VIE Magazine August 2020

TH

O

I

F

N

E EYE

T

H

E

ER

BEAUTY BEHOLD

The Art of the Trade

GEE GEE COLLINS & THE LIFE OF A MODERN PAINTER

August 2020

THE ARTIST & HIS ART NATHAN ALAN YOAKUM Art on the Spectrum

SEEING WHAT OTHERS CANNOT

The Power of Reach THROUGH

THE PERFECT TEAM LINDA MILLER REAL ESTATE & WHO’S WHO IN LUXURY REAL ESTATE · WHO’S WHO IN LUXURY REAL ESTATE has been leading the industry since 1986 and is represented in 74 countries. · LUXURY REAL ESTATE sells over $300 billion in real estate a year with 130,000 professionals. · LuxuryRealEstate.com remains the #1 portal for LUXURY properties on the web. · LuxuryRealEstate.com has more $1 million-plus listings than any near peer. · Linda Miller is proud to serve on the BOARD OF REGENTS for the most elite and comprehensive luxury real estate network in the world.

W H O ’S W H O I N L UXU RY R E A L E S TAT E THE WEBBY AWARD -WINNING LUXURY REAL ESTATE WEBSITE WITH THE MOST MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR PROPERTIES:

38,968

LUXURYREALESTATE.COM

24,308

SOTHEBY’S

21,206

LUXURY PORTFOLIO CHRISTIE’S

15,469

INFO RMAT IO N P R OV I DE D B Y W HO' S W HO I N L UXURY R E AL E S TAT E , 2020.

22 YEARS OF SELLING SCENIC HW Y 30A

EXPERIENCE OVER HALF A BILLION IN SALES

KNOWLEDGE HUNDREDS OF HAPPY CUSTOMERS

WISDOM

L I N D A M I L L E R L U X U R Y. C O M Linda@thesmileof30a.com | (850) 974-8885 5297 E Scenic Hwy 30-A #102, Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459

WE SOLD THEM ALL!

270 E WATER STREET

69 J O HNSTOWN L ANE

RO S E M A RY B E AC H , F L O R I DA

RO S E M A RY B E AC H, F L O R I DA

L I S T E D BY L I N DA

L I S T E D BY L I N DA

217 GEOFF WILDER L ANE

456 SE ABREEZE CIRCLE

S E AC R E S T B E AC H, F L O R I DA

I N L E T B E AC H, F L O R I DA

S O L D BY C H I P

L I S T E D BY L I N DA

43 LIFEGUARD LO OP

25 W LIFEGUARD LO OP

I N L E T B E AC H, F L O R I DA

S E AC R E S T B E AC H, F L O R I DA

L I S T E D BY L I N DA - 18 DAYS O N T H E M A R K E T

L I S T E D BY L I N DA

10 0 S BRID GE L ANE UNIT 319C

18 ELYSEE CO URT

WAT E R S O U N D, F L O R I DA

I N L E T B E AC H, F L O R I DA

L I S T E D BY L I N DA - U N D E R C O N T R AC T I N 11 DAYS

S O L D BY L I N DA

THIS COULD BE YOUR HOME!

S O L D I N O N E DAY

76 A Z ALE A STREE T SA N TA RO S A B E AC H, F L O R I DA L I S T E D BY J O H N N Y, S O L D BY L I N DA

320 BE ACHFRO NT TR AIL UNIT 9

92 C AROLYN L ANE - BAY FRO NT

SA N TA RO S A B E AC H, F L O R I DA

SA N TA RO SA B E AC H, F L O R I DA

L I S T E D BY L I N DA

S O L D BY J O H N N Y

CALL ME TO SELL YOURS! LindaMillerLuxury.com Linda@thesmileof30a.com | (850) 974-8885 5297 E Scenic Hwy 30-A #102, Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459

67 San Roy Road SEAGROVE BEACH

20 Spanish Town Ln ROSEMARY BEACH

Heather Williams 850.502.0383

Tom Fitzpatrick 850.225.4674

29 Montigo Avenue GULF SHORE MANOR

67 Dunmore Town Ln ROSEMARY BEACH

Heather Williams 850.502.0383

Tom Fitzpatrick 850.225.4674

4831 Ocean Blvd DESTINY BY THE SEA

12 Spanish Town Ln ROSEMARY BEACH

Heather Williams 850.502.0383

Tom Fitzpatrick 850.225.4674

1363 W Co Hwy 30A #3107 Lisa LaFlure

205 W Village Beach Rd Mandy Cooper

3722 E Co Hwy 30A, 22 Sarah Timmons

SANCTUARY BY THE SEA

FOUR MILE VILLAGE

EMERALD HILL

850.685.3408

scenicsir.com

850.685.1021

256.996.1169

Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated.

20 Spanish Town Lane

For those who embrace creativity

Bud & Alley's is proudly following CDC protocols to ensure the health and safety of our employees and patrons.

Good Food. Good People. Good Times.

Voted Best Rooftop Bar Coastal Living Magazine

BudandAlleys.com 850.231.5900

C E L E B R AT I N G

25 YEARS IN BUSINESS

12870 U.S. Highway 98 West, Miramar Beach, FL 32550, (850) 837-5563

ON THE EMERALD COAST!

Shoppes @ Inlet, 13625 Emerald Coast Pkwy East, Inlet Beach, FL 32461, (850) 909-0435

Licensed and Published Design Firm

LOVEL ACEINTERIORS.COM

Sh e

Sh ine s

G R A N D B O U L E VA R D

|

SHOPTHE JEWEL .COM

|

( 8 5 0) 8 3 7- 8 8 2 2

|

In this issue On the Cover

With an intensity befitting an artist whose work is born from colors, shapes, music, and deep thoughts, Nathan Alan Yoakum has honed his craft since he was a teenager. His latest works include a mix of pop art portraits, abstract expressionism, and sculptural flowers, hearts, and abstract shapes made from resin.

Yoakum’s work can be found proudly displayed at galleries in Memphis and Atlanta and on Florida’s Gulf Coast, which he now calls home.

Photo by Jason Miller

Vie is a French word meaning “life” or “way of living.” VIE magazine sets itself apart as a high-gloss publication that focuses on human-interest stories with heart and soul. From Seattle to NYC with a concentration in the Southeast, VIE is known for its unique editorial approach—a broad spectrum of deep content with rich photography. The award-winning magazine was founded in 2008 by husband-and-wife team Lisa and Gerald Burwell, owners of the specialty publishing and branding house known as The Idea Boutique®. From the finest artistically bound books to paperless digital publication and distribution, The Idea Boutique provides comprehensive publishing services to authors and organizations. Its team of creative professionals delivers a complete publishing experience—all that’s needed is your vision.

PUBLISHED BY

104

WITH SUMMER IN FULL SWING, YOU MAY BE READY TO FIND YOUR NEW FAVORITE BATHING SUIT! LOOK NO FURTHER THAN THIS LA-BASED BRAND FOR ETHICALLY MADE BIKINIS AND ONE-PIECES WITH TROPICAL FLAIR.

Photo courtesy of Bromelia Swimwear

FEATURE

INTROSPECTIONS 93

30 Seeing What Others Cannot: The Mind Is a

94 Changing All the While

Work of Art

VISUAL PERSPECTIVES 29 38 Seeing the Humor in Life: An Artist’s

C’EST LA VIE CURATED COLLECTION 98 SARTORIAL 103

Perspective on Art and Love

104 It’s Heating Up with Bromelia Swimwear

42 Different Strokes: Making Art Her Own Way

110 A Silversmith with a Heart of Gold

47 L’intermission: Paper Cut

116 When Fashion and Art Collide

48 Creating Against the Odds

121 L’intermission: Once You Pop . . .

54 Motion Standing in Place

124 The Eye of the Needle

LE MONDE 59

THE LAST WORD: AFRICAN AMERICAN ICONS 131

60 The Last Hunter-Gatherers: Fishing the Final Frontiery

66 Mari Winsor Remembered

AU REVOIR! 135

72 Raising Ohana: One Woman’s Vision 79 L’intermission: Wave Hello 80 The Holy Grail of BBQ: Chef Sam Jones and Family Tradition

88 The Heart of an Olympian: Keeping His THEIDEABOUTIQUE.COM INFO@THEIDEABOUTIQUE.COM

Dream Alive

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 13

Fulfilling Dreams Since 1976

efs a nj u a n.c o m

Photo by Jack Gardner

CREATIVE TEAM CEO / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF LISA MARIE BURWELL Lisa@VIEmagazine.com

FOUNDER / PUBLISHER GERALD BURWELL Gerald@VIEmagazine.com

EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR JORDAN STAGGS Jordan@VIEmagazine.com

