Tiles

I have always been rather taken with these symmetrical patterned tiles. I first became aware of them in Morocco, so initially thought of them as “Moroccan” tiles, but then I saw them in Spain as well, so switched to the adjective “Moorish”. More recently I have seen similar tiles in many other countries bordering the Mediterranean, including at the eastern end of that sea, so now I’m not quite so sure what to call them. I’m fairly sure this style of tile owes a lot to Islamic art, and I strongly suspect that there are in fact regional differences both in the materials used for the tiles and in the types of pattern used – it is only to my untrained eye that they all look so similar!

However, not knowing quite what to call these tiles nor where they come from did not in the least detract from the enjoyment that I had in creating them. The vector graphics app that I use on the iPad provides a handy grid on which to create the patterns, and very capable copy, move and rotate functions to replicate pattern elements very easily. A doodler’s dream really …