The house that is a real work of art! Woman has spent 20 YEARS covering her west London home with colourful MOSAICS with designs inspired by events that have shaped her life
- Artist Carrie Reichardt has spent the last 20 years transforming her five-bedroom home into a mosaic mural
- 55-year-old says her west London home is ‘autobiographical tattoo’ and depicts events throughout her life
- Mother-of-three dedicated wall to Luis Ramirez who she wrote to on death row before execution in 2005
- She claims neighbours on Fairlawn Grove – where some houses sell for up to £3million – do not have a problem
An artist has transformed her five-bedroom London home into a giant mosaic mural which has taken over 20 years to complete and is an autobiography of her life.
Carrie Reichardt, 55, of Chiswick, west London, dedicated much of the last two decades creating the colourful art mural after she fell in love with mosaicing when she completed her garden in 1997.
Since then, she has continued to cover her entire house – which is worth around £1.6million – in mosaics and says it is like an ‘autobiographical tattoo’ because it depicts the story of events that have happened throughout her life.
She claims that neighbours on Fairlawn Grove – where some houses sell for up to £3million – do not have a problem and love the colourful creations.
Carrie Reichardt, 55, of Chiswick, west London, dedicated much of the last two decades creating the colourful art mural after she fell in love with mosaicing when she completed her garden in 1997. There are two blue plaques on the front of the house both from the English Hedonists. One says NA Faith, Hope & Courage – Maybe some of us partied a little too hard‘. The second says ‘The Treatment Rooms, 2002 – Now’ Lot’s of people lived here and partied hard‘
The mother-of-three is now proudly revealing her own home as an art exhibit itself – the burst of colour reflecting the many different origins and people who have contributed
Since 1997, she has continued to cover her entire house – which is worth around £1.6million – in mosaics and says it is like an ‘autobiographical tattoo’ because it depicts the story of events that have happened throughout her life
The vibrant colours and strong political quotes decorating the house are all inspired by her own interests and the influences of the people who have helped her over the years
Ms Reichardt, a public artist, said: ‘The mosaics on my house are like tattoos that people get on their body. It’s autobiographical and every bit tells a story of my life at a specific time.
‘I first started mosaicing in 1997. I started with a piece in the back garden and this is when I completely fell in love with it.
‘I realised it was my future because it was so therapeutic and so good for my mental health. It wasn’t until 2000 that I decided I was going to start creating mosaics on the outside of my house because I had been teaching mosaicing in the community.
‘However I was getting so fed up of people telling me what I could and couldn’t do when I was creating art for places such as libraries.
‘So that’s when I thought that I will just create mosaic art on my house and no one would be able to tell me what to do.
‘I first started with my doorway and carried on from there. I joked that it would take me 20 years to do and it really has.
‘Covering my house in mosaics would give me the ability to make a large piece of public art that wouldn’t be censored by anyone else.’
The vibrant colours and strong political quotes decorating the house are all inspired by her own interests and the influences of the people who have helped her over the years.
There are two blue plaques that feature on the front of the house both from the English Hedonists. The first reads, ‘NA Faith, Hope & Courage: Maybe some of us partied a little too hard‘ and the second says, ‘The Treatment Rooms, 2002: Now’ Lot’s of people lived here and partied hard‘.
Ms Reichardt (pictured outside her home) has dedicated much of the last two decades creating the colourful art mural, located on Fairlawn Grove, Chiswick
She claims that neighbours on the street – where some houses sell for up to £3million – do not have a problem and love the colourful creations
Ms Reichardt’s mosaics have been inspired by events that have happened in her life and she also used her art for activism in honour of political prisoners
She says ‘In terms of the process of mosaicing the outside of my house, I start off by deciding which section I am going to do. I then draw up the design that I want to create and then in my art studio inside of the house, I then create the mosaic on a netting kind of material’
She has received help from people from all of the world who have visited her to try and speed up the process and the design has been inspired by Carrie’s own interests and the influences of the people who also helped her
The artist, who works from her home, The Treatment Rooms, says ‘The mosaics on my house are like tattoos that people get on their body. It’s autobiographical and every bit tells a story of my life at a specific time’
All of the tiles used by Ms Reichardt on her home were either salvaged from skips or given to her by tile merchants who no longer wanted them.
She says that it has gotten harder to come across colourful tiles because they don’t make brightly coloured tiles as much these days.
