The next e-mail from my parents generation shows the intense interest a shopping site can create.

” Hello Gerrit
Thank you so much for keeping me on your mailing list.   I have so enjoyed going through everything on your web and being able to navigate through it all is a great big plus, as I am not all that “au fait” with IT and yet it was so easy !   I’d love to pop in some time and just browse in your showroom and see all your lovely tiles, and the progress of your studio, if that would not be an inconvenience.    I remember you saying that visits were only by appointment, but I would not disrupt your work schedule !
I hope that you enjoy a happy festive season and lucrative business in the New Year.
Regards …… Kathy Dolpire”

Most interestingly we have found that the bulk of the sales so far were to the older and mostly late adopters of internet, e-commerce and communication facilities.

South Africans opt paying for their purchases by electronic bank transfer from within their own online banking accounts into our bank account and it is important to note that one telephonic conversation will be needed to instill confidence. Credit card payments from international clients are the most popular but even this will change in 2010 when electronic bank transfers from Europe and North America will become possible.

We are new in the e-commerce arena and success depends on dedication to service, promptness, quality and telephonic followup. The good old familiarity of a voice seems to be the most important aspect when clinching the sale. If the delivered  product outshines the image of the product acquired from the website then one can be ensured of a loyal following!

The team at Southern Art Ceramics, and most importantly Martle’ at Aqua IT Consulting  made all these online developments a reality! The perseverance and dedication by the graphics team and others involved with the continuous photographing, editing, loading, sales ….  and development and redevelopment of these websites will make these ceramic art and handmade tile websites a rich and fulfilling shopping experience!

I am grateful to be part of this e-commerce venture, a venture that will need constant nurturing and improvement.

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This time round I was send a few images of a lodge somewhere in Mozambique where the client has used the Peter Kroll tiles in the past. To match a tile, the size and the colour ask for several tests to be done, like shrinkage tests, batch testing of different pigments, etc.

Pigments from different mines,  small differences in temperature, various clay bodies and the composition of the base glaze will result in different colours.

To formulate the final result within two tests cycles is almost unheard of, and it is a huge relieve, especially with short deadlines, if the colour of the small test tiles match the bigger sample tiles from Peter Kroll .

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Our shopping portals are gaining momentum and the sales has been a pleasant surprise for us.

At the www.handmadetiles.co.za website, we sold 6 tiles from the category ” In Circles We Walk” and the testimonial of this sale makes us proud.

Môre Gerrit,

Baie dankie, die teëls is reeds Vrydagoggend 10:00 by my afgelewer – eintlik verstommend vinnig.

Hulle is baie mooier as wat ek gedink het! Baie dankie!

Dankie ook vir die geskenk. Ek stuur vir jou ‘n foto wanneer hulle geinstalleer is.

Groete,
Chris Fourie.

One example

At our www.arttilegallery.com website, we sold the following Arttile by Gerrit Oosthuizen.

The greatest achievement is the fabulous spin-offs from these sites, and the income generated from commissioned sales are actually outstripping the actual sales!!

The building of these websites of which both are still in development took 1000’s of hours of photographing, editing, loading, labeling, etc. to feed the sites,  a mammoth task for a small studio like ours!

Enjoy the websites and follow their growth!

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After months of design, consultation, R&D, production and solving curve balls the project is on its way for installation. It will be a few more weeks before I shall receive images showing of these magical green tiles and the splendid Moroccan patterns with customized colours to suit each villa’s design brief.

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At the studio the Family rules and we and our clients must obey, … we have to…

The Big Girl is watching ….

Kira the Rhodesian Ridgeback and Camille a Bouvier are the owners that boss the studio around, and BEWARE, because they DO!

But sharing all our activities, well I do not swim with Camille in the pond, creates one happy family and a successful ceramic design studio!!

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Our latest commission with a Moroccan flair is taking  shape and will soon be dispatched for installation at Benguerra Villas in Mozambique.

Thousands of little tiles are packed on templates, to confirm the fit with the architectural drawings, and then parceled with supplied documentation and diagrams for the developer and his contractors.

Each villa has it’s own colour scheme, one with brighter greens and the other with more smudgy tones of greens.

Working with a professional Interior Design Team, with the capacity to make decisions quickly and decisively, makes this an exciting project to develop and produce.

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Today is the birthday of our new child, Kira. She is as lively and inquisitive as a puppy can be … all playful dogs and children are welcome!

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It is early summer and the birds with their chicks are chirping  all around. We watch in awe  through our studio’s windows as nature provide all the necessary inspiration to create!

And life is glorious!

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Farida Kennedy experienced a constant problem with tiles cracking and then having difficulty in replacing it with similar tiles.She commissioned us to produce a handmade tile that would blend in with the existing colours.

We decided to use a herringbone pattern with the first idea to have each little tile dipped in one colour  from the existing tiles. I formulated a mat glaze and experimented with several cream tones to find the suitable base on which the other colours could be applied.

A hand painted technique proved so successful that all the small mosaics were hand painted to mimic the textures on the big 450 x 450mmm tiles.

An extensive process portfolio will soon be created on the website for each project. This will be open by invitation only but the contracting client will receive a password to view the progress, process and problems involved when producing the final order.

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The past days the Cape and Hermanus in particular got drenched by rain. With all the kilns  firing it was quite cosy to work in  but  with the high humidity it takes so much longer to dry production, … and with deadlines looming, we all hope that the sun will shine soon!

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