First off, I want to welcome Rod Owen of CC Owen Tile, to the President’s Letter space. Owen was voted in as the new NTCA President at Total Solutions Plus. He takes the reins from Sam Bruce, who served as President admirably for the past two years. Read Owen’s first letter in this issue and learn what initiatives he plans to champion during his two-year term.

You’ll also find the Installation story inspiring, as Joppe Aguirre of Cascadia Tile Company LLC plies his skill in crafting a stunning outdoor pool and spa for a French villa-style home in Bend, Ore. The pièce de résistance of the pool is a custom honeybee mosaic. He learned his mosaic skills at a 2023 class with mosaic master Angie Ré of Unique Mosaics in South Salt Lake, Utah – and you can read all about the project in our Installation article and Ré’s Mosaic and Medallions class this year in our Business story.

Speaking of business, our Maker story introduces you to Founder, Owner and Artrpreneur Mercedes Austin of Mercury Mosaics in Minneapolis. Read about the rise of this consciously-crafted, woman-owned, human-scale business of tile artisans that put hands to clay and glaze to produce artisan tiles for residential, commercial and custom projects, while evoking the spirit of an art studio.

In our Technical story, author Scott Carothers of CTEF details the craft of making and using a template to ensure layouts and subsequent cuts fall exactly where they should, and that the layout is centered and balanced.

Our Tile Throwback installment, written by Joe A. Taylor and Sheila A. Menzies of the Tile Heritage Foundation, tells the tale of RTK Studios in Ojai, Calif., and Native Tile & Potteries in Torrance. Discover the source of tile artisans’ devotion to tile making and how their vision and passion expanded the craft into legendary ceramics that stand the test of time.

In our Artisan Gallery, we explore the work of four craftspeople in four very different projects. Hector Ruiz and his HR Tile team from Rifle, Colo., took on a challenging project to transform a bank into a gym, and Chris Oster of Art by Tile in Wilmerding, Pa., made magic with zellige tile in a customer shower, framing the door jamb with the rustic tile and mitering it to perfect the edge. Sarah Wandrey of Sarah Wandrey Mosaics in Rockwall, Texas, traveled to Atlanta to restore an entryway mosaic of a 1924 apartment building that had been converted to a hotel. And Natalie Hall of Artistry in Tile from Hudson, Wis., raided her stash of tile from the Mercury Mosaics warehouse sale over the summer to create a custom plaque to commemorate her friends’ wedding.

Next year, look for artisan content in every issue of TileLetter, with a dedicated TileLetter ARTISAN issue in August. Every tile setter has the potential to be a craftsperson and an artisan by learning how to properly work with materials and tools, following standards for tile setting, using precision, seeking excellence, and exercising inspiration and creativity in their projects. By integrating artisan content in all our issues next year, we hope to celebrate your work and inspire you to elevate your craft by adding tile artistry to your installation genius.

As you wrap up the year, enjoy the holidays and time with family, friends, and loved ones who make life worth living!