Back in May, I had the distinct pleasure of visiting two abodes that are magical, masterful, amazing – and full of tile and mosaics. I say “and mosaics” because some of the creative wall and floor coverings in these dwellings are not traditional tile, but employ mosaic setting principles using everyday objects to create patterns and designs.
The Tile House
Albuquerque, N.M.
First up was The Tile House (https://www.abqartglass.com/the-tile-house) in my town, Albuquerque, N.M. Beverly Magennis bought the circa 1945 home in 1983. Part of Roswell, N.M,’s Artist-in-Residence program in the ’70s, Beverly taught art in Chama, N.M., worked in Los Angeles and throughout New Mexico as a tile maker, ceramic sculptor and mosaicist. She is famous for many works of public art, such as the Tree of Life at 4th and Montano in Albuquerque, mosaic pillars at the University of New Mexico, the Garden Ladies mosaic sculptures, and Mosaic Chair with Black Cat at the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History. Her work also adorns the exterior of a favorite local eatery, Church Street Café, in Albuquerque’s Old Town sector.
This was the original entrance to the house.
Beverly started tiling her house, beginning with the border around the entrance – and kept going for 11 years, creating colorful geometric patterns and designs, adding ceramic sculptures of figures, vibrantly colored birds and stylized plants in the yard, and creating a broken tile mosaic patio, complete with a gecko and other Southwestern motifs.
Erin Magennis with The Tile House that her mom, Beverly, started tiling in the '80s. She continues the tradition.
Daughter Erin Magennis – also a mosaic artist and owner of ABQ Art Glass – owns the house now with her husband Kyle Ray, who is a stained glass artist. Erin, originally a licensed tile contractor, has embraced mosaic artistry and is continuing the tradition her mother started, with many public and private mosaic works of her own around town. She’s currently crafting an impressive and large-scale flowing mosaic mural on the exterior of the house. She favors Daltile porcelain tile as her main medium, mounting her mosaics on mesh and then adhering them to exterior with mortar, always careful to engineer space for more pieces of the mural to be added.
Erin Magennis continues the tradition with a mosaic currently in progress on the rear wall of the house. Here she is in her studio, creating mosaics that she pre-mounts on mesh and then adds to the exterior wall.
Vibrant, unique details on the grounds’ exterior: mosaic planters with sculptures in the background; mosaic lady, ceramic bird sculptures and gecko patio mosaic – all done by Beverly Magennis.
The dwelling houses Erin’s studio, with mosaic pieces in the works, and Kyle’s studio where he creates stained glass projects. The house is tiled top to bottom, from the downstairs tiled bathroom with a collection of cultural items from Mexico, to the upstairs office completely covered in bottle caps. Erin said her mom used to work at a local barbeque restaurant – Quarters – and the staff would save bottle caps for her projects.
Erin’s husband Kyle Ray is a stained glass artist, working in his studio – and an example of his work.
Traditional mosaic works – like a vase of flowers on a red checkered table – join a “bookshelf” complete with handmade tile books with humorous titles, or the “shelf” with handmade tile toiletry items on the bathroom wall. A retro mosaic sink is a bathroom focal point. A border of colorful cigarette lighters surrounds the bedroom mirror, and a pattern of “do not disturb” doorknob hangers and paint stirrers covers the ceiling.
The interior is covered in mosaics – not all of them tile. The office walls and ceilings are covered with beer bottle cap mosaics, and the mirror border is a mosaic of cigarette lighters.
Beverly created humorous handmade tiles to adorn walls, such as these “shelves” of “cosmetics” and “books.”
Moving awestruck into the kitchen, one encounters a ceiling roundel mosaic of pennies accented with a basket weave of matchsticks, and coordinating mosaics that decorate the cabinet doors.
The Tile House is truly a testament to one woman’s artistry, preserved and expanded upon by her daughter in a family tradition that helps give Albuquerque its character.
A penny for your thoughts – or for the ceiling roundel in the kitchen, bordered by matchsticks. A matching motif adorns the cabinets.
Luna Parc
Sandyston, N.J.
About 2,000 miles away, amidst the lush, rolling green hills of Sandyston, N.J., is the sprawling 8.5 acre complex known as Luna Parc (www.lunaparc.com), the home and studio of self-described “madcap artist” Ricky Boscarino, who I met while at TileFest at The TileWorks in Doylestown, Pa., in 2022 and 2023 (https://tinyurl.com/TileFest2023). Ricky graciously led me on a two-hour tour of his house and the grounds.
This colorful sign greets visitors to Luna Parc.
