Hearst Castle Tiles Through Tilevera
In honor of William Randolph Hearst, Tilevera has created the Hearst Castle Collection of tiles in stone, wood, and glass emulating the intricate and sophisticated finishes developed by Hearst’s architect Julia Morgan and used at his estate in Central California. The series includes decorative pieces that are hand painted or carved to illustrate the spirit and opulence of original designs. The palette of hand-painted tiles borrows directly from materials found throughout the castle.
The stone, wood, and glass tiles emulate the intricate and sophisticated finishes developed by San Francisco architect Julia Morgan to be used at the estate. Decorative painter Jacqueline Moore was commissioned for the task. Moore drew inspiration from original archival line drawings done by Morgan to develop graceful designs and floral motifs showcased in the collection. Moore and Tilevera provide us with Castle Stone-Foundation Stone, Limestones, Travertines, and Marbles intended for flooring and recommended for installation in residential and commercial projects. There is also Castle Stone-Carved Works which mimics the detailed relief found in the estate’s ceilings, walls, beams, and vertical surfaces.
Moore interprets the exuberant color palette found throughout Hearst Castle and its landscapes as hand-painted limestone tiles and a collection of painted Baltic birch. Her signature wood technique is used in the Hearst Celestial Series, for which she hand-painted each piece with over a dozen layers including glazes, gold and silver leaf, washes, and other antiquing methods. The collections ranges not only in the substrate material – wood, stone, and glass – but in patterns encompassing ornate florals and Classical Roman Statuary found in the castle. The intricate murals Moore designed reflect the carved pattern tiles found by Hearst in his travels to Spain and Italy. In these collections, Tilevera shows its continuing evolution of artistic tiles done in stone, glass, and wood. And the studio shows its strength in the decorative hand-painted pieces used as wall surfacing, patterns, and pictorial motifs from traditional European details to modern designs.