CHIEF COPY EDITOR MARGARET STEVENSON CONTRIBUTING WRITERS SAMANTHA ACCOL A, SALLIE W. BOYLES, FELICIA FERGUSON, ANTHEA GERRIE, OLIVIA MANTHEY, MYLES MELLOR, KELSEY OGLETREE, CAROLYN O’NEIL, TORI PHELPS, SUZANNE POLLAK, NICHOLAS S. RACHEOTES, L AURETTE RYAN, COLLEEN SACHS, JANET THOMAS, CHAD THURMAN, MEGAN WALDREP

ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY CREATIVE DIRECTOR TRACEY THOMAS Tracey@VIEmagazine.com

ART DIRECTOR HANNAH VERMILLION Hannah@VIEmagazine.com

CONTRIBUTING DESIGNER OLIVIA WELLER

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS MARL A CARTER, ALEXIS CORREY, DENNY CULBERT, BRI DW YER, MICHAEL HAUG, ROBERT HOUSER, K ATHY HUTCHINS, BRENNA KNEISS, L AZYLL AMA, MERRITT LEE, BA XTER MILLER, JASON MILLER, TAILI SONG ROTH, NICKIE STONE, SCOTT STRANCE, SHUTTERSTOCK

ADVERTISING, SALES, AND MARKETING SOCIAL MEDIA AND BRAND MANAGER ABIGAIL RYAN

BRAND AMBASSADOR LISA MARIE BURWELL Lisa@VIEmagazine.com MARTA RATA Marta@VIEmagazine.com

AD MANAGER ABIGAIL RYAN Abigail@VIEmagazine.com

VIE is a registered trademark. All contents herein are Copyright © 2008–2020 Cornerstone Marketing and Advertising, Incorporated (Publisher). All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without written permission from the Publisher. VIE is a lifestyle magazine and is published twelve times annually on a monthly schedule. The opinions herein are not necessarily those of the Publisher. The Publisher and its advertisers will not be held responsible for any errors found in this publication. The Publisher is not liable for the accuracy of statements made by its advertisers. Ads that appear in this publication are not intended as offers where prohibited by state law. The Publisher is not responsible for photography or artwork submitted by freelance or outside contributors. The Publisher reserves the right to publish any letter addressed to the editor or the Publisher. VIE is a paid publication. Subscription rates: Printed magazine – One-year $29.95; Two-year $49.95. Subscriptions can be purchased online at www.VIEmagazine.com.

16 | AUGUST 2020

PHOTOGRAPHIC FINE ART Medium- to large-scale artwork focused on the waterways of the Gulf Coast.

J O N A H A L L E N .CO M | @ J O N A H A L L E N S T U D I O J O N A H @ J O N A H A L L E N .CO M | (8 5 0 ) 73 9 - 0 9 2 9

NOW OPEN • MONDAY - SATURDAY, 10 AM - 6 PM • SUNDAY, 12 PM - 5 PM

F INE FAS H I O N, JE WE L RY, HOM E ACC ESSOR I ES, G I FTS, A N D ALYS B E AC H AP PA R E L • LO C AT E D O N T H E E AST E N D O F H I G HWAY 3 0 A IN ALYS B E AC H 30 MARK TWAIN LANE ALYS BEACH, FL 32461 • 850.213.5550 • SHOP ONLINE AT ALYSSHOPPE.COM

Editor’s Note

ARTISTS UPLIFT and INSPIRE As the World Goes Round and Round

S

o much has happened this year! I have never seen so much change in such a short span of time. In an unsettled world, we all long to rely on an anchor or two that will steady us as we collectively move in uncharted waters. Even that has proven somewhat difficult, but continuing to publish VIE each month is one of the anchors in my life. How blessed are we that we can continue to be creative and showcase so many artists, ideas, thoughts, places, and people?

The soothing hum of talking to people as we interview them for each issue is a respite for my soul. It is comforting to know that people are still living their lives and forging ahead with courage and tenacity. Art can be a hard vocation or profession; for many, it’s a labor of love with only the hope of making a living.

It can’t be an easy industry to be in right now, but art has never been more important to the world. I have immense respect and admiration for artists and am thankful to have met so many throughout my career.

What a gift it has been to me!

This issue features a myriad of artists, and our cover gent, Nathan Alan Yoakum, looks as though he can stare into your soul. We had the pleasure of meeting Nathan in our office a few weeks ago, and it was one of the highlights of my year thus far. As I spoke, he paid attention to me with a laser-beam focus, and I quickly realized he is a student of people and of life. That is why his art is so damn good. His interpretations comprise a prolific body of work that resonates with so many since he pours his soul into every piece he creates. He’s intense—and no one likes intensity more than I do.

I say that to make the point that, on some level, I felt he was a kindred spirit the moment that I met him.

Enjoy his story from the pen of our managing editor,

Jordan Staggs, in “Seeing What Others Cannot: The Mind Is a Work of Art.” Your life will be enriched by Nathan’s art and story!

The art in this issue speaks volumes about mankind, innate talent, nurtured talent, and the creative spirit.

We bring you this art and culture issue in hopes that you will be comforted and feel that the world is going to be all right and that love still shines brightly.

VIE’s CEO/editor-in-chief Lisa Marie Burwell dons a handmade dried-flower halo created by Hilda McDonald and channels a “flower child” state of mind, celebrating the spirit of freedom and artistry.

Photo by Gerald Burwell

To Life!

—Lisa Marie Founder/Editor-In-Chief

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 21

FI RST C LASS

COMFORT

1 2 1 7 0 E M E R A L D C OA S T PA R K WAY | M I R A M A R B E AC H | (8 5 0) 2 67-1 6 9 9 | I D M I D E S I G N . C O M

The Creatives We collaborate with talented photographers, writers, and other creatives on a regular basis, and we’re continually inspired by how they pour their hearts and souls into their crafts. Follow these creatives on social media and don’t forget to check out our account, @viemagazine.

GEE GEE COLLINS

MELISSA KOBY

Artist, “Different Strokes”

Artist, Le monde title page

@geegeecollins

IN THIS ISSUE, WE ASKED THE CREATIVES: ARE YOU MORE INSPIRED TO CREATE ART DURING THIS UNSETTLED PERIOD OF TIME, OR LESS INSPIRED?

I have found myself inspired to create art! With everything else in the world shut down, my studio is open. Somewhere in the process of creating a painting, nothing else matters except for the next mark made, the next stroke of color, the feeling in the line. Getting lost in a painting is a welcome escape.

CHAD THURMAN NATHAN ALAN YOAKUM Artist, “Seeing What Others Cannot” @nathan_alan_yoakum_art_

Maybe it is because of my being on the spectrum, and I cannot adequately define why it is, but these unsettling times have not lessened or increased my desire to create art. Two things typically distract me from being in my art studio: either there’s a necessary home improvement project or the surf is up! But I will say that the news gets to me, and so on those days when time doesn’t allow me to create art, I do feel as if I will go mad. When I spend time in my art studio, any worries or concerns just disappear. So, I am grateful anytime I can paint and create new work.

The way all of this has affected the economy and all of the arts has been unsettling, but I am hopeful for the future and 2021.

@kolormekoby

I don’t feel inspired to create more; however, I do feel inspired to create differently. When George Floyd was murdered, I felt like I had a responsibility to share my feelings on racial injustice and the importance of fighting together. My illustrations have always been about making people feel connected. Now I want the message to connect us to the common goal of equality, equity, and liberation. Change is Coming was my direct way of calling this time what it is—a revolution. “What now?” was a question posed to everyone who took a pledge to amplify melanated voices. Built on Pride was my ode to friends who have been standing with us for the past few weeks, building us up and working toward change. I haven’t been able to draw “for fun” lately because my heart has been heavy. I have been able to share my thoughts on social issues. I hope people are paying attention.

Writer, “Raising Ohana”

Depends on how you define art. In the ars gratia artis sense, I have not been inspired to paint watercolor still lifes of fruit, chisel cubist forms from a slab of granite, or sit at a grand piano for 4'33" (my piano is in storage). I have not carried a lamp in midday looking for an honest man, created a lobster telephone to dial up dreams, had the urge to drive to Paris in a car filled with cauliflower, nor fill an entire room with raw bacon, and I certainly have not declared myself to be a liege of the muses of inspiration impelled to crucify myself to the hood of a Volkswagen.

What I have been inspired to do is to learn a new computer coding language, and dare I be considered outré to say that coding is an entirely autotelic and artful endeavor. Because it’s Art for art’s sake, and Art’s a really cool guy.

LAUREN QUINN Swimwear Designer, “It’s Heating Up” @bromelia_swimwear

I’ve never been more inspired. As a change junkie, uncertainty is my comfort zone. So, creation in chaos is what I know best.

