-N-Hand Designs is dedicated and commited to our belief of giving back to the local community. We offer on site credit courses in various types of assembly work to the Arizona Deaf & Blind School students as well as donating products to local schools, businesses and nonprofit organizations such as World Care and Habitat for Humanity. Also being concerned for the environment and economy, both our product packaging and ship-to packaging is made from recycled materials and printed locally. We use only Lead Free and Non-Toxic glazes. Hand-N-Hand Designs is the leader in creating quality, hand glazed decorative tiles for over 30 years and is still proudly produced in the U.S.A.
Check out the Goods!
Pop into the Mercantile to check out these beautiful hand-glazed tiles or take a peek at them on our online store. They sure do bring a smile.
Until next time…
Stay Swellegant!
