Artists at Home: Down by the River.....

In this world of fast and faster

I came upon a corner

that whispered calm and quiet

the peace of an era gone by...

Take a deep breath of warm salty air...

and join me on a tour of artist

Julie Lounibos' 

retreat of a home and art studio.

Hers is a house sturdily built in the 1800's old old for Florida

survivor of many unforgiving hurricanes

was even moved across the street in the 1920's

I love a good survivor story

flanked by the Indian River to the east

and hugged by enormous  century old live oaks 

and twisting singing palms

the salty home as depicted plein air by artist Lori McNamara

A sweet 'guest house" cottage  next door

was Julie's previous home

and  currently lived in, and loved, by her artist mother...

It also houses a metal roof clad garage

and an outdoor shower

hidden in vines

Julie grew up in this small village

her art born between the railroad tracks and this river

It is the soul of so many of her paintings.

Inside, the handcrafted screen kitchen door creaks and slaps loudly

as it closes behind you

I particularly love theses pantry doors

original to the house, glass and all.

The kitchen once porch is bright...and cozy...and authentic

with homegrown herbs and tomatoes

ripening on the sill.

adjoining the kitchen

is  the turquoise blue 

of the home art studio

The livingroom is big and breezy

cloaked in windows, art, books, collections....and cats.

what more would one need?

Sheba

A third generation artist, her art is steeped in her surroundings

I love the painting of her Granny...
probably in this same river

in the blue first floor bedroom

Hugging the first floor is a wrap around porch

screened and tempting the river breeze

this is where dinner is served nightly

and sunrises are quietly witnessed

Upstairs the narrow century old stairway

is another two bedrooms and bath

and more art

and sleepy cats...

Willie

with those beautiful Dade county pine floors

and original hardware

Art and heart and home....

In a historical little village

Down by the river.

My blood pressure dropped 20 points.

you?


Visit other Artist's at Home :

Lou Mullan

Ginny Piech Street

Julia Carter

Renee Guerin

Dale McGee

The artist at home series : 'Keep the evil spirit away' blue... Lou Mullan

It is always a fun privilege 

getting a peek into the home of an artist 

right?

cerreus cactus at full moon

This place  that helps them create,

 this refuge that feeds their work. 

where experiments with color and mishaps are concurrent.

where life and art intermingle.

 Some artist's homes are modest.. Some are amazingly pristine and carefully ordered with drawing spaces, painting galleries, and meditation zones. 

Some are a study of chaos, 

but in all of them... the artists are inspired to beautifully create. 

and so....we continue in the series...

Join me.

Enter Local artist Lou Mullan. 

currently working on her website

Beloved former art teacher, Creator, Dancer, Soul of a Gypsy

Color Whisperer. People Gatherer.

upon stepping up to her 'keep the evil spirits away blue' cottage

a particularly striking shade

you are met by a totem of gathered faces

created, in part, by those of us at one of her parties

given a handful of clay...we created faces as we talked....ate...drank.

People gatherer.

Inside her abode is a kaleidoscope of color 

with art mostly hers on the walls

jewel colored glass languidly dangling in front of kitchen windows

walls of art books

 Everything is a canvas...as depicted by the back of the vintage

dining room hutch. 

Now hidden. But the entire back is  alight with this painting

grapefruit groves at sunrise

looking closely...one can see the swirls of color behind the Asian relic

cookie jars collected for decades line her kitchen...and to be fair...the wine and liquor bottles

were from another fun people gathering this weekend.

The bathroom even houses favorite art

and gatherings....

this of collected shells....with faces. 

A seashell party

if she had a spirit animal...It would probably be the crow

prominent in her work

almost human in their expression

Art and books...align the new reading room

once her studio...in the process of moving

family heirloom maps of their old stomping grounds

in upstate NY awaiting their chance to fill the walls...

 Her studio now in the updated garage

often filled with the children of her students...her grandchildren...

the legacy continues

young talent Drew

Outside Lou's home and studio is the beautiful and natural tangle of what is old Florida

fern pathways walking away from the provocative blue

seemingly adopting the color

The mingling of art and home...

Design has to work.

Art does not.

...Thank You Lou.

visit other Local Artists and their inspiring homes I have visited:

Ginny Piech Street

Julia Carter

Renee Guerin

Dale McGee

Diner whites....

Love me some white restaurant diner ware

diner...not dinner. Catch that?

particularly on a scuffed up worn out an inch from death

farm table

::cough::

I'm not sure why I love them so...

Have been collecting them for eons

piece by funky piece

I gravitate toward an insignia...

or name on the ware...

like a magpie to shiny things.

Really doesn't matter what it is.

These little desert plates....found in a Goodwill for 29 cents a plate

were bought because we had a wonderful dog ,Rajah, at  the time

I'm not sure I wanna know what the insignia really is

When we serve desert...or birthday cake... in this casa...The mountain of misfit plates are taken off the shelf

because why take only the 8 you need when you can heave 12?.... 

and served...dripping with chocolate frosting...or the insignia smeared with cheesecake.

One is lucky if they get the Cuinard cruise one from 1973 

...or, perhaps,  the Kentucky Horse Park plate when they have licked through to the bottom.

:: means a cruise...or big winnings are in your future ::

Naturally.

ok...maybe I'M the only one that plays that game...

I dunno what you get when Bentley's is your designated

cake holder.....

But it was made from Syracuse China

another proclivity I have

Not so much because of a collector value

More because it is nostalgic....Having lived and gone to school there.

and so...on my thrifting jaunts

I turn over the stacks and racks of plates searching for Syracuse.

Side Note:

I have taken to calling Helen Pearl Keller

Ghost

I can't turn around for a second without her wafting, noislessly up. Smelling where I was

what I was doing.

carry on, Ghost.

carry on.

Today, stumbling through our local craigslist, looking for something else.

I never do that.

I came across a stack of diner plates

from the US Army Medical Department.

right?!

Hey. Maybe they can help out the wheezing farm table?!

Medic!

They hopped in my car...along with some dining cart mugs

from a once was restaurant in Seattle

Diner ware

fun stuff to play with on a rainy Saturday.

try it.

** I found a cool site that can help you with dating your diner ware piece here...I had fun with it
The medical dept plates were from the 20-40's...some laughlin and syracuse china was OLD!