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 25

La conversation

Let’s Get Connected WE LOVE TO COMMUNICATE AND INTERACT WITH OUR READERS! AND WE LOVE IT EVEN MORE WHEN THEY PROUDLY SHARE THEIR STORIES AND POSE WITH VIE FOR A CLOSE-UP! THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT: SHARING, LOVING, AND BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS. WE THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH AND WE APPRECIATE YOU!

@mikhael_cl Another one, this time in sunny Florida. Thank you, @viemagazine, for publishing photo of @castrolighting Ammira Mirror on your pages!

@cindyminterior Oh wow!! Our feature in @viemagazine has hit the newsstands and we are so excited and thankful that they loved our project in @alysbeachfl as much as we do!

Check out the story in #VIEmagazine’s July issue. Photo by @lukerphotography.

Architect @christandassociates.

@theideaboutique An Irish Fairy Tale – This dreamy photo shoot at @ballynahinchcastle was inspired by the beauty of the Emerald Isle, the gorgeous fashion designs of @csiriano, and the concept that feminine beauty and strength are intermingled in many intimate ways. The shoot was planned and executed by @theideaboutique for our flagship publication, @viemagazine, along with our Irish lifestyle title, @connemaralife.

Photo by @alexhutch

@colorbeamlighting “Another element in the home that A BOHEME Design knew was a perfect match was the technologically advanced Colorbeam lighting system. When presented with the capability of Colorbeam’s system, I was more than thrilled,” said architect Darrell Russell from @abohemedesign. Read the full article in @viemagazine!

LET’S TALK! @thechapelseasidefl As the bell beckons all to take a moment to find peace or say a quiet prayer, the residents and visitors of Seaside marvel at the architecture that surrounds them in this New Urban community. This year, The Chapel at Seaside’s iconic architecture will be getting an outdoor facelift.

The first phase of the Garden of Memories, a new expansion to the Chapel’s grounds, is expected to be complete in late 2020. Thank you, @viemagazine, for sharing this exciting news with your readers!

Photo by @brennakneissphoto

Send VIE your comments and photos on our social media channels or by emailing us at info@viemagazine.com. We’d love to hear your thoughts. They could end up in the next La conversation! @bykoket No home is complete without a comfortable reading chair—discover our reading chairs and more press releases with @ines.bykoket!

Thank you, @viemagazine, for featuring KOKET with the Audrey chair.

VIEmagazine.com

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 27

Visual Perspectives

Visual Perspectives

La Casa Azul by Michael McCarty Acrylic and mixed media, 32 × 26 in. $3,800 – Available at Monet Monet in Grayton Beach, Florida MichaelMcCartyArt.Tumblr.com

EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

Rock ’n’ roll! Iconic artist Michael McCarty hits a new rhythm with his work like this gorgeous portrait of Frida Kahlo. A prolific artist since the days that invented “groove,” he once spent a night with the Rolling Stones in the 1970s, hanging with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood after one of their concerts.

His artwork has appeared on the album covers of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson, Little Richard, Steppenwolf, and KC and the Sunshine Band, to name a few. Not that we’re trying to name-drop, but Andy Warhol even sought out his art back in the day. As any good artist should, McCarty has continued to hone his craft and morph into his artistry. This recent work is stunning, and you must see it in person to revel in its beauty.

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 29

Visual Perspectives

S e e in g W h at O t h ers C a n n o t

B y Jord an S ta g g s P h o togra p h y c ou rtesy of N athan Al an Yo akum

30 | AUGUST 2020

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 31

Visual Perspectives

or most people, seeing someone walking in the rain with a red umbrella is perceived as just a person trying to stay dry. But for artist Nathan Alan Yoakum, that fleeting moment might become a fully formed narrative in his mind, a story told through vivid color and shapes that manifest on canvas or in an exquisite resin sculpture. “It’s like I see the finished piece of art, very clearly, before I create it,” he says.

“I always enjoyed painting flowers because they can mean so many different things; aside from just being beautiful, they’re an interpretation of life and death,” Yoakum says of the massive resin blossoms that have become favorites among his collectors and fans. You can find them sprawling across the wall in the Jay Etkin Gallery in Memphis, Tennessee, and in the homes of his clients, as well as at isidro dunbar Modern Interiors in Miramar Beach, Florida.

“Think about the image of protestors placing flowers in the police officers’ gun barrels during the 1960s antiwar demonstrations. I’ve also been heavily influenced by artists like Georgia O’Keeffe, who was known for creating more abstract images of flowers.” As a young man, Yoakum would visit a flower shop in Memphis owned

by Winsor Stockton, who was one of the first people to have his art for sale. “He saw my work and agreed to display it in his shop. I started with two-dimensional paintings, but over the years, my abstract expressionism pieces have evolved into 3-D pieces made from resin on canvas. I love how they look and how they come to life in that medium.”

Contemporary artist Jay Etkin, Yoakum’s friend and mentor, is his so-called “art dad.” Yoakum studied under him for years, learning more about pop art and the industry.

Etkin proudly displays Yoakum’s pieces in his eponymous gallery in Memphis. Etkin, who studied under abstract expressionist Philip Pearlstein, passed on what he had learned and, in doing so, played a vital role in the art community’s

I ALWAYS ENJOYED PAINTING FLOWERS BECAUSE THEY CAN MEAN SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS; ASIDE FROM JUST BEING BEAUTIFUL, THEY’RE AN INTERPRETATION OF LIFE AND DEATH. 32 | AUGUST 2020

legacy of supporting fellow creators and keeping history alive through inspiration and interpretation of those they admire.

Although he was always interested in art and music, Yoakum admits that his path to living out his dreams as a professional artist was not easy. As a child, he struggled in school. Traditional learning didn’t work, and he was diagnosed with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. His teachers often didn’t understand his needs until later on, when he was placed in a special resource program. In his thirties, as the medical community learned more about autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Yoakum was diagnosed as Level 1 on the spectrum. This level of ASD was formerly known as Asperger syndrome or Asperger’s. Although it makes life more difficult in some respects—such as recognizing social cues or being in loud, high-sensory environments—Yoakum says it’s also allowed him to “zone out” and have moments of deep introspection that have led him to create some of his best work.

oakum’s determination and the kindness and support of those like the flower shop owner and Jay Etkin, who recognized his talents, kept him going throughout the next several years. Yoakum also began doing work as a model and an actor during this time and was involved in several films. He cites that having Level 1 ASD makes him better at acting, as he has spent his whole life learning the behaviors of neurotypical people and how to mimic them to appear more “normal” in conversations and interactions.

“People are still learning so much about ASD, and it can be strange because what they call it one day might change the next,” Yoakum admits. “I’m just living my life and making art, and I’m grateful to have that opportunity and for the way my mind works.”

I’M JUST LIVING MY LIFE AND MAKING ART, AND I’M GRATEFUL TO HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY AND FOR THE WAY MY MIND WORKS. Having trouble with traditional education was not the only thing that caused some of his peers to label Yoakum as ‘different’ in school. “My parents divorced when I was young, and my mother remarried to a woman,” he shares. “So, in high school, I was often teased for having a mom who was gay—and because I was artistic and into music, some people automatically assumed I was gay, and I was bullied. I did have friends, and they were from a lot of different groups in school—I never really fit into any category.”

Music, especially that of the 1960s and ’70s, was a respite for the young man. It is also a significant influence on Yoakum’s artwork. Growing up in Memphis, he has a connection to some of the greats who recorded and performed there during those decades and afterward.

Their music and history are scattered throughout the city where Yoakum also spent some time living on the streets in his late teens due to difficult circumstances.

Just like with people, Yoakum says he finds the imperfections in the art to be what make a piece so unique and inspiring. He greatly admires the silkscreen print style of such pop art predecessors as Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg. “With Warhol—he would run a screen through the press and just let the first pieces of paper scatter across the floor while the machine warmed up,” Yoakum says. “He’d end up with all these similar images, but each one was unique with its colors and the ink splotches and things like that.” Warhol likened his process to being a machine himself. “It’s such an experience when you see an Andy Warhol painting in person; it’s a lot different than seeing it in a book or on a screen. I want people to have an experience when they see my art.”

Previous spread: Artist Nathan Alan Yoakum with his pop art installation 9 Marilyns Opposite: A pink blossom from Nathan Alan Yoakum’s Epoxy Flowers collection Above left: Presley 36 × 36 inches, mixed media on silkscreen Left: Refraction 24 × 24 inches V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 33

MY POP ART IS INSPIRED BY THE WORKS OF THOSE ARTISTS, AND IT’S KIND OF MY TRIBUTE TO THEM AND A WAY TO KEEP THEIR LEGACY AND THEIR PROCESS ALIVE.

