Master of Surprise – Julia Thomas
Peel off the tiles on Julia Thomas’ surface,
and you may discover the unexpected
After spending some time with Julia Thomas, there is something about her that simply seems to say, “Surprise!” Meeting her in the cozy, colorful tile shop she owns in Dublin, she appears awfully content. She sits at her desk in front of a large picture window that looks out on a barren, blustery Bucks County winter field and beams at the displays of handcrafted tiles in her store. With natural brown hair lapping at her shoulders and sensible black, buckle shoes, she looks the part of the simple, small-town businesswoman. Originally from England she has the voice of the Super Nanny, the demeanor of your favorite teacher, and the charm of a friendly neighbor. You likely would not guess that she has cooked for Aerosmith, traveled in the cargo section of a plane to Russia with ZZ Top’s concert equipment and managed rock tours that took her traveling through Europe perhaps more times than most people brush their teeth in a year. Surprise!
Thomas never set out to travel the world with rock stars. Instead, like many things in her life, it all came about in a somewhat serendipitous, accidental fashion. Growing up in Eastbourne, on the south coast of England, Thomas had no definitive life plan. She tried art school (but soon realized she didn’t like not having any money), inquired at her local newspaper about photojournalism (but ended up doing their advertising sales for two years), and even attended an intensive nine-month cooking school (where her favorite part was carving vegetables into elaborate flowers and mini-sculptures – art school wasn’t for nothing!)
Then, wanderlust took over. At age 19, with a sense of adventure tugging at her sleeves, she bought a one-way ticket to Thailand. “I think my parents thought I’d be back in two weeks,” she said. “I didn’t come home for a year and a half.” Starting with the equivalent of $700 in her pocket, she spent three months in Thailand and then worked her way through Australia and New Zealand. She went to Nepal to trek the Himalayas for three months, and then was off to India, where she would have stayed longer, had she not contracted cholera and been forced to head home. She said her travels changed her. “I learned much more about life, people and myself while traveling than the whole time I spent at school,” she said. “Looking back I wouldn’t change it for the world. It gave me a lot of courage… that you can do anything you put your mind to, that I shouldn’t be scared. Just give it a go.”
Thomas is the kind of person who, through a mix of innocent curiosity, unabashed optimism and sheer bravery, was ready to give many things a go. She was 21 when she got home from her travels and 22 when she had a daughter. Yet being a young mother didn’t slow her down. “I didn’t feel that having her should stop my life,” she said. “I was quite an adventurer.” She helped her daughter’s father set up a photography studio in England that also had rehearsal space for bands. It was then that she began to hear about a job that intrigued her: rock star chef. She could cook for bands on tour. She could travel the world. She would have short stints of intense work, followed by lots of time off to spend with her daughter. She could make good money. And she could stay true to her free spirit. “I didn’t really want something long-term,” she said. “I liked change. I couldn’t imagine being contained in a box or office, I wasn’t ready for that.”
Thomas began cooking for music tours and events. Whether she was in Moscow or Madrid, had a gourmet kitchen or no access to electricity, could speak the local language or not, she essentially had to set up a restaurant from scratch in a day. Think of “Top Chef” on steroids. “Sometimes you map out your menu for the day, but then you’re in Poland or Russia and you might not find one thing on that shopping list,” she said. “It’s a real challenge.” She had to become an expert in many unusual topics – from translating currency in an instant with no iPhone, to planning menus for 100 people on the fly. She even became a master of charades whenever a lack of fluency forced her to form an elaborate pantomime in the meat market just to obtain three legs of lamb (point to leg, say “baaaa,” show number three on fingers… then pray).
Thomas cooked her way across Europe with Aerosmith, ZZ Top, Barry Manilow and countless others. It was an exhilarating job. And an exhausting one. “As the caterer, you’re the first one there in the morning and the last one there at night, working 5 a.m. to 1 a.m., looking after every need of the crew,” she said. “You’re like the tour mom.”
After five years of working as a tour chef, Thomas became the tour production manager for ZZ Top. That tour took her from South Africa to the United States, where ZZ Top joined another band, George Thorogood and the Destroyers, and a handsome guitar tech joined the tour. On the way to Hawaii at the end of the tour in 1997, Thomas and that guitar tech got engaged. They wed in Hawaii ten days later. “I make decisions quickly,” smiled Thomas.
