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Hometown Tourist: Little Traverse Tileworks

Nestled in the upstairs of Sturgeon River Pottery in Petoskey is , where you will find a local tile-maker with a passion and see her artwork at all stages of the process, from functional tiles for homes to decorative pieces that pay homage to Northern Michigan.

David Lyden and Erin Malone take us to Little Traverse Tileworks in Petoskey to check out Cora Smith and her team’s tile-making processes.

Cora’s love for the handcrafted was sculpted years ago, and when she started at Sturgeon River Pottery her love for the ceramic arts took hold and now has blossomed into a full blown tile-making business, Little Traverse Tileworks.

They specialize in a beautiful array of pieces from backsplashes to architectural field tiles that tessellate, or in other words, use geometric shapes to form a pattern.

You’ll find house addresses and maps of lakes or logos and cars, they do it all.

Many of their decorative tiles honor the love of life in Northern Michigan and nature. They even have a Mackinac Bridge tile on a piece of grating from the bridge.

People are welcome to come in and see Cora and her team in their process.

It all starts with carving or sculpting tiles.

Then they sit for an hour depending on humidity.

The tiles dry overnight and then get sanded and dry again for about two weeks, and then they’re fired.

At the end of the day, it’s a love for the handcrafted, a joy to witness — oh, and you’ll get to meet Dilly, the studio Dalmatian, who’ll welcome you with a wag of a tail!