Ricky comes from a long lineage of craftspeople: his mom, who was a seamstress, cook, and crafter, and his woodworker and carpenter father. “He could build anything,” Ricky said. In school, Ricky loved entomology and biology, passions he parlayed into stunning jewelry by making segmented brooches of insects. Influences include his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design, and mosaicist, painter and architect Hundert Wasser (they share the same birthday: December 15). Luna Parc itself was inspired by a small, sentimental amusement park Ricky visited while in Rome, and the original Luna Park in Coney Island – named after the founder’s special-needs sister Luna – with 100,000 light bulbs sparkling across the harbor.
Ricky Boscarino in his spacious studio outbuilding during Clay Day, creating a Face Pot of Amy Winehouse.
In 1989, when Ricky was 28 years old, he had an instant cosmic connection with the 600 sq.ft., three-room cabin that would eventually become the heart of Luna Parc, and purchased it.
“I knew it was where I would spend the rest of my life,” he said.
He gutted the structure, and used an outhouse (it is still on the property as a memento) for two years, while he constructed a cavernous bathroom with stained glass windows that depict the four stages of life, tile throughout, and a deep tub. His successful jewelry business funded the endeavor – until 2020, when that business flatlined and his ceramic business exploded, including his Face Pots – whimsical creatures from Ricky’s imagination, ceramic vessels using different firing techniques – plus Plein Air landscapes in oil! Ricky is nothing if not prolific.
One of the first projects in renovating the cabin was building this bathroom, with center shower, deep tub, and stained glass windows.
Face Pots are unique, whimsical creatures from Ricky’s imagination.
Luna Parc is a magical place with a phantasmagorical house – think Beetlejuice crossed with Dr. Seuss – with Ricky’s own unique spin. A walk through the grounds – and the house – is a constant wonderland of discovery from the colorful mosaic pillars and steps that greet you, to the Great Artichoke Portico, to a kitchen with cork mosaic walls to tile mosaic counter, the fantastic bathroom, and the taxidermy room – complete with a squirrel in a pink tutu. The dining room is adorned with Ricky’s mom’s wedding dress, and a fireplace and a chandelier that Ricky created with visionary artist Warren Muller, who is a friend of Isaiah Zagar, of Philadelphia Magic Gardens fame.
The Great Artichoke Portico is currently in progress at the house.
Hundreds of corks form the wall coverings, and handmade and broken mosaics enliven the counter in the kitchen.
This taxidermy squirrel in a tutu is one of the more unique things you’ll find at Luna Parc!
Even everyday items become art at Luna Parc.
Outside is the Bottle House, sculptures, the Twigloo – a dwelling made of sticks and twigs – and mosaics, mobiles, and memorial mosaics to Ricky’s cats. There’s also a Chapel of the Saints, which commemorates the miracle of the healing of a young, crippled boy Ricky’s grandfather Guiseppe Boscarino witnessed in Sicily, Italy before he emigrated to the U.S. in the early 1920s.
Neighbor kids helped Ricky build the foundation of “The House of Bottle Blues.”
Everything is revered at Luna Parc; these mosaics honor beloved kitties.
Ricky built the house mostly himself; neighbor kids helped build the foundation of the bottle house (and fed his cats). Some of the exterior mosaics sport “copper” tiles with a “luster” glaze that Ricky invented that uses copper sulfate and a heavy reduction process that results in a deposit of copper on the ceramic that stays bright and never develops a patina.
Handmade ceramic tile and broken tile mosaics adorn the exterior of the house.
Some of the exterior mosaics sport “copper” tiles with a “luster” glaze that Ricky invented. It retains the copper luster and never develops a patina.
Beyond the house, the property has a sculpture garden, using a variety of materials and organic forms, an outdoor kitchen, studio in which he creates his work and holds Clay Day every Wednesday, during which clay artists come and create.
Beyond Ricky’s own creations are the classes in mosaics and sculpture he offers and a Foundation where students learn about creating 3D art in concrete, metal and ceramic. Local students visit for classes as well as Foundation students from far and wide that hail from such schools as The Art Institute of Chicago, and Kutztown. A neighbor’s house that was abandoned in 2015 is the residence for visiting artists, and interns to the Luna Parc Atelier Foundation of Architecture and Sculpture. Plans are in the works to expand this structure into a “beautiful house…with the mission of hosting artists and interns from May to October,” Ricky said.
The “madcap artist” with his house
Truly the Luna Parc is “sine limite” – without limits – as ever-new manifestations of Ricky’s creativity emerge, with new and unexpected materials as well as broken tile mosaics and handmade tiles and ceramics.