All products of SANTA TOSTA | the art of tile | are handmade in a small art workshop in Berlin. The designs of the tile pictures are creations of the artist Cristina Artola. Mastering the craft of printing and firing ceramics combined with artistic design creativity form our unique selling point. Quality you can feel and see!

It all started with an art project in Lisbon and grew steadily into the offer we are proud to present to you today. For example, artist couple Cristina Artola and Tim Schintlholzer have been working for several years now to perfect printing on tile.

Our workshop is located in Berlin Mitte, from the outside a small store window, and is equipped with all the means for working with ceramics. The heart of the workshop is of course our kilns, where the tiles are fired.

How is this actually done?

After the creative work of designing the motifs, prints are applied to the tiles by hand. The individual tiles (10 x 10 cm and 15 x 15 cm) are then fired in a ceramic kiln at temperatures around 800 degrees. The color pigments fuse with the ceramic glaze. The result is not only beautiful but also robust with a silky-matte sheen and deep coloration. Our ceramic firing prints are lightfast and scratch resistant. They are suitable as coasters, thought catchers, but also for tiling on useful surfaces in the kitchen and bathroom.

SANTA TOSTA?

Art is a work process that does not proceed in a straight line. Our designs and artworks as decorative tiles and tile images are the result of a development process that was not always pre-drawn and foreseeable. With a twinkle in our eyes, we chose Saint Tosta as the patron saint for the route.

And then we simply call our hot printing process “toasting”. In principle, it behaves in the same way. You put something in a machine and then it comes out much more enjoyable.

In this sense, toast is sacred to us! Otherwise, we see it like Raimundo Silva in The Story of the Siege of Lisbon by José Saramago:

“The toasted slices of bread […] are almost a vice, and sign of an indomitable inclination to feast, in which many senses play a part, sight, touch, smell, taste, […] sky-high praise the inventor of such a delicacy.”