Vibrant California mosaic house is a romantic homage to two artists' decades-long collaboration

Record ID: 83498

  • Title: Vibrant California mosaic house is a romantic homage to two artists' decades-long collaboration
  • Date: 28th September 2016
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FENCE OUTSIDE THE MOSAIC TILE HOUSE EXTERIOR OF THE MOSAIC TILE HOUSE TILE READING (English): THE MOSAIC TILE HOUSE, CHERI AND GONZALO MOSAIC ON GROUND AND WALLS OUTSIDE HOUSE VARIOUS OF CHERI PANN AND GONZALO DURAN WALKING AND LOOKING AT TILES (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST CHERI PANN SAYING: "It's tchotchke heaven it's turned out to be a an homage to putting everything possible into cement. Just everything." CERAMIC BASEBALL GLOVE AND GREEN PIG/ PAN TO CERAMIC DOGS AND CATS, INCORPORATED IN DESIGN CERAMIC FIGURE RIDING WAVE AND OTHER CERAMIC PIECES INCORPORATED IN MOSAIC (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST GONZALO DURAN SAYING: "Both my wife and I live here. We both bought this place because it had a great big lot where we could build a studio. After we built the studio, my wife made some tiles for the bathroom. And that's where all the mosaic started -- in the bathroom. It was so much fun doing it, we just kept on going." VARIOUS OF BATHROOM PANN'S REFLECTION IN MIRROR PANN AND DURAN IN BATHROOM SOAP IN POT ON BATHROOM WALL (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST CHERI PANN SAYING: "Our eyes are trained to look at it and balance things. So he's busy working, working, working and then I'll come along and say, hon, mmm, there is something wrong and I won't know what it is. And then he'll take a look back and he'll say, ah, I know what it is and then he'll fix it. Or I'll come along and say, I don't think we should put so much mirror say like in the walkway because it reflects up. It's difficult to see. So then he'll say OK yeah, all right, that makes sense. So we work together on these things totally. With a lot of kissing." VARIOUS OF KITCHEN (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST GONZALO DURAN SAYING: "My wife is crazy enough to go along with all this, so it makes it that much easier to experiment. You know, it gives me a lot of freedom to experiment with shapes and doing of the tile." WALLS AND GROUND COVERED IN MOSAIC TILES CUPS AND MUGS MAKING ARCH MOSAIC ARCHWAY AND DOOR TO HOME/ PAN TO FOUNTAIN MOSAIC FOUNTAIN (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST GONZALO DURAN SAYING: "There's a saying that goes, you know, it isn't important what you do, it's what you leave behind that's important. So I mean, you know, to tear this down is a big job. So I mean it'll be here forever." VARIOUS OF TILES (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST CHERI PANN SAYING: "The legacy only that it become part of the, become a museum that people can come to and get inspiration from even if we're not here, although I'm planning to make little containers for our ashes so we can stay here and watch." VARIOUS OF MOSAIC WALL
  • Embargoed: 13th October 2016 01:35
  • Keywords: mosaic house California Venice tile artists art
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • City: LOS ANGELES, CALFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA00151H90MD
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: With a cacophony of thrift store china, humorous souvenirs and handmade tile adorning its walls and floors, the Mosaic Tile House in Venice, California stands as a monument to the 20-year collaboration between artists Cheri Pann and her husband Gonzalo Duran.
    "It's tchotchke heaven," says Pann of her kaleidoscopic bungalow. "It's turned out to be a an homage to putting everything possible into cement. Just everything."
    By "everything," she means figurines of poodles and hula girls, commemorative china baseball gloves and a sweeping arch of coffee cups, their handles pointing skyward. Smashed pottery and shards of mirror make up the more traditional mosaic patterns on the house's interior and exterior surfaces.
    But this is no museum to mosaic, it's the place Pann and Duran call home.
    The story started when they bought the house in 1994 and began constructing a studio in the extensive back yard.
    "After we built the studio my wife made some tiles for the bathroom. And that's where all the mosaic started -- in the bathroom. It was so much fun doing it, we just kept on going," says Duran.
    Every surface in the bathroom is covered with the couple's art. Plastic palm trees, empty soda bottles and toy soldiers hang from the ceiling, while toothbrushes are housed in a pot embedded in the wall, covered with multicolored golf tees. A tiny doll's head peeks out from behind the faucet.
    In the kitchen, crockery made by Pann is barely distinguishable from decorative plates and mugs concreted to the walls. Tiles in the shape of butterflies, camels and giraffes surround the sink. Even the kitchen appliances are decorated with paint or tile. A ceramic cockerel sits proudly atop the breakfast bar.
    The collaboration is, Pann says, the ultimate "honey do" project. She makes the tiles, he lays them. But the teamwork doesn't stop there.
    "He's busy working, working, working and then I'll come along and say, hon, mmm, there is something wrong and I won't know what it is. And then he'll take a look back and he'll say, ah, I know what it is and then he'll fix it," Pann says.
    "We work together on these things totally," she says. "With a lot of kissing."
    As for the future, Pann, who is 76, hopes the Mosaic Tile House could eventually be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the official list of historic places worthy of preservation.
    Whatever happens, Duran, who is 72, is convinced the house will stay standing.
    "To tear this down is a big job. So I mean it'll be here forever," he says.
    As long as people can keep visiting the house and enjoying the art, Pann says she will be happy, whether or not she is still around to give them a tour.
    "Although I'm planning to make little containers for our ashes so we can stay here and watch," she says, with a smile.
    The Mosaic Tile House, in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles, is open for tours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays by appointment.
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