Above: Purple Heart epoxy sculpture Above right: Nathan Alan Yoakum with his sculptural resin artwork in Memphis Sing to Me 132 × 84 inches Right: Yellow blossom from Yoakum’s Epoxy Flowers collection 34 | AUGUST 2020

s an homage to his heroes like Warhol and Rauschenberg, Yoakum also creates silkscreen paintings and prints, many featuring classic celebrities, including Audrey Hepburn, Elvis Presley, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and more.

“My pop art is inspired by the works of those artists, and it’s kind of my tribute to them and a way to keep their legacy and their process alive,” he says. Some of Yoakum’s silkscreen prints are stretched across a frame like canvas so that you can see bits of light shining through around the ink and paint.

Yoakum moved to Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, in 2006 with his wife, Polly, and he was immediately drawn to the laid-back culture along the coast. His newfound love of surfing was even part of what inspired his abstract resin artwork, having used resin and wax when maintaining his boards and realizing how the medium could move and adapt over different surfaces.

Visual Perspectives

athan came to our first showroom here in the Northwest Florida area fourteen years ago and fell in love with our style, store, and furniture. He asked us if we would be interested in looking at his art,” recalls Todd Reeves, co-owner and designer at isidro dunbar Modern Interiors. “He said he was doing resin-style art, a new medium for our store to show. It was beautiful, and we immediately felt that it was right for the showroom. His art has evolved over the years, as has Nathan. We are proud to have known him through the years and to watch him keep expanding with more and more freedom in his art.

He is talented beyond what you see and has thoughts in his mind that we have yet to discover. I always look forward to seeing what he’ll do next!” Reeves’s partner in business and life, Jorge Saiz, agrees, adding, “We are his only local showroom and consider ourselves very lucky to have his pieces. Art helps our clients tie their looks together. Good art won’t always match your furniture perfectly, but it does—and should—speak to you. Nathan’s art does just that.”

Movement, vibrancy, and rhythm are all present in every piece that Yoakum creates, and viewing one in person is, just as the artist described seeing the works of his heroes, an experience to remember. Whether it’s a series of oversized blossoms evoking the peace and love movement of the ’60s and ’70s, an abstract piece of three-dimensional resin artwork, or a silkscreen portrait of your favorite Old Hollywood celebrity, each piece elicits bold thoughts and storytelling. Each story inspires like the music Yoakum loves, from the lyrical swirling resin to the staccato spattered paint; every symphony in color and technique gives the viewer a glimpse into the world of the artist, seeing things others cannot.

Visit NathanAlanYoakumArt.com or follow him on Instagram @nathan_alan_yoakum_art_ to see more.

His pieces are available at Jay Etkin Gallery in Memphis, isidro dunbar Modern Interiors in Miramar Beach, Florida, and Chic Evolution in Art in Atlanta.

Above left: Mandela Effect 48 × 48 inches Left: Yoakum created this Audrey Hepburn– inspired piece in Florida in 2015.

Audrey H 48 × 60 inches V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 35

We’re saving the best spot on the beach for you.

Corcoran Corcoran is is elevating elevating the the real real estate estate experience experience in in Northwest Northwest Florida.

Florida.

4042 EE COUNTY 4042 COUNTY HIGHWAY HIGHWAY 30A, 30A, SUITE SUITE D D ||| SEAGROVE SEAGROVE BEACH BEACH ||| 850.534.0288 850.231.5030 ||| CORCORAN.COM/NORTHWEST-FLORIDA CORCORAN.COM/NORTHWEST-FLORIDA 4042 E COUNTY HIGHWAY 30A, SUITE D SEAGROVE BEACH 850.534.0288 CORCORAN.COM/NORTHWEST-FLORIDA ©2020 Corcoran Group LLC. All rights reserved. Corcoran® and the Corcoran Logo are registered service marks owned by Corcoran Group LLC. ©2020 Corcoran LLC.the All principles rights reserved.

Corcoran® Logo are registered service marks owned

by Corcoran Group LLC. Corcoran Group LLC fullyGroup supports of the Fair Housingand Actthe andCorcoran the Equal Opportunity Act. Each franchise is independently owned and operated.

Corcoran Group LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each franchise is independently owned and operated.

Seeing the

Humor in Life

An Artist’s Perspective on Art and Love Interview by Ab igail Ryan Artwork by Elizab e th DeJ u re Wo od 38 | AUGUST 2020

Visual Perspectives

They say, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” but sometimes a thousand words don’t do a piece justice. Elizabeth DeJure Wood, an artist and illustrator based in New Hampshire, creates a whole world of simplicity with deep meaning in every creation.

B

orn and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Wood’s earliest memories as a child involved creating things. Wood discovered her love for art in kindergarten. “I was a shy and introverted kid, and art was one of the few activities that felt totally comfortable and natural,” she says. “The meditative state that creating art can manifest was something that happened with ease, but I couldn’t articulate that at the time.”

We had a chance to sit down with Elizabeth DeJure Wood to discuss her work, her favorite success stories, and what’s to come:

VIE: What inspires you when you’re creating your pieces?

Elizabeth DeJure Wood: Humor inspires me. I see it as a way to let go of one’s ego, even for a brief moment, and not be afraid to share our awkwardness and imperfections. I see subtle and funny occurrences with people or animals that can often represent the most sincere moments of joy and authenticity.

VIE: What does your artwork aim to say?

EW: I don’t typically approach my art with a specific message in mind. When I look at patterns in my work, I notice recurring themes, including gentleness, acceptance in terms of human diversity, self-love, kindness, and a reverence for Mother Nature. I have an undergraduate degree in anthropology, and human variation, in all of its forms, has always captivated me, and those early studies inform my work.

VIE: Which artists or people are you most influenced by when you’re creating?

EW: Some artists who influence me the most when I am creating are William Barnett, Horace Pippin, Clare Rojas, Mouni Feddag, and Kananginak Pootoogook, to name a few.

VIE: How have you developed your career over the years?

EW: For practical reasons, I began my career in graphic design. For years, I also continued studying art at local art schools at night.

Design jobs always had art requirements, so over the years, I began introducing more of my own art into my design work. I was reticent about sharing my work publicly, so I was not on social media for a long time. It became overwhelmingly clear that I needed to make art regularly, so I began some professional art courses on how to get into the business and what to show in a portfolio. I finally joined social media as a way of sharing my work with more people.

VIE: How do you navigate through the art world?

EW: Once my portfolio was in a good place, I began reaching out directly to publishers and art directors via email. In addition to directly contacting art directors, a lot of my business comes through word of mouth. In producing new work, I have found it helpful to support others, follow trends, or just watch cat videos.

I also take breaks from social media to go outside and gain inspiration so that I can create work without the influence of trends. I enjoy museums when I have the chance to travel. I find most of my inspiration through ordinary moments, such as walking in my neighborhood.

I’ve focused on editorial work because I love working with narratives and the quick problem-solving aspects of editorial. It mirrors my approach to graphic design work in many ways. I’ve also sold a lot of original work from my online shop and through a local art event, and I provided illustrations for a book on a beloved local island and its summer community. I’m developing my own silkscreened textile designs, which will launch on West Elm’s virtual pop-up artist series. I’ve also created some rug designs for a hand-knotted wool rug company. I would like to illustrate a book that is meant for all ages to enjoy.

VIE: What advice would you give your younger self?

EW: I would say to my younger self to not be guided by fear. Making bad art will lead to making good art and to be at ease with that uncomfortable process. Don’t listen to the naysayers about an art career being impossible. While these folks most often mean well, they share sound bites that can’t possibly encompass an entire industry. Don’t suppress the kind of art you want to do because of what you think you should be doing to look like a serious artist. Send polite emails to successful artists, find out what keeps them motivated. Draw every single day even if it’s just a doodle. Understand that an art career can mean a lot of things, and it’s OK if your approach and path are different from someone else’s. And, as Bob Ross said, “Never apologize for your art.”

Left: People Party

by Elizabeth DeJure Wood V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 39

VIE: What does your art mean to you?

“

The illustrations focus on women and travel—very poignant, personal stories that were an honor to depict.

EW: Although an artist can be their own worst critic, making art is a sanctuary for me, a place to explore my intuition and enjoy the process of creating things, not always with a guaranteed outcome. For others who connect with my work, I hope it brings happiness and peace, whether for a brief moment while leafing through a magazine or enjoying artwork over an extended period.

VIE: So far in your career, you’ve collaborated with national publications, organizations, and brands. Can you elaborate more on those projects?