The couple landed in Perkasie, her new husband’s hometown, to enjoy a bit of “normal” life. Yet it wasn’t long before George Thorogood’s manager called and asked Thomas to be their tour manager, and her husband to do production. They worked together, touring during the summers from 1997 to 2003. “Touring can really beat you up bad,” said Jeff Simon, drummer for the George Thorogood band. “For the crew, it’s really brutal, but it never seemed to bother her. She and her husband would share a bunk. I mean, working with a spouse? They’re freaks to me. No one else could pull that off… Julia’s one of those people you just hate. She’s just so creative. I love her to death.”
Thomas then managed the tour of jazz musician Cassandra Wilson through the U.S., Europe, South Africa and Japan, and then managed Lizz Wright, another jazz artist, on a tour through Europe and Russia. During Wright’s tour, Thomas became pregnant and had a son in January of 2008. But that didn’t slow her down, either. One month later, Thomas, her husband and newborn son were all on the road with Wright in Europe. “My son went to 19 countries in his first year of life,” said Thomas brightly in her crisp British accent. “He never cried on a plane. He was a great traveler.” Thomas continued touring with Wright through last year – Dubai in February, Telluride in June – but as her son became mobile, touring became challenging. “With a baby carried on your front, you can do anything,” she said. “But chasing an 18-month-old around is not so easy.”
So Thomas shifted her sharp focus to a heartfelt passion: pottery and tile making. Thomas always had an artistic spirit, and when she moved to Bucks County she began taking pottery classes and even opened her own pottery shop in Perkasie for children to make their own creations. Six years ago, she became friendly with a woman who was selling her tile business. And so, serendipity struck again, and Thomas became a business owner. Her shop, the Tile Gallerie in Dublin, sells a beautiful selection of tiles, many of which are handcrafted by local artisans. There are tiles of colorful glass, some that artfully depict the flowers and animals of Bucks County, and others that are like treasured artifacts, dappled with gems and jewels. “They’re beautiful, but they’re also purposeful,” said Thomas. “They’re like permanent art.”
Thomas is clearly passionate about her tiles. She knows each one intimately, speaks of each artist with reverence, and seems to find pure joy in finding the right tile for a client. Her knowledge of tiles came through a love of pottery and an interest in Bucks County’s rich tile heritage, stemming from the Moravian Tile Works in Doylestown. Yet oddly enough, hotel bathrooms also provided great inspiration. “On our extensive travels, we look at the tile in every hotel bathroom, and our designs come from all over the world,” Thomas laughed. “It comes from our wealth of experience, not from books or the internet.”
Thomas seems to approach her work with a sense of creativity, intelligence and genuine delight. “She’s probably one of the most motivated, people I know,” said Heather Moffit, who is friends with Thomas and also had her bathroom tile done by her. “She has a work ethic like I’ve never seen, unbelievable creativity, and she’s very passionate about anything she puts her mind to.”
For now, Thomas is putting her mind toward tile. She’s in the store every day, working with clients and artists. She creates her own tiles, called Bucks County pressings, which include imprints of plants and flowers from her own backyard. And she and her husband are preparing to do tile work for the May opening of the Bucks County Designer House, the fundraising project that supports Doylestown Hospital. “On tour, you’re really on call 24 hours a day,” she said. “When you’re in it, it’s not stressful, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. But, actually, it’s really nice to be in the store all the time, not having other things to worry about.”
Thomas is one of those eternally intriguing people. She is sophisticated yet unfussy, down-to-earth yet whimsical, relaxed yet adventurous. She could probably write a fascinating memoir already. She has traveled the world; had an insider look at some world-famous rock bands; turned a passion for art into a thriving business; and recently had a 19-year-old daughter and a 19-month-old toddler at the same time. Yet, for Thomas, it all seems to unfold in a fluid, lyrical way that just suits her. For now, Thomas seems happy to pour her talent and boundless energy into the challenge of home design. Yet what comes next is a mystery. Thomas could go on the road with the Rolling Stones. Or she could create a local, artisan tile museum. She could travel the world in search of exotic pottery. She could tile Bruce Springsteen’s bathroom. Or she could follow another opportunity or passion to wherever her endlessly creative mind leads her. One thing is for certain. Whatever she does, it will likely unfold like the many other chapters in Thomas’ life – through spiritedness, a bit of serendipity and a healthy dose of surprise.
Story by Lauren Eckstein
