Laura Park’s charmingly modern patterns have made her accessories, wallpaper and linens immensely popular—coveted for the cheer they bring to bedrooms, living spaces, college dorms, outdoor spots and more. A self-taught artist with a lifelong love for color, Park founded her eponymous design studio in 2016, building a thriving business on the digital patterns she transformed into exuberant textiles. Less than a decade later, what began as an assortment of irresistible throw pillows has evolved into vibrant fabric collections that bedeck everyday niceties like laundry bags, packing cubes and fleece blankets, and can also be customized as upholstery, window treatments and more. Just one product category was missing from her extensive repertoire. The Tile Shop, acclaimed for its eye for talent, soon changed that.
“The partnership started because of our Martini Olives pillow,” says Park. That bestselling pattern landed on the radar of Kirsty Froelich, senior director of design and product development for the Plymouth, Minnesota–based tile maker, who “fell in love” with Park’s portfolio and intuited that tile would be the perfect medium to convey her bold brushstrokes, kaleidoscopic designs and upbeat palettes. A visit to the artist’s flagship shop and studio in Charlotte, North Carolina, soon followed. “We showed the Tile Shop team over 150 designs—work that we felt would translate well,” says Park. “We really clicked.”
The debut tile collaboration that’s just come out of this fated connection includes three patterns adapted from Park’s most beloved fabric and wallpaper designs. In addition to Martini Olives—a dreamy, tie-dye-like, 13-by-13-inch porcelain piece awash with blues, grays and the palest suggestion of lilac—the collection also includes 8-inch-square Cosmo, an abstract ikat motif with hand-painted appeal; and 6-by-6-inch La Fleur, an impressionistic botanical. “The Tile Shop took the time to reconfigure the scale of the original designs to meet the needs of their format,” says Park. “They knew just how to lay out the patterns while preserving the essence of my artwork.”
“Laura’s paintings come to life on tile,” says Froelich. “The ambiance her patterns exude creates a positive energy that’s at once captivating, calming and inspirational.”
Colorways for the three styles range from Forest Green and Aegean Blue to Taupe and Cocoa, complemented by artisanal Bespoke solids in a spectrum of sizes, as well as a herringbone mosaic and 12-by-24-inch pieces with subtly marbleized surfaces in either white-veined Seaside blue or aqua-flecked Watercolor white. “It’s a way to add a little nuance, a touch of sophistication, to an otherwise straightforward shade,” says Park of the classical effect. A passionate advocate of vivid pinks, yellows and oranges in her fabrics, she embraced softer tones for her mix-and-match tile collection. “They still have my joyful colors, just beautifully muted so that it’s suitable for the home,” she explains. For a bathroom, the combination of La Fleur in Aegean Blue—a personal favorite of hers because “you can still see some of the brushstrokes and layers from my original painting”—with rectangular and mosaic marbleized sections in Seaside results in a flood of indigo that’s somehow both intensely saturated and incredibly tranquil.
“The Tile Shop interpreted my palette so well,” says Park. “The blues and greens make me feel happy, and that’s what I want others to feel when they choose my artwork, whether it’s fabric or wallpaper or now tile.”
Playful but polished, the collection lends itself to lots of spaces. Applying the artist’s signature feminine style to foyer flooring, kitchen backsplashes, fireplace surrounds, staircase risers and powder rooms introduces a fresh way to define today’s interiors. “It’s very versatile and can weave effortlessly into any room,” says Park, who envisions Cosmo in Cocoa paired with the carved dark wood of an urban brownstone’s entryway, or the mirrored imagery of Martini Olives in a whitewashed Florida beach retreat. And she can’t wait to rehab her own kitchen: “I even have some alcoves where a lining of tile would be so pretty,” she adds.
With a fast-growing fan base excited to adopt her patterns whenever and wherever they can, Park is already anticipating a second collection with Froelich and their respective teams. Will it feature pink? “It is one of my pillars,” she says. “Maybe I’ll make some vision boards, draft some new patterns, for inspiration.” Her research includes a recent trip to India to meet with fabric makers and scout trends. For now, though, the spotlight is squarely on her debut tile designs.
“It was wonderful working with Kirsty because she had such a clear vision and strong creative sense,” she says. As with prior high-profile collaborations with such celebrated talents as Nikki Chu, Kelli Fontana, Jeffrey Alan Marks and Alison Victoria, Froelich and her designers at The Tile Shop deftly imbued pieces with the distinct personality and artistic spirit of their newest partner and muse. “It’s been so fun finding another way to express myself—through tile,” says Park.
This story is a paid promotion and was created in partnership with The Tile Shop.
Homepage image: Styles in Laura Park’s debut collection with The Tile Shop include Cosmo in Aegean Blue on the floor, Seaside Marble horizontal tiles on the wall and Seaside Marble herringbone tiles on the shower shelf and floor | Courtesy of The Tile Shop
