![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Mauder-TOILET-STORY.jpg\")
<\/a>Maria Mauder transformed this toilet into a forest and deep sea for a toilet-painting contest by Waterhouse Bath and Kitchen Studio in Perrysburg for World Toilet Day.<\/p><\/div>\n
But the 18-year-old freshman who is studying fine arts at The University of Toledo reconsidered the contest by Waterhouse Bath and Kitchen Studio in Perrysburg to be a creative challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more I thought about it, the more I realized that this was a unique opportunity that I might never have again,\u201d said Mauder, who is from Toledo. \u201cI\u2019ve painted a few 3D surfaces before, but never anything as complex as a toilet. The challenge is what intrigued me.\u201d<\/p>\n
And so she entered the contest, which was open to artists ages 14 through 19. With two weeks to reimagine a commode as canvas, Mauder, with help from a coworker and good friend, transformed a toilet into two terrestrial hemispheres: a magical forest with a babbling brook and lush greenery and a deep sea teeming with aquatic life and plants, as well as a sunken pirate ship.<\/p>\n
Her entry \u201cblew us away,\u201d said Amy Siders, Waterhouse showroom manager.<\/p>\n
The pair had painted just about every open space, including, for example, the inside of the toilet bowl, which features a waterfall on the back cascading into the bottom, with rocks and grass painted on the outer edges.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey covered every inch of the toilet,\u201d Siders said. \u201cEven the back of it. I had no idea that there would be this amount of detail, this amount of design work that would go into it and creative planning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mauder\u2019s initial concept wasn\u2019t Earth-based but more in the heavens. But a galaxy theme wasn\u2019t particularly inspirational to her artistic sensibilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s only so much we could have done with a space theme,\u201d she said. \u201cI think by going with our forest\/underwater combo we used the shape of the toilet to its fullest potential instead of fighting against it \u2014 especially with the waterfall. That\u2019s the part I\u2019m the proudest of. The way it flows into the toilet bowl is my favorite feature.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a>Maria Mauder, an 18-year-old freshman studying fine arts at UToledo, works on her toilet art.<\/p><\/div>\n
Mauder\u2019s toilet art is one of five in the competition, including a painted toilet by fellow UToledo fine arts student Jacob Gigax. The first- and second-place winners, as voted by the public in person at the Waterhouse showroom, 125 E. Indiana Ave. in Perrysburg, and online<\/a>, will receive a prize donated by Kohler, which also donated the toilets for the contest.<\/p>\n The contest is open through 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19 \u2014 World Toilet Day \u2014\u00a0and all toilets are on display in the Waterhouse showroom.<\/p>\n There will be an online auction Saturday, Nov. 20, as well, with all proceeds split between the winning artist\u2019s charity of choice and\u00a0water.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mauder chose the Toledo Humane Society.<\/p>\n Siders said she was originally looking for a \u201cthemed\u201d day as a marketing tool when she came across World Toilet Day, which was created 19 years ago by the United Nations to address the billions of people who do not have access to a sanitary, working toilet.<\/p>\n \u201cIt turns out something I thought was silly is actually quite serious,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Siders said she also wanted to give local young artists an opportunity to experience a unique project that would test their creativity in ways they had never considered, much less encountered.<\/p>\n For Mauder, the contest has proven to be multi-educational.<\/p>\n