Ceramic canvas

In a downtown Cape Girardeau art gallery, Julie Bricknell and Connie Schmidt have decked the walls with an array of white ceramic tiles.

On one wall, a tree spans three of these tiles, with three birds, each a different color, perched in the branches. Calla lilies, daisies and other flowers grace tiles grouped in brown frames made from recycled kitchen cabinets. On a serving tray, a blue trout arcs across the ceramic canvas, topped by a fishing pole.

These tiles are more than wall or floor coverings for these local artists. For Bricknell and Schmidt, these tiles are both a new business venture and a chance for collaborative art that is unique for this area. This collaboration is most evident in a bright orange and green table set against a wall of the shop.?Schmidt painted a bright orange design bordered with green, but she thought it needed something more.Bricknell added the swirls of yellow over the orange and the blue curlicues on the green border.What results is a brightly colored side table emblematic of the pair's arts-and-craft style.

They plan to expand from the gallery to a home-installation business.They see it as a chance to turn something they love into a full-time job. But the experience itself is also a reward. "It's not just the money. "Connie and I feed off each other with the designs. It's just enjoyable," says Bricknell.

Neither is new to art. Schmidt has been painting canvases for several years now, and Bricknell has been handcrafting and selling pottery for the last eight years. They met at the Bonney Bank art show in Cape Girardeau last December and decided to try a project together.?Ideas come from anywhere. Schmidt got the idea for a bird design from a small pocket notebook.They said they'll often look at a pattern on a shirt or skirt and use that as inspiration for a tile. "We want it to be art for your home, things you can use?because you deserve it," said Schmidt.