Tina
has been designing and painting for as far back as she can
remember. It seems inappropriate to say she is 'self taught' as
there has been no conscious effort to train, it's simply all she's
ever wanted to do!
After completing an art foundation course at Central
St Martins in London as a teenager, she was asked to paint
Traditional English Narrowboat Ware for a Japanese department store
and then went on to handpaint coloured glazes onto moulded ceramic
tiles for a London manufacturer. Here she was given her first
opportunity to design ceramic tiles and tile murals, her very first
mural being exhibited at the Ideal Home Exhibition at Earls
Court in the 'House of the Future'.
Relocating to Suffolk in the
mid 90s she continued working with on-glazes, designing
& painting ceramics for local studios such as Lowestoft
Porcelain and Suffolk Larder Craft and further developed
her skills as a designer and tile painter
at a Suffolk tile manufacturer. Her spare time even taken
up with artwork, she designed and ran children's art workshops in
primary schools and for a local annual Arts Festival and
organised a life drawing group with other Suffolk
artists.
Since starting H&H with John Harper in 2004 her bespoke
work is increasingly in demand, her tile commissions
installed throughout the UK and now
internationally.
"I consider myself very lucky because I
LOVE my work. It's magical turning a client's idea into a
reality for them. A reality with a practical function which is
at the same time beautiful, tactile and special to
them. It's wonderful when all the elements of
a bespoke design come together to illustrate a unique story
about the client which they have written with their
ideas. Their panel can either be simply a beautiful picture,
or their story
shared."
John
discovered his talent for tiling in
2002 whilst making tiles for a local
manufacturer. Self taught, since H&H's start his skills as a
tiler have gone from strength to strength - but you don't have
to take our word for that! One only has to look at the abundance of
happy
customer testimonials to see how highly clients rate his
professionalism, courteous nature and valued advice.
John is Suffolk born & bred. Previously a Halesworth retained
fireman, with ten years service under his belt, alongside
experience in other construction and manufacturing
trades, John has a wealth of understanding of the local
area and it's community's needs and brings this to his work so
that customers feel confident
both in the high standard of his
tiling skills and also the first class customer service he
provides.
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