EW: Receiving an email inquiry from Condé Nast Traveler about my work was thrilling. As a longtime traveler and admirer of the publication, I was excited to work with them. The illustrations focus on women and travel—very poignant, personal stories that were an honor to depict. One was about a woman who took up mushroom foraging while grieving her husband’s passing and the healing aspects of hobbyist travel. I had just been in the woods photographing mushrooms before I got the assignment. It was fortuitous synchronicity, and I love it when that happens. Illustrated Impact, a nonprofit organization, published and wrote about diverse illustrations for over a year to draw attention to important humanitarian and social justice causes. I created a couple of illustrations for them. One was for the Native American Rights Fund (NARF)—it was published one day before the Corps of Engineers under the Obama administration denied an easement for construction of the pipeline under the Missouri River.

The pipeline would negatively impact and desecrate sacred land on Standing Rock Reservation and other communities. Unfortunately, the easement denial did not last, but it felt empowering to be in solidarity with an important social justice movement.

VIE: If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be and why?

EW: I’d love to work with Aaron Glasson, a prolific muralist and sculptor. Perhaps we could build an outdoor installation that is both utilitarian and decorative, as I have seen in his work.

VIE: What’s your favorite piece that you’ve created?

EW: My favorite piece I’ve painted is Moon People because it combines several of my interests and touches on themes of gentleness and humor while also having some ethnographic references. It’s also done in a style I strive for in my work: creating a pattern-like design (a little bit like a repeat pattern) but without its being a pattern; strong forms that are pared down but woven with other forms to create some depth.

Above: Inside & Outside by Elizabeth DeJure Wood 40 | AUGUST 2020

To learn more about Elizabeth DeJure Wood and view her work, visit her website ElizabethDeJureWood.com or follow her on Instagram at @elizabethdejurewood.

Visual Perspectives

“

My favorite piece I’ve painted is Moon

People because it combines several of my interests and touches on themes of gentleness and humor while also having some ethnographic references.

Right: Moon People

by Elizabeth DeJure Wood

Consistently delicious since 1995!

3899 E. County Highway 30A, Seagrove ∙ 850.231.2166 ∙ Open Daily At 5 ∙ cafethirtya.com

Visual Perspectives

42 | AUGUST 2020

DIFFERENT STROKES Making Art Her Own Way

By Kelsey Ogletree Photography courtesy of Gee Gee Collins

A

single Instagram message catapulted Minneapolis artist Gee Gee Collins’s career to new heights. Yet she almost deleted it.

The DM (direct message) came from American fashion designer and Project Runway alum Christian Siriano.

Left: Artist Gee Gee Collins with her painting The Women of Cinque Terre 60 × 72 inches Photo by Michael Haug Right: The Women of Casablanca 60 × 72 inches

She nearly skipped right over his message—asking if she had any large, figurative paintings available— thankfully, she realized it was the real deal. Collins messaged him back, explaining what was in stock.

Before she knew it, she and her two daughters were on a plane to Siriano’s store in New York City, where they traded a few of her paintings (now hanging in his home in Westport, Connecticut) for dresses, including a strappy, knee-length black number with lace overlay that fits Collins like a glove.

It was a surprising moment that came full circle for Collins, whose mother, Joyce, owned a chain of boutique women’s stores. “When I was eight years old, she traded someone clothes for my braces,” Collins recalls, “so trading was in the family.”

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 43

Visual Perspectives

W

eeks after the visit, Collins posted a rare portrait of herself on Instagram wearing the dress, along with fancy heels that also came from Siriano.

“Just wanted you to know I always wear five-inch heels when I paint,” she quipped in the caption.

Forming Her Own Path Not taking herself too seriously is one reason Collins has been so successful in her second career as an artist.

Her love for creating things began in preschool, where she’d hide in the back of the classroom to do finger paintings on a double-sided easel. “It was just fun to me—so free, no rules,” she says. Years later, she majored in art in college but then began working in health care instead.

That all changed when a close friend told her how she’d sold one of her own paintings, and Collins also saw her mother taking up art in her retirement. She began to think that maybe she really could turn her passion into a career. After being turned down by countless galleries—she says she emailed one in Minneapolis at least ten times and heard crickets—Catherine Kelleghan Gallery in Atlanta was the “yes” she’d been looking for. After keeping her health-care job while painting on the side for about seven years, Collins finally went full-time as an artist in 2014.

Things have evolved dramatically since her first gallery days. The way she works has changed; she’s gone from fitting her paintings into a specific box to returning to her “no rules” mind-set from childhood. “When I was getting into galleries, I was trying to stay in a certain lane,” says Collins. “It took a while for me to finally realize my whimsical side—that painting figures didn’t have to be realistic.”

A Style All Her Own

Above right: Gee Gee Collins wearing a dress

by Christian Siriano Photo by Michael Haug Hair and makeup by Donna Kelly 44 | AUGUST 2020

These days, her pieces are about color, pattern, and creating harmony among the shapes. She primarily paints the female form, not because she is trying to convey some underlying meaning, but simply because she thinks it’s beautiful. “My art’s not that deep; I like to draw the figures and I relate to them because I’m a woman,” she says. “I don’t overthink; I just like to feel and paint.” Sometimes, she forgets she’s painting figures altogether, focusing more on the vivid colors on her paper or canvas.

One of her favorite pieces she’s ever done is a large painting—six feet by seven feet— resembling a reimagined version of Raphael’s Sistine Madonna. “It was about taking something classic, making it mine, and making it now,” Collins explains. She created

“

My art’s not that deep; I like to draw the figures and I relate to them because I’m a woman. I don’t overthink; I just like to feel and paint.

it inside the studio below her garage, which has high ceilings that allow her to hang big canvases while she works on them (and yes, the walls are covered in nail holes, she laughs).

Inside her studio is where she’s most content, jamming out to Taylor Swift, Prince, or R.E.M. on her Beats by Dre headphones, with black coffee in one hand and a brush in the other. Her three cats and springer spaniel circle around her feet (they’re only locked out when she’s pouring resin—no one wants cat hair in their paintings, she says). Collins rarely spends an entire day focused on one task; she’s most creative when she’s interrupted, she says, running errands and shuttling

“

It took a while for me to finally realize my whimsical side—that painting figures didn’t have to be realistic.

her three kids around throughout the day. At night, she loves cooking, which she compares to creating art in that she likes to make things up as she goes along— a little more garlic here, a pinch more salt there.

Replacing the Gallery While there’s no exact method for what she creates in her studio or the kitchen, Collins sticks to a triedand-true process for selling her art: Instagram. At first, she was disinterested in social media, but she changed her tune when she recognized the potential for artists sharing their work through this visual platform.

Above: The Gold Cheek Madonna Right: Figure #5 Far Right: Midnight Garden V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 45

Visual Perspectives

C

ollins has sold thousands of paintings on Instagram, sometimes in as little as an hour or two. The first follower to comment “sold” on a photo or send her a DM about it usually gets the piece. “There’s a place for galleries, to show off paintings, but they can’t take everything you paint,” Collins notes. Larger, spendier works can take a little more time to sell, and doing business this way requires Collins to check in on things more often than she might at a gallery. However, it’s easier and faster for her to be able to sell them on her own, even without having a virtual shop. “I try to check in, then I paint and go about my life,” she says.

Checking in on Instagram even benefits her work, as it deters her from overdoing it on her paintings. “You know what they say: Everybody creates a masterpiece, then paints over it,” Collins says. “Sometimes, being able to walk away is nice.”

Visit GeeGeeCollins.com or follow along on Instagram @geegeecollins to learn more.

Kelsey Ogletree is a Chicago-based writer covering travel, wellness, and design for publications that include Robb Report, Shape, Architectural Digest, and more.

Always on the hunt for stories and forever a notetaker, she never leaves home without her mini Moleskine and at least two pens.

Left: The Women of Mykonos by Gee Gee Collins makes a statement in fashion designer Christian Siriano’s home in Westport, Connecticut.

46 | AUGUST 2020

L’intermission

Paper Cut

Cut-paper artwork

by Stina Persson See more and shop other pieces at StinaPersson.com or follow her on Instagram @stina_persson_illustration.

The fashionable and fierce women of Stina Persson’s cut-paper and ink artwork are looking sharp! The Swedish artist uses layering, sketch work, ink drops, and elegant lines to bring her effortlessly cool style to the next level.

Love, VIE xo V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 47

Visual Perspectives

W

OD DS

CREATING AGAINST THE

hat Krisann and Euthym Kontaxis always wished for their three boys was a full life that would see them making a contribution to the world and supporting themselves while doing something they loved. Their faith and hopes were borne out: Michael, the eldest, became a filmmaker; and Christian, the youngest, is a medical student attracting attention for his research into COVID-19. But for years, the notion of fulfillment, let alone fame and fortune, seemed an impossible dream for the couple’s middle son, who, at the pivotal time he was starting to walk and talk, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor causing severe developmental damage.

