Clay Memories: Reviving Craft Traditions Through Community Making
In the shadows of Pasadena's historic Craftsman homes and nestled among its native landscapes lies a forgotten language of pattern and place. The clay relief tiles of Ernest Batchelder—once adorning fireplaces, fountains, and facades throughout the city—represent not just architectural ornament but a philosophy of creation that connects human craft with natural inspiration. By exploring these traditional techniques in connection with the very parks that inspired Batchelder's designs, we can reimagine how craft traditions might once again become living practices.
Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash
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Key Threads
Key questions this article explores:
How do place-based craft traditions connect communities to their natural and architectural heritage?
What happens when historical techniques are understood in the landscapes that inspired them?
How might creative engagement transform public parks into studios of collective memory?
Why does working with clay offer unique pathways to embodied knowledge and ecological awareness?
Pattern & Place
The relationship between craft and environment runs deeper than aesthetics. When Batchelder created his nature-inspired relief tiles in early 20th century Pasadena, he wasn't merely decorating spaces—he was translating the specific language of local flora, architectural forms, and cultural patterns into tactile expressions that transformed everyday environments.
In his influential text "Design in Theory and Practice" (1910), freely available in the Internet Archive, Batchelder articulated this philosophy: "Nature's problem and the designer's problem are not the same. Nature works for the preservation of life... The designer must work for the enrichment of some surface, object, or material." This perspective transformed how American craftspeople approached decorative arts, encouraging them to abstract and interpret natural forms rather than merely copying them.
This dialogue between craft and place represents what anthropologists call "situated knowledge"—understanding that emerges from direct engagement with specific landscapes and materials. Experiencing clay work outdoors in Pasadena's parks creates a direct connection with the natural elements that influenced Batchelder's designs, allowing craft knowledge to become embodied rather than abstract.
Batchelder's comprehensive textbook "The Principles of Design" and “Batchelder Tiles Catalog” also available through the Internet Archive, remain a remarkable resource for understanding the relationship between natural observation and craft application. His detailed discussions of rhythm, balance, and harmony in natural forms provide a framework for contemporary makers seeking to develop their own nature-inspired designs.
This philosophy of material dialogue extends beyond historical reproduction. By adapting Batchelder's techniques to air-dry clay in outdoor settings, traditional processes become accessible while maintaining their essential connection to place. The simplified two-tone relief approach allows beginners to create meaningful work while experiencing the fundamental relationship between hand, material, and environment that defines craft tradition.
“The decorative designer must work in sympathy with the material in which the design is to be executed.”
Preserving A Living Legacy
The Pasadena Museum of History houses a significant Batchelder collection and is currently developing a comprehensive database of his work across the country. This thoughtful documentation project recognizes the historical significance of these architectural elements and their vulnerability to various forms of loss over time, including natural events like California's seasonal wildfires.
The Museum welcomes public participation in this documentation effort, inviting community members to contribute photographs of Batchelder installations they may discover in homes, public buildings, or other locations nationwide. This collaborative approach to preservation creates opportunities for engagement with architectural history while building a more complete record of Batchelder's artistic contributions.
As Batchelder's work was distributed throughout the United States during the Arts and Crafts movement, many installations remain undocumented or overlooked. The Museum's cataloging effort serves both scholarly and preservation purposes, helping create awareness of these distinctive tiles and their place in American craft history. If you discover Batchelder tiles in your home or community, consider contacting the Museum to contribute to this growing archive of California's craft heritage.
Places To See Batchelder Tiles
The Blacker House, Pasadena
Pasadena Central Library
The Arroyo Del Rey housing district, Pasadena
The Gamble House, Pasadena
Pasadena Museum of History
Living Tradition In Contemporary Hands
The Batchelder legacy continues to inspire contemporary tile makers who are reinterpreting traditional techniques for modern spaces. In Pasadena itself, Pasadena Craftsman Tile maintains this living tradition, creating handcrafted architectural tile that honors Batchelder's aesthetic while introducing contemporary elements. Their work demonstrates how historical techniques can remain relevant through thoughtful adaptation to current design sensibilities and architectural needs.
Similarly, artists like Gina Sookiasian of Sooki Studio create nature-inspired relief tiles that echo Batchelder's approach while introducing fresh perspectives and modern production methods. Her floral designs continue the tradition of translating natural forms into tactile architectural elements that enhance everyday environments.
These contemporary practitioners represent important bridges between historical craft knowledge and modern applications—showing how traditional techniques can evolve without losing their essential character. By including their work in our exploration of Batchelder's legacy, we acknowledge that craft traditions remain vital through continuous reinterpretation rather than mere preservation.
From Museum To Park
Traditional approaches to craft preservation often separate techniques from their contexts—displaying finished pieces behind glass or teaching methods in sterile classrooms. By contrast, experiencing these traditions in public spaces activates sites of creative and ecological engagement, extending the community-building practices pioneered through Folk Lounge's embroidery gatherings into new material dimensions.
