A million little pieces
Over a period of almost two decades the husband-and-wife artist team of Cheri Pann and Gonzolo Duran have transformed their formerly nondescript stucco home in Venice into a vibrant Antonio Gaudi-like ever-evolving mosaic masterpiece.
Pann and Duran met and fell in love later in life. And the evidence of their romance radiates throughout their work and living spaces. It even spills out of a ceramic fortune cookie in the front yard in the form of mosaicked promises of affection.
Info
Address 1116 Palms Boulevard, Venice, CA, 90291, www.mosaictilehouse.com, mosaictilhouse@mac.com | Getting there Unmetered street parking | Hours By appointment only, Fri & Sat 11am–3pm. Tours are $12 per person.| Tip For another take on mosaic house art, check out the Farnam family’s bungalow (corner of California Avenue and 26th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90403); the home is covered in tiles, from top to bottom.
When the couple bought their house in 1994, the priority was to add on a studio in back. Pann, then in her fifties, took classes at Santa Monica City College to learn construction. While building the studio, the duo began to retile the bathroom. When some of the tiles broke, the artists embraced the jagged pieces and embarked on their mosaic adventure. Behind the sink near the floor, a small section of four-inch-square tiles marks the beginning of what has become a lifelong project. One room quickly led to another and eventually, they covered nearly every square inch of the house. The results are exuberant, playful, and truly astonishing.
Duran and Pann said they had so much fun indoors, they moved on to the outdoor areas and continue to create mosaics from pottery and ceramic donations that are dropped off by friends and fans, as well as from tiles fired in their own kilns.
Visitors, by reservation, can enter their home and witness this stunning expression of their personal and creative collaboration. Despite the bold colors, the whimsical spaces exude a sense of calm vitality, a strong work ethic, and, of course, the artists’ love – for each other, for the work itself, and, by extension, for those who come to witness this eccentric celebration of individuality and imagination.
Just try to leave without a smile plastered across your face – go on – we dare you.
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