Warming glass for a hot market
Bend couple use eco-friendly practices to make
artisan tiles
By Anna Sowa / The Bulletin
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Among the sea of tiles displayed at showrooms and tile stores,
one Bend couple hope their handmade, recycled glass tiles
will attract more than a glimmer of notice.
Mare Schelz and Jamie "Twig" Branch are the married
owners of Bonfire Glass Tile, which they operate out of
their west Bend home. Their colorful glass tiles, molded
into almost 100 shapes and
designs, look like gemstones when set in a kitchen backsplash,
shower wall or fireplace. Using at least 90 percent recycled
glass that they order from Portland, the couple handcraft
the tiles according to
customer orders. They use earth-friendly production practices
that reduce waste and limit energy consumption. Even their
home production studio is constructed with recycled materials,
such as an old Goody's Soda Fountain & Candy Store door
and a washed-out tofu container Branch uses to measure glass
shards to set in the molds.
The two-year-old business is banking on what Schelz says
is the "next big thing" in home decoration trends:
artisan glass. "Glass is very hot right now,"
Schelz said. "Lucky for us, we came into (this industry)
right as it reached the edge."
At the new Old Mill Martini Bar, Bonfire Glass tiles line
the backsplash of the bathrooms. The marigold tiles are
accented with martini-glass moldings that glow from the
lights set behind them.
Of course, buying glass tiles made by hand is more expensive
than ordering factory-manufactured tiles, the couple says.
That's what puts their product in the high-end category.
Costing $10 to $22 per tile, depending on size, Schelz and
Branch's tiles are only available for retail through their
20 showrooms throughout the country in Arizona, California,
Colo-rado, Connecticut, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Rhode
Island and Washington.
In Central Oregon, they are represented at Austin Tile &
Marble.
Schelz has a history working with art but now primarily
handles the business side of tile making. Branch focuses
on creating and manufacturing the pieces.
Aside from the glass making, Schelz teaches art classes
at local private schools and has a T-shirt-making business,
and Branch owns the mobile blade-sharpening business, Never
a Dull Moment, for which he drives around in a converted
ambulance.
The tiles they make range in size from 2x2 inches to 3x8
inches. They are offered in 12 colors available in iridescent
- like mother-of-pearl - or sea glass, which looks like
glass that's been washed along sandy
beaches. Each tile is unique; no edges are perfectly cut
and tiny seed bubbles are suspended under the surface.
Most glass tiles made by other, larger companies are created
in "hot shops," which are energy-gobbling studios
that melt glass pieces and then pour the molten glass into
plaster or graphite molds to set, Branch said. Once cool,
the plaster is usually smashed away from the glass, revealing
the finished piece.
At Bonfire Glass, however, Branch operates in a "warm-glass"
studio, which uses much less energy and waste to create
the products.
Branch creates clay molds that he can use over and over
again. To create a tile, he cuts a thin, colored piece of
nonrecycled glass to fit what will be the face of the tile,
then fits it into the clay mold. Then he fills the rest
of the mold with pieces of recycled clear glass.
The glass-filled mold is then put in a kiln set at a low
1,500 degrees, which melts the glass smooth.
What comes out is a nonporous tile that is harder than marble
but softer than graphite, which means it needs no sealant
and won't corrode in outdoor or indoor settings.
Bonfire Glass Tile was recently recognized for its environmentally
friendly practices on the glass-tile industry Web site,
www.aboutglasstile.com.
Q: How do most customers use the tiles?
A:Twig: Most are considered border-type tiles - I deal mostly
linearly, opposed to by the square foot or
yard.
Mare: You usually see them in kitchens, fireplaces or bathrooms
... just these accents or liners you'd have in a room. We
don't do field tile, which is just the flat tile. People
can get cheaper field tile and then accent it with our glass
tile. That makes it sparkle and gives it that shiny, glimmery
look.
Q:Which designs are most popular?
A:Mare: The wave is the most popular.
Twig: I also do a lot of spirals and 2x2 (inch) accents.
Q:How are the products earth-friendly?
A:Twig: The Northwest has lots of glass avenues for us,
as far as buying glass - there's a lot of post-industrial
recycled glass (we get) from Portland. We appreciate that
aspect, plus the lower energy
of just running the kiln.
Mare: We are Blue Sky powered (through Pacific Power, which
means they pay more for each electricity bill to go toward
renewable energy options).
Twig: The molds are low-cost, and we reuse them.
Mare: The beauty is we don't have to have molds made by
other companies. Most companies have molds made out of graphite,
and we make them out of clay. Graphite molds cost a lot,
and they take a lot of energy to make. We figured out a
process to use ours again and again.
Q:How do you see the business growing?
A:Mare: We hope that this business will sustain us someday.
I hope we grow slowly and steadily, becoming a business
that we can have as we age.
Twig: As far as going with glass tiles, I hope we do it
until we stop enjoying it. Our plan now is to keep it, develop
it and create more art with it. We probably will, in the
future, have employees and get a
bigger studio.
Q:Why did you get into the glass business?
A:Twig: We have two children (boys ages 7 and 10) and we
try to spend as much time as we can with them. Our studios
are right out the back door and we're able to work and have
a good family life as well.
Mare: I did glass-blowing in college and did a little bit
here in Bend, and now I teach art at a few different private
schools. I always wanted to get back into glass, and this
is a great avenue to get back
into it.
The tiles are beautiful and functional. I love the way that
they're so luminescent, and it's just clear beauty.
Anna Sowa - The Bulletin - Bend, OR.
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