I am Perry Hoffman, artist, photographer, mosaic maker, tile maker and creator of the Tile House in the Mojave desert... specifically in Wonder Valley, east of TwentyNine Palms.
Born in 1953 in Los Angeles, California, at the Queen of Angels Hospital. My parents were New York Jews, Rose & Ben, who always taught, peace, love, understanding and compassion for all people and had a love of art and music. You learn these things early. Grateful.
Studied art in first grade and got in trouble for drawing a nude. Studied art at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia in the early seventies. Played with Paul Reubens and David Hasselhoff. Causing a ruckus, with a few regrets but otherwise a fun time.
Migrated in 1975 to San Francisco, doing color xerox collage and mail art, photography and clay and small backyard gardens. Great classes with Toby Klayman in San Francisco, who taught Business and Visual Artist. Forever grateful being introduced to POSTCARDS. Participated in a few group shows with copy art artists in the Albany State Museum and a few in various locations in San Francsico, like La Mamelle Gallery. Those were the days. This part requires a book.
In 2ooo the stark and open, hard and hot, sometimes freezing desert embraced me
until 2oo8, where I explored an in depth study of life and my surroundings with camera in hand and embarked on a mosaic project taking on an entire house inside and out with the environs of Joshua Tree National Park at my side. The Tile House was inspired by my first visit to Watts Towers when I was ten years old, and currently by the wildlife, huge skies, and magic of the desert. Not to mention the fragments of tile one can find in the sand.
Met Douglas Smith in 2005 online, and everything changed. Ocean desert ocean desert ocean desert… so I said, “I can fire it, break it, and make art out of it.” But wait. There is more. In 2o22 we moved to Gualala to make art, farm our beautiful acres, and help the bees.
http://magentaraven.com http://tilehouse.wordpress.com
