The team at Motawi Tileworks is passionate about making great tile while spreading positivity, and sharing the Motawi experience. The company was founded in 1992 by Nawal Motawi, who started making tiles in her garage and selling them at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market next to the rutabaga sellers. More than 30 employees now make tiles in a 12,900 square foot studio. Their team utilizes Toyota Style Production thinking and methodology and strive to cultivate positivity, constant improvement, and high quality tile. Nawal’s motto: It’s fun to be good! (at what you do)
Motawi polychrome tiles are striking individual art pieces as much as functional tile installation accents. We’re told that our tiles will give you serious cred in gift-giving circles. And each one is made by hand and with heart in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Motwawi embraces variation and handmade beauty. The bold heft of each Motawi tile reveals serious craftsmanship. And their time-honored hand-glazing methods produce a nuanced range of color with depth and translucence.
Artist Yoshiko Yamamoto is a self-taught block printmaker who strives always to fuse Japanese design sensibility with fine craftsmanship. Several years ago, Nawal Motawi, a longtime admirer of Yoshiko’s work, approached her for a collaboration. Motawi thought Yamamoto’s bold prints would work well as a raised-line tile design. She was
Midcentury modern meets Motawi mastery in this serene scene by Charley Harper. Motawi tiles are striking art pieces and installation accents. Each tile is made by hand and with heart in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Motwai embraces variation and handmade beauty: their time-honored methods produce a nuanced range of color with
6×8 Panda Panda is based on a T-shirt design (and later a print) by Charley Harper. This sweet homage to panda parenthood is part of our extensive Charley Harper by Motawi line. Motawi tiles are striking art pieces and installation accents. Each tile is made by hand and with heart
“We heard the lonely cry of the loon, one of the wildest and most striking of all the wilderness sounds, a strange, sad, mournful, unearthly cry, half laughing, half wailing.” – John Muir A group of loons can be called a “cry,” maybe for their plaintive call. Actual Tile Size:
Artist Yoshiko Yamamoto is a self-taught block printmaker who strives always to fuse Japanese design sensibility with fine craftsmanship. Several years ago, Nawal Motawi, a longtime admirer of Yoshiko’s work, approached her for a collaboration. Motawi thought Yamamoto’s bold prints would work well as a raised-line tile design. She was
“A red-headed woodpecker really knows how to use its head.” Charley Harper (from Harper’s Headbanger print). Mid-century modern meets Motawi mastery in these tiles based on the work of celebrated wildlife artist Charley Harper (1922-2007), a self-described “minimal realist.” Actual Tile Size: Approximately 3 7/8” x 7 7/8”. As each
Acornucopia! Mid-century modern meets Motawi mastery in these tiles based on the work of celebrated wildlife artist Charley Harper (1922-2007), a self-described “minimal realist.” This design is adapted from the artist’s print titled “October Edibles” (2000) and can be hung with our “Autumn Edibles” tile, also by Charley Harper. Actual
“From twelve o’clock high, a mockingbird screams out of the sky to strafe his catnapping enemy with bad bird words, pulling up just in time to escape catastrophe while tantalizing the tormented tabby.” – Charley Harper Actual Tile Size: Approximately 5 7/8” x 5 7/8”. As each Motawi tile is
“The hovering ruby-throated hummingbird nips nectar from a morning glory, enjoying a breakfast beverage, a motionless in-flight meal, the power of the flower. These hummers beat their wings as fast as 80 times per second to hold their bills still for sipping.” – Charley Harper Mid-century modern meets Motawi mastery
Motawi collaborated with illustrator Cary Phillips on this vivid Hummingbird design. Phillips’ work has been used in children’s books, for greeting cards, and even on fabrics. Philips’ lush nature themes translate beautifully to tile. Motawi tiles are striking art pieces and installation accents. Each tile is made by hand and
6×8 Vienna Woods is based on Carl Otto Czeschka’s “Waldidyll (Forest Idyll),” originally created as a textile design and produced by Vienna’s renowned Wiener Werkstätte artist community circa 1910. Long before it inspired a Motawi tile, this work of art was worn as a caftan by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt.
Cheery 4×8 Primrose is based on an art nouveau tile design Nawal Motawi discovered in a book. Nawal experimented with many iterations before arriving at this pared-down version with an Arts and Crafts vibe. Motawi tiles are striking art pieces and installation accents. Each tile is made by hand and