However, at age twenty-four, it is Nicholas Kontaxis who has a higher profile than either of his brothers, wowing the world with paintings and making a living through his art against all the odds. Despite suffering fifty thousand seizures to date, Nicholas has emerged as an internationally collected young artist whose paintings command up to five figures and hang on the walls of celebrities at home in the US and abroad, including those of tennis ace Roger Federer. On the one hand, it seems astonishing for a young man who cannot communicate with his clients through conventional language; on the other, it’s not surprising given the immediate appeal of his dramatic, vibrant canvases, which show a real love of color and an absolute joy in the process of spreading paint.

48 | AUGUST 2020

By ANTHEA GERRIE Photography courtesy of NICHOLAS KONTAXIS

Left: Nicholas Kontaxis and his mother, Krisann Kontaxis.

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 49

Visual Perspectives

N

icholas alone is the artist, making it clear what colors he wants to work with on any given day and suggesting to his mother, who says “absolutely, he can communicate” what his finished canvas will represent, giving rise to titles like Hear the Rain and Sandwich Please. But the Kontaxis success story is very much a family affair. Krisann is the ever-present mom charged with everything from nurturing her son’s art to keeping him away from the sugar and carbs that could cause a seizure.

Euthym tucks him into bed and rises to give him medication throughout the night.

Twenty-seven-year-old Michael and twenty-year-old Christian have become fiercely protective of their brother, who, despite his condition, “really loves all the male energy” when hanging out with them, according to their mom.

None of the lifelong challenges this family was destined to face were evident when Nicholas was born, a sweet baby who did all the expected things at the right time.

“He was right on track—he crawled, walked, and at fourteen months was just starting to talk,” says Krisann. But at fifteen months, he had his first seizure. “It was subtle at first, but when it became obvious something wasn’t right, we took him to Boston Children’s Hospital,” says Krisann. Two weeks of tests revealed a tumor so deep in the brain that a biopsy could not be performed. It turned out to be stable and slow growing, albeit highly disruptive.

Since then, Krisann and Euthym have battled to control their son’s seizures—up to thirty a day—against the odds (all the more difficult because Nicholas proved allergic to prescribed medications). His epilepsy, which provokes falls and could cause sudden death, has never been fully controlled, “although the ketogenic diet we put him on immediately helped,” says Krisann.

In 1999, the family moved from the East Coast to California, where Euthym is now the director of the emergency room at Eisenhower Medical Center, in order to be close to a big city for hospital appointments. They frequently make the twohundred-mile round-trip from their desert home to Los Angeles.

After spending his preschool years in mainstream schools with the support of teaching aides, Nicholas moved to a school with special education classes, “although he was always able to access some mainstream classes, primarily art and the occasional science class in high school, which he seemed to enjoy,” says Krisann. Later, doubts arose about Nicholas’s suitability for a job-share program organized to help prepare students for work. “Because of his seizures, it was clear he could not safely do any of the jobs suggested.”

50 | AUGUST 2020

A solution surfaced at Opportunity Village in Las Vegas, a facility dedicated to the vocational assessment of young people with special needs. “They have an art lab, and we saw that painting, which Nicholas had been doing in school for ten years, might be something he could do as an adult,” says Krisann. “He had loved color from a young age, so it reinforced a path we were already on.”

To qualify for art-based training, however, Nicholas had to show he could make an income from painting. It was his aunt, Jenni Pulos (Krisann’s sister), who provided the vital validation. “An interior designer, she knew and loved his work and used some of his pieces to decorate a client’s home, which prompted his school to graciously allow him the time and space to pursue his art,” says Krisann.

A home studio was established where Nicholas would continue to paint after the hours he put in at school.

He now works there full-time. Krisann furnished the space with plenty of paints and palette knives, which the young artist prefers to brushes. She says, “Now we have a much larger variety of knives, and he also uses hoes and rakes for his large-scale works.”

In 2015, Jenni, an Emmy-nominated producer, organized his first exhibition in LA, which was attended by

Above: The Kontaxis family, including Grandma and aunt Jenni Pulos, celebrate Nicholas’s artwork at the De Re Gallery, formerly located on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles.

Photo by Taili Song Roth

“

HIS JOY IN CREATING AND SUCCESS IN MAKING ART ARE A TRUE MIRACLE AND A GIFT FROM GOD;

several of her celebrity connections. Since then, Nicholas has sold more than three hundred canvases, ranging in price from $1,200 to $35,000.

He is also getting commissions. The first was from Kaiser Permanente hospitals in California; a buyer for the organization saw his work at an LA show to which he had submitted forty paintings and sold all but four—the first of nine straight near sell-out exhibitions across the US and another in London. The Kaiser commission is a commanding seven-foot-by-three-foot canvas; another giant mural was commissioned for the Desert Jet Center terminal at Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport in Coachella Valley. Nicholas’s other corporate patrons have included Adidas and the Los Angeles Chargers.

WE ARE SO GRATEFUL. “We always treated Nicholas the same, even when his ability to accomplish the latter seemed a reach.” She seems to exude gratitude from every pore when she adds, “His joy in creating and success in making art are a true miracle and a gift from God; we are so grateful.”

LEARN MORE ABOUT NICHOLAS’S

While Nicholas clearly considers big to be beautiful, many of his most charming canvases are small but perfectly formed. “He often makes eight-by-ten-inch ‘experiments’ from which he pulls the colors for larger works,” says Krisann, who invests the proceeds of his sales into new paints and tools as well as the considerable level of ongoing care he requires.

She says parental hopes for Nicholas’s future at birth were not diminished by his devastating diagnosis. “Our goals for all three boys were essentially the same—to have high morals, be good people who are kind and giving, have a good work ethic, enjoy what they choose to do, and support themselves.

WORK AT NICHOLASKONTAXIS.COM.

Anthea Gerrie is based in the UK but travels the world in search of stories.

Her special interests are architecture and design, culture, food, and drink, as well as the best places to visit in the world’s great playgrounds. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, the Independent, and Blueprint.

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 51

N E W L Y

L I S T E D

FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES PLEASE VISIT

viemagazine.com/beachshowhome

JA M E S

WAT T S

Luxury Real Estate and Development BeachLuxury30A.com | (850) 246-1809 @BeachLuxury30A

Motion Standing in Place

Curating Perfection at

SUMMER HOUSE LIFESTYLE

By JORDAN STAGGS | Photography courtesy of AUSTIN ALLEN JAMES 54 | AUGUST 2020

Visual Perspectives

D

reamy abstract paintings and simple yet impactful furnishings create beautiful spaces when the work of artist Austin Allen James is implemented. His work has graced the walls and halls of homes and businesses throughout the United States. Each piece brings a sense of peace and beauty to its surroundings.

"My art is tranquil, settled, and melodic,” says James. “It feels ephemeral and constant.

I enjoy juxtaposition. Art is art when it demands more than one emotion at a time. I feel driven and satisfied when I paint; the physical act of painting is soothing.”

James was born in Putnam, Connecticut, but grew up in Houston. His ancestors, he says, can be traced back to the Mayflower on both sides. Growing up, James shared a passion for art with his great-grandmother. He owns many of her paintings today and says that, unlike business or traditional office careers, “Painting and poetry never bored me, and I pushed myself into the world of art.” Although his two bachelor’s and two master’s degrees led him to work for an advertising firm and a nonprofit, James knew this path wasn’t his destiny. “I was an artist with no art for a few years.” He earned a third master’s, this time in poetics from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. “I received my MFA by 1998, and I was intent on making art my mission from that point. I love creating beauty.”

That bohemian pursuit, which James says is led by the freedom to create beauty, has guided his creative process to change and adapt over the years. It’s not always easy, but doing what he loves is ultimately the best reward. “Developing a new

style pushes me to fail,” James says. “Failure is always challenging, and that is where my next compositional style exists. Art is an evolution. It is as if the frustration creates new beauty.” That tension and movement show on each canvas, which James says mimics “motion standing in place.” His work is finished in resin, creating a glossy finish that resembles a window or mirror looking into what the artist calls “a secret scene, a captured world.”

In addition to his lyrical, inspiring paintings, James branched into creating furniture and decorative trays that are handcrafted in his Texas studio. The tables and trays come in two metallic base colors—French gold or satin nickel—with various sizes and unique fine-art surfaces that resemble his canvas works.

As is to be expected, the serene tones and timeless style of James’s art has made him a favorite among interior designers throughout the US. James believes V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 55

Visual Perspectives

Right: Artwork by Austin Allen James is available for purchase at Summer House Lifestyle in Grayton Beach, Florida. The store’s owner, interior designer Melissa Skowlund, has featured James’s work in her designs over the past several years since the pair met at High Point Market.

