Lunada Bay Tile Celebrates 20th Anniversary
HARBOR CITY, Calif. — Lunada Bay Tile is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Started in a residential home garage by President/CEO Carl Steadly, the name of the company honors the beautiful Palos Verdes Peninsula of Southern California. The company’s design philosophy skillfully blends traditional artisanship with modern influences while exploring the boundaries of material possibilities.
“Lunada Bay Tile began by offering carefully curated slate and beautifully handcrafted pewter tile collections and over the years our product lines have extended into glass and ceramic,” says Feras Irikat, director of design and marketing. “Throughout our 20 years, we have remained focused on bringing original products made with passion and daring design to interior and outdoor spaces.”
Since its origins, Lunada Bay Tile has produced handcrafted glass tile collections through old and new techniques of glassmaking that elevate design possibilities and create statements using color, shape, texture, and luminosity.
“Glass is a versatile medium, and we have been committed to showing how glass is an excellent choice for artistic expression,” Irikat says. “Carl himself learned his glass making skills at Bisazza Mosaic in the early 1990s, and we continue to take our inspiration from painting, sculpture, textiles, and nature.”
Many of Lunada Bay Tile’s exquisite collections, such as Shinju, Ka-nū, Origami, Agate, and Namibia are inspired by the creativity of Japanese artisans. Steadly’s early and current collections draw on multiple Asian inspirations—including architecture, sculpture, calligraphy, and paper-making—to create stunning effects.
Steadly’s initial immersion into Japanese culture and design started when he was a graduate student at Sophia University in Tokyo in 1982, after having taken early graduation from the University of Connecticut. His sponsors (through the offices of Mori Hanae, a famous Japanese textile and design company) submerged him in Japanese culture; every month he would travel to Kyoto to spend time with his hosts.
During the day, he would be taken to see and participate in tea ceremony classes, kimono fitting sessions and to speak with pottery artisans. They would visit/study Japanese temples and gardens and discuss their essence. At night, he would be tutored in Japanese business styles and practices.
It was this background that inspired one of Steadly’s earliest creations.
“Sumi-e was our first big product, our first big hit,” says Steadly. “Essentially, the glass looks like brush strokes, reflective of Japanese calligraphy. The translucent glass provides the perfect canvas for our artists to juxtapose color, contrast, transparency, and movement.”
“I spend a lot of time talking with mosaic artists, sculptural artists, etc.,” says Steadly. “The house I live in used to be owned by a famous bronze sculptor (Aris Demetrios) and we bought it specifically because it was contemporary (unusual for Santa Barbara, which tends to prefer Spanish Mission style homes) and because the windows stretch to the entire walls and ceilings—our eventual goal is to showcase sculptural art. This passion has spilled into my professional life as well.”
Steadly finds inspiration everywhere, especially when wandering through art galleries specializing in glass, metal sculpture, or landscape art. One such find is Birdscape (found in Auckland, New Zealand, in a national museum). The individually made avian sculptures captures Lunada Bay Tile’s unique perspective on tile design to draw on various glassmaking techniques to create these one-of-a-kind art pieces.
Another very recent example is Momentum. In a bold nod to Lunada Bay Tile’s eclectic and forward-focused design capabilities, the Momentum collection of sculptural tiles feature hand-crafted ceramics that can be used to create three-dimensional art for walls. The tiles actually create visual movement: use as a single shape to discover various textures, or puzzle together multiple shapes to express unique direction.
“No one else makes anything like this,” says Steadly. “These expressive creations help make it possible for tile to become part of a larger conversation about personal expression.”
“We are celebrating not only our business, but also honoring our staff, clients and suppliers who have contributed to our longevity and continued success,” says Steadly. Since day one, the company’s guiding principle has been its unparalleled commitment to customers, employees, and suppliers.
From the start, Lunada Bay Tile has fostered a collaborative environment and Steadly refers to his colleagues as the “Dream Team.”
“We’ve painstakingly assembled the dream team. I do not believe in genetic pedigree, but I do believe in career pedigree. We could sum it up by saying there is really a true human factor that is involved in the company. Basically, everybody was involved at some point or another in a very extensive tile career,” Steadly says. “It is a hiring prerequisite that our key staff members must love tile.”
Many people have been with Lunada Bay Tile 10 or more years – and even longer in the industry.
“We aim to meet each client’s unique needs by offering a wide array of collections and opportunities for customization,” says Jim Stevens, brand manager. “Lunada Bay Tile supports a collaborative work environment where people engage in daily and lively discussions as to the exact look, feel and visual experience that exemplifies the LBT design philosophy.”
“After 20 years, Lunada Bay Tile shows no signs of slowing down,” says Stevens. “We see ourselves as the eye candy of the industry. We want people to talk about our special and innovative designs that are the essence of Lunada Bay Tile creations, and we are excited about our future.”
Lunada Bay Tile creates handcrafted glass, ceramic and concrete tile with an emphasis on artistic simplicity, texture, and color. To learn more about Lunada Bay Tile and view the entire product line visit LunadaBayTile.com or call (310) 257-1300.
