Press Room

Old World Handiwork Graces Ventura County Buildings
By Jenni Mintz
Friday, April 20, 2007

Dana Rene Bowler / Star staff People stroll by the renovated Star Lounge bar in Ventura. which was redesigned by California Pottery and Tile Works.

The special patterns and custom creations of California Pottery and Tile Works can be spotted worldwide and in the homes of celebrities, including the likes of Cher and Phil Collins.

The Los Angeles company's handiwork is a blend of sophistication and old world style, mixing an ancient craft with new techniques, such as bending tile and making glaze out of gold.

"We love what we do," said Michael Kelly, co-partner of California Pottery and Tile Works. "It's art. It's architecture."

Some of the company's latest tiles can be seen in Ventura County, mostly in downtown Ventura. During the past 16 months, contractors have installed the tiles in 14 commercial buildings, including the Theodore Groene Building, Jersey Mike's, Cafe Fiori, Star Lounge all in Ventura and the new Camarillo Library.

California Pottery recently provided the tiles for a large fountain in the entryway at the library on Las Posas Road, as well as an 18-foot-by-8-foot Persian rug fashioned from ceramic tiles.

"What's exciting here is that Ventura is coming to terms with a real architectural redevelopment," said Kelly, who lives in Ventura. "There are architects here who are willing to raise the bar and use real quality."

In his Irish accent, Kelly describes Ventura as a "sleepy town by the beach that is coming into its own time."

If the city and developers spend the extra effort and capital on architecture, it pays off through appreciation from the town and tourists, Kelly said.

This is not the main source of revenue for the tile manufacturer, which produces the tile but does not install it.

"We compromise a lot to do these jobs," Kelly said. "It's not our most profitable business, but we want to make the city more attractive."

Kelly emphasizes that the company will work with most people's budgets.

The company has made several donations, including murals to the Lincoln Elementary School in Ventura.

But the business, described by founder Sean McLean as upscale and probably the biggest tile manufacturer in the country, can afford it.

The projects in Ventura County generated $600,000 to $700,000 for the company, which is on track for more than $5 million in sales this year, up from $3.5 million in 2006, said McLean, who launched California Pottery in 1994. His brother, Desmond McLean, joined him as a partner a few years later, and Kelly joined in 2001.

The most lucrative jobs are for large commercial entities, like hotels, in which case the customers make repeat purchases.

About half of the company's jobs are residential and half are commercial, Kelly said. In any month, the company has about 50 to 60 jobs in process, some as small as a kitchen backsplash, or as large as 2,000 6-inch-by-6-inch pyramid shaped tiles, glazed with 24-karat gold a job that was completed for a casino in Las Vegas.

"We often get asked to replace other people's mistakes, where they used inferior products," Kelly said.

At the Groene building at Chestnut and Main streets in Ventura, the company is replacing some of the facade's old tile, which involves color-matching, a sometimes tedious and time-consuming task.

"We're trying to observe the integrity of the building," said Jim Rice, a partner and owner of a new restaurant that is being constructed in the Groene building. "We're not trying to change it, we're trying to fix it. It takes an artist to be able to do that."

It took two months to replicate the six colors used on the original tile work from 1926, since many of the chemicals used in the original mixture are no longer permitted.

"It's very difficult to match. Very few people can do it the way they can," Rice said. "You literally can't tell the difference."

Commercial jobs, such as tiling the facade of a building, can run about $35,000 to more than a million dollars, depending on the size of the building. Residential work can range from $4,000 to $400,000.

The company has more work than ever, as "designers and architects are becoming more aware of us," McLean said.

To accommodate demand, this year the business will move from its 18,000-square-foot factory in Los Angeles to a much larger facility. With 75 employees, including 60 skilled artisans glazers, molders, chemists the company manufacturers traditional styles of architectural ceramics, including: Art Deco, Craftsman, Art Nouveau, Malibu and Baroque.

Learning how to bend tile took a few months of experimentation, Kelly said. There is a small team to handle such challenges at the factory.

Products include ceramic pots, floors, window skirts, and murals of ships, flower pots and peacocks. By far, the peacock murals are most popular.

After 30 to 40 years of experimenting with other materials to construct buildings, such as foam, concrete and stucco, the future is strong for ceramic tile.

"It's such a beautiful piece of art, and used appropriately, it can really frame an area, or be used as a piece of art itself," Rice said.

Many cities are reviewing their buildings and are now saying they want authentic materials, and contemporary artists and designers are looking at how to use ceramics in new ways, Kelly said.

"It's coming back," Kelly said. "It can last for 1,000 years, as long as there aren't earthquakes."

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