Photo courtesy of Summer House Lifestyle

56 | AUGUST 2020

“SEEING THE PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS INSTALLED IN A HOME OR COMMERCIAL SPACE IS EXHILARATING.” that art and interior design are one and the same, both driven by emotion. “Designers challenge me with their visions,” he says. “Seeing the physical manifestation of the creative process installed in a home or commercial space is exhilarating.”

James met interior designer Melissa Skowlund at the High Point Market in North Carolina, and the pair immediately bonded over a shared enthusiasm for that creative process of making beautiful spaces come together. Skowlund, the owner and principal designer of Melissa Skowlund Interiors and her retail store, Summer House Lifestyle in Grayton Beach, Florida, has used James’s work in many of her designs since they crossed paths.

Stacey Leonhard out of New Orleans who was also hunting for some pieces for her new Gulf-front home. She already had a collection of Austin’s work in her Dallas home. Once Austin and I met at High Point Market, it was clear that we would be partnering on a lot of ventures. He is so willing to work with designers and seems to really understand what I am looking for each time.”

“I had seen Austin’s work in some John Richard furniture pieces and was immediately smitten with it,” Skowlund recalls. “Then, I had a client named

For the artist who has been inspired by introspective predecessors such as Mark Rothko and more, James says he believes the most important thing about art is that it creates “an emotional connection to lives past, present, and future.” For those hoping to be successful as artists themselves, he says, “Paint every day,” and, “Push creativity beyond the current status.”

James visits Summer House Lifestyle every few months to deliver new artwork to the store. Throughout the rest of 2020, James will also show his work in locations across the southern states, in Florida, and along the East Coast.

Visit AustinAllenJames.com or follow on Instagram @austinallenjames to see more and keep up with news and events.

Melissa Skowlund and Summer House Lifestyle are also working with Q Tile, Coastal Elements Construction, and VIE as a partner on the VIE Beach House – A Show Home coming to Seagrove Beach, Florida, in fall 2020. Skowlund’s impeccable design and the coastal yet all-encompassing furnishings, fabrics, decor, and more found at Summer House Lifestyle are a perfect fit for the home. Her work will be highlighted throughout the main living room area. Featuring custom tile and unique design elements throughout, the home is meant to embody the ideal retreat or primary residence near the gorgeous white-sand beaches of Northwest Florida’s Gulf Coast. See more of Skowlund’s work, make an appointment with her design team, or shop now at SummerHouseLifestyle.com. To learn more about the VIE Beach House – A Show Home, visit VIEmagazine.com/BeachShowHome.

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 57

Furniture • Rugs • Accessories • Lighting • Art • Interiors

Atlanta

Birmingham

Destin

Spanish Fort

To-the-Trade Services • In-Home Design Consultation www.stockandtrade.com

Nashville

Le monde

Built on Pride

by Melissa Koby Visit KolorMeKoby.com or follow Melissa on Instagram @mkoby_ to learn more. Prints are available on Etsy.com/Shop/MKobyArt.

Le monde GOES ROUND AND ROUND

“Built on Pride plays two roles,” says artist Melissa Koby of this beautiful illustration. “It’s a celebration of womanhood and friendships. I created it after a long weekend of amazing support from my own group of friends, who, without asking, showed up for me in presence and kindness. I walked into the following work week feeling so supported, loved, and hopeful from them just being there for me. Secondly, and equally important, it is a nod to the LGBTQ community. June was Pride Month, and it was celebrated in the same way (with love and support). Not just because of COVID, but also because I feel like the community really banded together in solidarity with the black community. The image can be a celebration of friendship or a celebration of Pride for you, but to me, they’re one in the same.”

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 59

Le monde

THE LAST HUNTER-GATHERERS

FISHING THE FINAL FRONTIER

Commercial fishing is one of America’s last “hunter-gatherer” industries and can be a harrowing profession for the men and women who spend months on boats in remote parts of Alaska, such as Bristol Bay, pictured here.

Opposite: Lobster caught off the coast of Santa Barbara, California 60 | AUGUST 2020

By MEGAN WALDREP Photography by BRI DWYER

I

n northwestern Washington, Serena Dabney, Bri Dwyer, and I sit around the dining room table near a large window looking over the Salish Sea. Serena’s four-month-old baby boy, Waylon, is bobbing gently in his bouncy chair, cooing and smiling as his mom reflects on a decade of commercial fishing in Bristol Bay, Alaska, and her transition to starting a family. She explains that Bristol Bay, specifically, is an “uprooting fishery,” where fishermen need to drop everything for months in the summer before returning home to resume a normal life. (A fishery is defined as a place where fish are caught for commercial purposes.)

There’s no room for early motherhood in Bristol Bay. If you’re picking fish from a gill net, pregnancy and breastfeeding are impracticable, not to mention dangerous. If Serena wanted a family, giving up a life she knew was the only choice. “Initially, it was really hard,” she says. “It felt like a huge part of my identity was being given up for something I didn’t immediately have to replace it.” Three years after her last season, Waylon was born, as was her new identity as a mother.

Though Serena no longer fishes, her husband, Dave Jennings, has been a commercial fisherman for twentytwo years and continues to fish the bay for sockeye salmon. “Knowing that commercial fishing is still part of our family is really important to me,” Serena says.

“Coming from a commercial fishing family—my dad fished, and now I’m with someone who fishes—I don’t feel that I’ve totally lost it because it’s still part of our family identity even though it’s not part of mine.”

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 61

Le monde

S

erena’s older brother, Chris Dabney, is also a commercial fisherman in Alaska and recently took over their father’s spiny lobster permit to fish in Santa Barbara, California. That’s how we’re all linked; Chris is my fiancé, and Bri Dwyer is a professional photographer who shot pictures aboard Dave’s boat a few years ago when Chris was a deckhand. Bri captures the lifestyle more vividly than any photographer in the game, and after I saw her images and we became pen pals for a few months, Bri traveled to California to shoot the lobster fishery. We became fast friends. Married to Captain Sean Dwyer, a former cast member on Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch, Bri says shooting the industry is a way to understand her husband’s career more intimately. “I am drawn to the work ethic and the physicality of the industry and what both of those bring to my images,” Bri says. “It’s real sweat, real sacrifice, and real people working hard.

Every image I create on the water is exactly what’s happening in real life.”

“

IT’S REAL SWEAT, REAL SACRIFICE, AND REAL PEOPLE WORKING HARD. EVERY IMAGE I CREATE ON THE WATER IS EXACTLY WHAT’S HAPPENING IN REAL LIFE.

Only the strong survive commercial fishing in Bristol Bay. Long hours, lack of sleep, no showers, and no contact with family for weeks are taxing both mentally and physically. And that says nothing of the forty-knot winds, the cold weather, and the confused seas that make commercial fishing one of the most dangerous jobs in existence. So, really, only the strong survive if they’re vigilant and lucky. It’s a saltwater-inthe-veins love for the sea and the potential to make a year’s salary in a few short weeks that call fishermen to a job that many wouldn’t dare take. The industry is so huge, it produces billions of dollars’ worth of seafood every year, yet people within the industry are connected less intricately.

62 | AUGUST 2020

For partners of commercial fishermen, it can be a solitary life. For months on end, a partner must handle all household responsibilities, care for children and pets, and keep spirits high until their loved one returns home. Other women who can relate are few and far between, which is why the private Facebook group Partners of Commercial Fishermen acts as a support community for women to express worry and stress to like-minded people.

This group is also helpful when, for example, you discover your fiancé is going to hire a female deckhand for spiny lobster season. A deckhand who will sleep in the same cabin as him a few nights a week. A woman who will spend more time with your man than you will for six whole months. That was a personal struggle I dealt with last year. Trying to remain calm when I first heard the news, I asked Chris why he decided to hire a woman. “I hired Emily because she had a lot of previous fishing experience, which is a huge plus,” he said. “She had fished in Alaska, which is definitely one of the more demanding fisheries out there, and she

Above: Chris Dabney and Megan Waldrep

came highly recommended by a buddy of mine who said that she was tough and reliable.” Chris explained that hiring deckhands is a game of chance. You can’t know from a simple interview how they will perform or if your personalities will mesh in a difficult work environment. “Emily seemed eager,” Chris said. “How quickly they want to start and how much they want to work is a good indication that they are hardworking and there to make some money.”

Trusting our relationship, I quickly realized how hard it could be for a woman in a male-dominated profession. I wanted not only to ease the added stress of her situation, but also to be a friend.

