Living artist

Matthew from Green Bay

Tom Koene is a craftsman tiler - and an artist. He was born in the Netherlands and learned his craft doing restoration in Amsterdam, learning traditional methods and styles.
Tom has worked in New Zealand since 1982. One day he was asked to do the tiling on the gecko that lies beside Khyber Pass Rd, under the motorway. Since then he has not looked back. Some of his work is traditional, like Mexican bathrooms, but most is entirely unique, while influenced by Friederich Hundertwasser, an unusual and rebellious Austrian artist who also came to live in New Zealand and who designed the famous toilet block in Kawakawa.
Tom's designs are playful, anarchic, and finely detailed with tiles that are hugely variable and often unique, with imperfections from the production process that give them curious colours and textures. 95% of the tiles are created and hand glazed in New Zealand. Included also may be pieces of pottery and stones, all skilfully integrated into free flowing forms, like flowers and koru, and patterns that lead to discoveries of new resonances over time and space each day.

Examples of Tom’s work include bathrooms and kitchens, indoor and outdoor patios and walls, paths, steps, pool areas, arches, barbeques, baths, benches, murals, birdbaths, pillars and other free-standing structures. In my case it was an ensuite, and Tom welcomed my collaboration and help, although mainly in preparation of tiles, rather than design, which I soon learned was best left to the master, after defining the scope and dimensions.

The results are delightful and professional, works of art that can never be repeated. Thank you, Tom for catching that sense of fun and colour and bringing it into my home, to give me a sense of childhood delight each day.
For more pics: insta@tom_organic_tiling