About Neal Andersen
About Neal Andersen
Somewhere within this website you might expect to find a spot where I would tell you all about my artistic background, professional training, internships or exhibitions.
How I researched and developed this idea during my travels abroad, or was inspired by a stroll down some famous street in Paris.
Unfortunately, none of these things has ever happened.
The real story is that I have always been creative, hard-working, and maybe just a little lucky, so after I was laid off by a semiconductor manufacturer, I found that I had a little time on my hands. Then someone suggested that I go to an antique furniture auction. After many hours and even days of watching and waiting, I bought a big old carved cabinet from France. After having it in my home for a while, I wanted another nicer piece, of course, but I didn’t have the space or money to buy another, so I decided to sell the first one.
Wanting to keep more than just a picture of it, I thought that if I could somehow reproduce the high relief images on the doors, I could keep my favorite part of this beautiful piece of furniture, then sell it and buy another one.
So the plan was hatched ! It was many years between that point and a time when I had established a reliable process, found a market, launched a web site, and found that I could sell enough tiles to actually feed myself, but it eventually happened.
Now I make tiles. I hope you like them as much as I enjoy creating them for you.
Our commitment to excellence is unwavering, with a dedicated team of professionals who take pride in their attention to detail and craftsmanship. We don’t just create beautiful spaces; we build them to last.
A Legacy of Ingenuity:
My Father's Influence
One trait that I can claim from my father: ingenuity.
After the war, my Dad was applying for a construction job, one of the requirements was that you brought your own tools. He didn’t have any tools, so he went into the office with pieces of scrap pipe and bricks in an old tool box he borrowed. He made sure to set it down with a thud.
Kitchen Backsplash Installations, Decorative Stone Washed Inserts, Architectural Murals, Relief Tile Designs.
On this page you will see some new pictures, stories and discussion that might be of interest to you. Also a quote from Davy Crockett just for fun.
We have always enjoyed decorative architectural elements in our exterior and interior environments. Our tiles simply utilize those classic elements in a new way. Below you see our Fruit Garland tile installed as part of a kitchen backsplash. The next picture down is a building exterior with a similar design. Many times the architectural details of buildings are so high up that you can barely see them. When I first started thinking about this product, one of my goals was to bring these designs down from the tops of buildings and up from the doors of an antique cabinet so they could be enjoyed at eye level.
Unveiling the Process
Someone once told me, dont ever let people know how you do this, but I never followed the advice. The most common misunderstanding about how I make the tiles is that I carve each tile, or carve the original patterns for the tiles. Neither is the case. My process involves reproducing the relief patterns using a series of rubber and plaster molds. Once the plaster mold is created it can be used many times in order to many tiles. The original patterns typically come from antique furniture. Below you will see some examples of the original furniture or carved wood panels used to make the molds, and below them are the completed tiles.
A few new kitchen backsplash installations:
Walter Cronkite’s home on Martha’s Vineyard is now occupied by it’s new owners. They have performed some updates which included the use of our Harvest Panel tile with intricate framing. Also our flat tiles in custom glaze application. The size of this set is 24 x 28″
