Artwork Detail

Topanga View (with locals)

Artist: Topanga Art Tile

Medium: Glazed ceramic tile

County Department: Public Library

Supervisorial District: 3

About the Artwork:

Topanga View (with locals), set into the wall high above the foyer, captures the feeling of being in Topanga Canyon. The ceramic tile mural depicts a detailed nature scene filled with Topanga’s wildlife icons. Can you spot all of the plants and wildlife creatures in the mural. Look for a creek flowing by an oak tree, yucca plants, coyote, raccoon, squirrel, lizard, frog, tortoise, blue jay and a hawk.

About the Artist:

Artists and brothers, Matt and Paul Doolin (http://topangaarttile.com/) have been working with clay since childhood. The team is renowned for their studio, Topanga Art Tile, which focuses on murals and sculptured architectural ceramics. They specialize in a variety of techniques to create highly detailed scenes brought to life with a wide range of colors and textures. Matthew Doolin graduated from the UCLA School of the Arts in 1990. Focusing on design and ceramics, he studied under Adrian Saxe and Bill Brown and later served as a production assistant to Red Grooms. He has been creating and producing ceramic tile art since 1980 and also spent a year teaching art in Taiwan. Paul Doolin received his BFA from UC Santa Cruz in 1990. While there he studied with Eduardo Carillo, Don Weygandt, Jenny Mc Dade, Peter Loftus, and Hardy Hanson. Paul and Matthew have dedicated over two decades to run Topanga Art Tile and Design with their mother Leslie Doolin. Their public art projects include works for Disney’s California Adventure, Santa Clara University, the Royal Kahana Hotel in Maui, St. Catherine’s Church of Avalon, Thousand Oaks High School, the Inn at Venice Beach, and the Topanga Canyon Public Library.