The Mondrian Bathroom

I had never heard of Mondrian. I was a science teacher and wildlife artist with no formal art training or knowledge of art history. It was 1988, and I had just declared myself a contemporary artist. I had my concept—portraits of cinder block walls—but my lack of education was obvious. To overcome this deficit, I decided to teach myself art history. My method was simple: choose a famous artist, study his/her life, artwork, methods, and philosophy, then close all the books and create a painting in that style. Of course, I also wanted to integrate my cinder block walls into the new artwork. My first attempt at these appropriation paintings featured Mondrian. The working concept was: imagine finding an undiscovered Mondrian in someone's basement.

Forgotten Mondrian by Nolan Haan     40 x 60 inches    acrylic on silk

For new readers unfamiliar with my work, this is a trompe l'oeil (fool-the-eye) painting, using acrylic paint on silk. Everything is painted: the Mondrian, the cinder block, and the spotlight effect. While working on this painting, I read a book entitled Subliminal Seduction, which exposed the practice of advertisers who embed subliminal suggestions into their ads. For fun, I incorporated the word SEX into the cinder block texture on the lower portion of the painting. It's supposed to work subliminally, but if you look closely, you will see the letters S-E-X. This proves that (some) artists will do almost anything to entice a viewer to better enjoy the art.

Ten years after completing the painting, I sat staring at a tiny bathroom in my newly acquired historic house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The bathroom needed complete renovation, so the canvas was blank. The house was built in the 1920's, so I decided to introduce art deco elements throughout. Since Mondrian was a prominent artist of the era, he was my inspiration for the half bath.

The bathroom was to feature the Mondrian design in tile on the main wall, with gray tiles on two walls and a mirror on the other. The floor was painted with faux tiles in shades of gray (to reflect image of the Mondrian.) I drew the design on graph paper to the exact scale of the wall, then purchased tile in the colors needed. Having never laid tile, I purchased a book entitled Setting Tile, borrowed a tile saw, and got to work. I'm not fishing for compliments, but you've got to admit, this bathroom is FIERCE!

The Mondrian Bathroom    Home of Nolan Haan   Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

So, for those of you agonizing over what color to paint the bathroom, I say, "Throw caution to the wind" and have fun. Find a source of inspiration and go for broke. 

Thank you for reading my blog, which I promise to post each Sunday. Please bookmark the page, so you can find me again. Any Facebook "News Feeds" with a link to my blog are greatly appreciated!! To see more of my artwork, please visit my website: AddictedToWalls.com. I hope you have an inspired week.