Art Is Where The Home Is
& Darlene Graeser has made her home a living, evolving work of art...
Thousand Oaks, CA
by Gordon Durich, photos by Cheri Steinberg and Hedley Jones / Cheriefoto.com
Part studio, more art gallery, mostly home. Welcome to the world of Darlene Graeser. The psychologist and artist transformed her California Ranch Atrium home into a showcase of unleashed creative expression and design.
“This is a hyperactive house, and I’m a hyperactive woman!” says Graeser about the 1966-built home which unfurls a parade of mosaic tiled creations and painting outside and in. Mosaic tiles are omnipresent as they cover large spheres dotting the front garden, complement the driveway path and decorate the mailbox.
Click a photo to launch the gallery
Architects Cass Ensberg and Tom Jacobs collaborated with Graeser on the home and studio project and “they totally get my quirkiness,” explains Graeser. The challenge for the Santa Barbara duo was to transform the U-shaped house while incorporating Graeser’s outrageous ideas and still meet planning codes (and to try to not shock the conservative Thousand Oaks neighborhood).
As one moves past the exterior sandstone walls featuring trickling waterfalls and then through sandblasted etched glass doors depicting Graeser’s angel designs, it’s hard not to be amazed. On the atrium floor rests a giant mosaic Monopoly board. Gigantic game board token replicas complete the astonishing scene. A painted sofa sits in the corner. Hanging above the high windows are colorful blown glass creations a la Chihuly, which Graeser found in the desert.
At night, the room lights up with a kaleidoscope of reflections. Every other room and space is just as amazing in its own way. Themes range from angels to figures bordering the erotic, like the molded figure straddling the fireplace and the female image on the bathroom floor in multicolored tiles. “The manifestation of all that houses my hyperactive art has been a labor of love by many great artisans. They provide a perfect pallet for my creations, helping me to manifest my dreams.”
Ensberg explains, “All of our clients are partners. We had to translate Darlene’s multiple, exceedingly far out ideas, and come up with good architecture. She loves curls, ribbons and shapes.” Jacobs continues, “It was important to make the atrium memorable. With finesse, we had to combine different forms: plaster, stone and mosaic materials.”
The ribbon motif is weaved throughout, from the exterior sandstone, sloping roof and dramatic woodwork on the garage door to interior wrought ironwork on the glass sculpture above the atrium. Graeser designed bird-shaped cut outs flanking the staircase railing leading up to her studio.
Once upon a time, there was a suburban backyard. The artist created attractions here, which include a forty-foot long mosaic sidewalk, with these fairy tale words and bright colors behind the house. Graeser also installed garden “rooms”, some with drapes delineating the space, in vivid colors, with painted benches amid bright flamingos, chickens and angels. “I always wanted an English garden, with little rooms.”
Her house and garden have been featured on the television show HGTV and in magazines including “Better Homes and Gardens.” and many others. “Manifesting my ideas takes a village, reflected Graeser, “I love that.”