This approach transforms how people relate to both craft traditions and public space. The Castle Green adjoining Central Park, the native habitat of Lower Arroyo Seco Park, and the accessible Memorial Park each become living classrooms where visitors can directly experience the specific light, textures, and plant forms that inspired historical craftspeople.
The outdoor setting creates an immersive environment that recontextualizes craft history. Rather than viewing Batchelder's work as disconnected artifacts from another era, we can experience the living conditions that shaped his aesthetic vision—the quality of California light, the specific textures of native plants, the relationship between built and natural environments that defined the Craftsman movement.
Dimensional Thinking
While embroidery explores pattern through thread, clay introduces the critical dimension of relief—the play between light and shadow, positive and negative space, texture and smoothness. This dimensional thinking represents both technical and conceptual growth, challenging us to experience pattern not just as surface decoration but as a sculptural language that responds to changing light and perspective.
In "Design in Theory and Practice," Batchelder emphasizes this relationship between dimension and decoration: "The designer is concerned with the surface or plane, at most with a very limited degree of depth or projection... With light and dark, measure, shape, and position he builds up a harmony of space relations." These principles, illustrated through his detailed diagrams and drawings in the text, provide a theoretical foundation that can be experienced directly through hands-on clay work.
The transition from textile-based work to three-dimensional clay relief represents significant artistic expansion. It introduces new technical challenges of understanding clay properties, sculpting relief, and mastering glazing techniques. Yet these challenges are grounded in familiar principles of pattern, nature-inspired design, and community-based making that create continuity across different media.
This material expansion parallels how traditions naturally evolved—craftspeople historically worked across multiple media, allowing techniques and patterns to migrate between disciplines. By exploring clay after developing familiarity with textile arts, we experience this natural cross-pollination of creative practices that characterized traditional craft communities before modern specialization.
Community Clay Memory
Similar outdoor craft programs have demonstrated significant community impact. The Arroyo Arts Collective reports that their nature-based activities consistently reach capacity and draw participants from diverse backgrounds. Folk Lounge gatherings have similarly demonstrated how creative activities in public spaces foster meaningful connections while deepening appreciation for both traditional techniques and shared public spaces.
"These gatherings have helped me see the city differently—I notice patterns and textures I never saw before," reported one regular attendee. This heightened attention to one's surroundings represents a form of civic engagement, connecting personal creativity to a deeper understanding of place and shared heritage.
By engaging with residents across various neighborhoods while highlighting the city's natural and cultural assets, we build stronger connections to place. The production of physical artifacts—tiles inspired by local plants and patterns—creates tangible memories that continue to tell stories, much like the Batchelder tiles that have silently witnessed decades of Pasadena's history from their places in homes and buildings throughout the city.
Woven Wisdom
Truth worth holding onto:
Material Dialogue: Working with natural clay creates a direct conversation between hand, earth, and imagination that digital design cannot replicate—a form of knowledge accessible only through physical engagement.
Place-Based Learning: Creative practice in the landscapes that inspired traditional craftspeople creates deeper understanding than classroom instruction, connecting technique to ecological and cultural context.
Preservation Through Practice: Craft traditions remain alive not through documentation alone but through adapted practice that allows techniques to remain relevant to contemporary makers.
Clay & Connection Toolkit
Environmental Pattern Study: Spend 20 minutes in a local park or natural area observing patterns in plants, stone, or water. Create a simple relief design based directly on these observations, translating natural forms into tactile expressions. Consult Batchelder's pattern guidelines in his archived texts for inspiration on abstracting natural elements.
Architectural Texture Walk: Take a walkable tour of your neighborhood, photographing or sketching interesting architectural textures and patterns. Research their historical origins and consider how they relate to your region's natural environment.
Community Clay Gathering: Organize a small group to work with self-hardening clay outdoors. Focus on techniques that don't require kiln firing, making the experience accessible while connecting participants to age-old practices of earth-based creation.
As we move between thread and clay, parks and studios, historical techniques and contemporary adaptations, we're not just learning craft skills but participating in the ongoing evolution of cultural traditions. The tiles created through engagement with these techniques—both by community participants and in artistic series—can culminate in exhibitions that celebrate not just finished objects but the process of connecting past to present through embodied knowledge.
This approach recognizes that cultural continuation happens not through preservation alone but through thoughtful adaptation that maintains core principles while responding to current materials, environments, and needs. Batchelder's tiles weren't meant to be curiosities in museum cases but integral elements of daily life—adding beauty, meaning, and connection to ordinary spaces.
By bringing these traditions back into the parks and public spaces of Pasadena, we complete a circle—taking inspiration from the same natural elements that influenced historical craftspeople, processing these forms through contemporary hands and perspectives, and creating new works that speak to both tradition and present moment. This cycling between past and present, nature and culture, individual expression and community heritage represents the true pattern of living tradition.
Upcoming Events
We meet every four Saturdays in parks across Los Angeles. Join to meditate through craft, commune with nature and make new friends. All experience levels welcomed - bring a project or start something new with us. Materials available for newcomers.
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