She added: ‘I am a big believer in recycling and upcycling, so I have a look in skips and tips to see what I can find and I can also make use of tiles that would go to waste. I have a huge collection of tiles in my garage now.
‘When I was mosaicing the front of my house, I had the help of many people to get it completed. I was the visionary behind the project and they helped me bring it to life.
‘I had scaffolding on the front of my house for years while we were doing the top section of my house. It probably made me the neighbour from hell, but when the scaffolding was taken down and the art was revealed, it was such an amazing moment.
‘That was one of my favourite moments of my whole journey of mosaicing my house. As well as doing my house, I have also covered two vehicles in mosaics too.
‘A Nissan truck and a taxi. The truck appeared in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the taxi was in the Coventry Transport Museum.’
All of the tiles used by Ms Reichardt on her home were either salvaged from skips or given to her by tile merchants who no longer wanted them
The intricate designs feature mosaics that have been cut in different shapes and sizes to make sure each piece fits perfectly
The artist says she’d like to think that the mosaic has added value to the house. She admitted: ‘I get paid thousands to create art that gets placed elsewhere, such as Finsbury Park, London’
To reach the top section of her home, the artist erected scaffolding. She added: ‘It probably made me the neighbour from hell, but when the scaffolding was taken down and the art was revealed, it was such an amazing moment.’
As well as doing her house, the artist also covered two vehicles in mosaics too. A Nissan truck and a taxi – The truck appeared in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the taxi was in the Coventry Transport Museum
The artist communicated with Herman Wallace, who was one of the Angola three, after she befriended him for many years before his death in October 2013. He is commemorated on the front of her home in mosaic (pictured)
Above the upstairs window of her home, the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland sits on the left side and amosaic banner reads: ‘I’m an artist your rules don’t apply’
She claims that despite her house being – by far – the most colourful on her road that her neighbours love her designs
The Angola three who were former inmates that spent decades in solitary confinement in connection with the death of a prison guard in Louisiana are commemorated on the building alongside former black panther Kenny ‘Zulu’ Whitmore
The mother-of-three also dedicated the back wall of her house to Luis Ramirez she was writing to on death row, who became her good friend before he was executed – and she even has and his ID card embedded into the design
She says that it has gotten harder to come across colourful tiles because they don’t make brightly coloured tiles as much these days
She said: ‘I have also taken inspiration from Alice in Wonderland, tiki-themed art, as well as many other important events in my life’
Ms Reichardt’s mosaics have been inspired by events that have happened in her life and she also used her art for activism in honour of political prisoners.
The Angola three who were former inmates that spent decades in solitary confinement in connection with the death of a prison guard in Louisiana are commemorated on the building alongside former black panther Kenny ‘Zulu’ Whitmore.
The artist often communicated with Herman Wallace, who was one of the Angola three, for many years until his death in October 2013. His name features on the front of her home in a white and black design to pay homage to him.
The mother-of-three also dedicated the back wall of her house to Luis Ramirez she was writing to on death row, who became her good friend before he was executed – and she even has and his ID card embedded into the design.
Ramirez, known as the ‘Monstruo de le Soga’ – the Rope Monster – is thought to have murdered 60 men during a five-year murdering spree and was executed by lethal injection in Texas in 2005.
She said: ‘I have also taken inspiration from Alice in Wonderland, tiki-themed art, as well as many other important events in my life.
‘My house essentially has an autobiographical tattoo of everything that has happened to me.
‘For example, I was writing to a man on death row for five years and we became really good friends at that time.
‘I even went over to visit him before he was executed. I dedicated the back wall of my house to him and it even has his ID card embedded into it.
‘In terms of the process of mosaicing the outside of my house, I start off by deciding which section I am going to do.
‘I then draw up the design that I want to create and then in my art studio inside of the house, I then create the mosaic on a netting kind of material.
‘And after that, it is then stuck on to the outside of the house. All of the mosaics are pre-made before they are put on to my house.
‘My neighbours have witnessed how long it has taken me to do this and the amount of hard work that has gone into it, so they like my work and appreciate it.
‘If they didn’t, I would never have gotten away with it.
‘I have people that come past the house every single day to take a look at it. I’ve had to cover my windows so people can’t stare in because there are groups of tourists outside every day taking pictures.
‘I’d like to think that the mosaic has added value to the house, as I get paid thousands to create art that gets placed elsewhere, such as Finsbury Park, London.
‘So I don’t see why it wouldn’t add value to the house, but I guess we will have to wait and see.’
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