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.
These two lovebirds were inspired by a Charley Harper artwork. “If a male cardinal wants to rate, get a date (and even a mate), it’s smart to show her that he’s a good provider. After all, there’s nothing like a sunflower seed to warm the heart of a female cardinal.
Dahlia, a mesmerizing floral is Motawi’s take on take on a Gustav Marisch postcard published by the Wiener Werkstätte circa 1912.s. Motawi tiles are striking art pieces and installation accents. Each tile is made by hand and with heart in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We embrace variation and handmade beauty: Our
A favorite motif of Charley Harper, this charming little fawn showcases Harper’s signature “minimal realism” style. Motawi tiles are striking art pieces and installation accents. Each tile is made by hand and with heart in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We embrace variation and handmade beauty: Our time-honored methods produce a nuanced
6×6 Coming & Going is based on Charley Harper’s larger illustration, ‘Once There Was a Field,’ created in 1974 to accompany an article of the same name published in Ranger Rick. We love the artist’s description of a busy, blooming field teeming with life: ‘It was a wondrous world. Birds.
The Charley Harper Minis feature the whimsical wildlife images of artist Charley Harper. Midcentury modern meets Motawi mastery in this charming series of 3×3 art tiles. Actual Tile Size: Approximately 2 7/8” x 2 7/8”. As each Motawi tile is crafted by hand, dimensions may vary slightly by up to 1/16″.
The Charley Harper Minis feature the whimsical wildlife images of artist Charley Harper. Midcentury modern meets Motawi mastery in this charming series of 3×3 art tiles. Actual Tile Size: Approximately 2 7/8” x 2 7/8”. As each Motawi tile is crafted by hand, dimensions may vary slightly by up to 1/16″.
It all started with a Dragonfly tile. Motawi Tile loved it so much that other small insects and animals were added to the line, including this Frog, a Butterfly, a Bee, and a Turtle. Actual Tile Size: Approximately 3 7/8” x 3 7/8”. As each Motawi tile is crafted by
Cat lovers everywhere, rejoice! This lazy calico is just waiting for you to take her home so she can lounge around, gazing at birds from the comfort of your windowsill. Who knows? She might even catch one. Mid-century modern meets Motawi mastery in these tiles based on the work of
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
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
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