Deckhand Emily Ekbom is a thirty-year-old from Michigan who discovered commercial fishing after moving to San Francisco. Once there, the small-town Midwestern girl at heart found she wanted more than partying at big-city bars. “A friend of mine randomly called and said he was heading back up to Alaska to work on a boat, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” Emily says. She subleased her apartment, sold her car, quit her job, and moved everything into storage. “I found

a female captain on Craigslist, of all places, looking for female crew members to help her catch salmon on her seiner in Kodiak, Alaska.” Since then, Emily has worked four fisheries along the West Coast and says she hasn’t had problems with men being inappropriate. “More so, it’s problems with guys being able to comprehend they’re on an even working field with a chick.” Though money is not guaranteed—fishermen do not know how much they’ll be paid until the boat is docked at the end of the season—and the weather can be gnarly, to say the least, Emily looks to the simple pleasures like living on a boat for months at a time, watching orcas cruise by, and feeling the freedom that no cell-phone service brings. A slower life. “I love being able to unplug and just live in every moment, good and bad,” she says. “We overcomplicate our lives with so many unnecessary things and distractions.”

Above: Captain Dave Jennings (right) and his crew untangle salmon from their nets in Bristol Bay, Alaska.

Left: Dungeness crab from Puget Sound Opposite: Fisherman Rosario Aiello working hard in Bristol Bay

That’s how Dave sees it too. Once an Army Ranger, he explains that the challenge of harsh conditions is part of who he is. “It’s a lot of why I was drawn to Buddhism in high school. This whole life is transient, and the suffering is how we take it in our mind,” Dave says. “If you try and perceive it a little differently, it’s not that bad. There’s beauty out there.” He admits he’s more drawn to boatbuilding than commercial fishing, but he’ll fish as long as it stays profitable. “I’d love to V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 63

Le monde continue for twenty years and have Waylon take over, but I also don’t care if he does,” Dave admits. “I’d also love to spend the next twenty years boatbuilding in the winter and sailing with him all summer.”

Back in Washington, baby Waylon has fallen asleep. Serena, Bri, and I clear the table and quietly say good-bye to each other before Chris and Dave return home for dinner. With both parents, an uncle, and a grandfather—not to mention great-uncles and second cousins—who have been or are currently in the industry, Waylon could be a third-generation fisherman to enter the grind. No matter where his life may lead, Waylon embodies thousands of families who make up the American commercial fishing industry, a mighty group of men and women who are some of the last hunter-gatherers in America’s last frontier. Together, they are the faces behind US wild-caught seafood. These are the faces behind each catch.

Savannah Lishnerness and Sean Dwyer reel in a crab trap from Puget Sound.

VISIT BRIDWYERIMAGES.COM TO SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM COMMERCIAL FISHING LIFE IN AMERICA. Megan Waldrep is a freelance writer who recently traded life on a thirty-four-foot sailboat in Mexico for a vintage Airstream in Carpinteria, California. She also writes a relationship blog called I Heart under the pen name Elizabeth Rose. What does all this mean? Find out at MeganWaldrep.com.

64 | AUGUST 2020

Above: According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the Bristol Bay fishery accounted for over $306 million worth of salmon in 2019, topping its all-time record.

Left: Mandy Hansen has been featured on the hit Discovery Channel series Deadliest Catch.

SHEROBAR.COM A new nutrition bar designed for the SUPERHERO in YOU

Mari Winsor R E M E M B E R E D

B Y L A U R E T T E R YA N PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY of MARI WINSOR

“Why me?” she thought, and then she realized, “Why not me?”

M

ari Winsor, celebrity fitness personality and icon in the Pilates industry, was diagnosed with ALS in 2013.

It would be life altering for anyone to receive such news. This could have been devastating, especially for someone whose life’s work was so established in the fitness and health industry.

However, Mari, with her warrior spirit, turned this news into a new opportunity. She recognized it as an opportunity to reach more people—to support them in continuing to move and be positive in whatever capacity they were able.

Mari spoke of seeing the movie, The Pride of the Yankees, a 1942 American film. It is a tribute to New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig, who died of ALS at age 37 only one year before the film’s release. Mari remembered that, even as a child, it saddened her greatly that there was no cure. Today, almost eighty years later, there is still no cure.

66 | AUGUST 2020

ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, people may lose the ability to speak, eat, move, and breathe. Medication and therapy can slow ALS and reduce discomfort. (The ALS Association) Born on March 11, 1950, in Marshall, Michigan, Mari grew up to study modern dance at Michigan State University. After college, Mari moved to New York City, and then eventually to San Francisco to dance, choreograph, and teach. In San Francisco, her choreography caught the eye of Huey Lewis, who hired her for his music video for “Heart and Soul” (1983). In 1984, Mari headed to Los Angeles, just when music-video production was at its height.

She was a featured dancer in music videos such as Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” (1988) and in such films as Moonwalker (1988), Salsa (1988), Road House (1989), and The Flash (1990).

Le monde

“

Winsor Pilates became known worldwide in 2003, when Mari made thirty videos with direct marketer Guthy-Renker and sold over fifty million programs.

A

fter her twenty-year choreography career, Mari reached her forties and knew it was time for a new challenge. Pilates was a perfect fit. She found a local Pilates studio to learn the practice and was soon hired as an instructor. Winsor Pilates became known worldwide in 2003, when Mari made thirty videos with direct marketer Guthy-Renker and sold over fifty million programs. Guthy-Renker was at first reluctant to consider Mari’s ideas, but it was her determination and drive that created a series credited with introducing the general public to the work of Joseph Pilates and his exercises.

Mari was as genuine and friendly as she was charismatic. I met her in 2007 at a Pilates conference in Florida. By then, she was internationally renowned.

She sat next to me in a movement workshop, and everyone buzzed, “Is that Mari Winsor? Is she taking this class?” She sat there unfazed, attentive and friendly to everyone. She was also presenting the next workshop I was scheduled to attend. I was amazed that she used one of the techniques we had just been taught, crediting the previous presenter. Her niece told me that Mari was always crediting others and sharing whatever knowledge she had received. That incident stuck with me through the years. What I learned from Mari was that teachers are still learners, and to be a great teacher, you learn and pass it on (and, of course, share the credit).

Pilates instructor and choreographer Mari Winsor V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 67

Le monde

“

Mari always made me feel included whether I could do the Pilates or not.

She always said, ‘It’s OK if you don’t come back.

I’ll love you anyway.’

FABULOUS KIDS’ FASHIONS & TOYS 62 main street ROSEMARY BEACH,FL gigisfabkids.com 850.231.0110

M

ari Winsor touched many lives throughout the world and in her studio. Her niece Mari Levitan shared how she tried to use humor not only to help her students get through a workout but also to bring joy into their movement and their lives.

When Mari’s time on earth was nearing the end, the world was in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown. Her friends and family organized several Zoom gatherings to share their love with her.

At one of the virtual gatherings, Maria Shriver said, “I actually wasn’t a really good client of Mari’s. I came in. I tried. She told me I had a beautiful body.

I tried to believe it. I tried to do her work. I wasn’t a good student, but she loved me anyway. I look at everyone’s posture on this, the way everyone is holding themselves, and I’m like, ‘Jesus, I better go

“

Mari was an elevated spirit with the most wonderful gift of laughter. We laughed a lot. I am forever grateful she chose me to love as her friend in this life.

Brooke Siler, a friend and colleague, reminisced, “As a leader in our community, Mari brought Pilates to people without judgment or elitism. She spoke her truth and was 100 percent of herself 100 percent of the time. She stood up for those in the community who couldn’t find their own voices. She was inclusive of everyone and showed us the best of what a community can be. As a colleague, these same qualities were—and will always be—inspirational to me. As a friend, she was all that and a bag of chips. Mari inspired me with her love and kindness, her tremendous grace and light. Mari was an elevated spirit with the most wonderful gift of laughter. We laughed a lot. I am forever grateful she chose me to love as her friend in this life. Mari was fearless and loved life. Who she was and how she lived her life will continue to inspire me for the rest of mine.”

Mari passed away peacefully on April 28, 2020, with her family surrounding her.

As her niece put it, “She moved our bodies and our hearts.”

do Pilates.’ But Mari always made me feel included whether I could do the Pilates or not. She always said, ‘It’s OK if you don’t come back. I’ll love you anyway.

You’ll find time when the time is right. You’ll be able to come and do Pilates.’ I think it’s an extraordinary gift that she has given all of us to be gathered here today to share these remembrances of her. Our time here on earth is really just the relationships that we touch, the people that make up our world. And what a successful, extraordinary life Mari has led and lived; and she will live on with everyone here.

I am just deeply honored to have listened to everyone, to have been invited to participate. And Mari, I hope you know that I love you, I admire you, and I’m going to try to go back to Pilates.”

MARI WINSOR WAS A TIRELESS ADVOCATE AND SPOKESPERSON FOR THE ALS ASSOCIATION GOLDEN WEST CHAPTER. DONATIONS CAN BE MADE IN HER NAME AT THE ALS ASSOCIATION GOLDEN WEST CHAPTER WEBSITE: WEBGW.ALSA.ORG.

Laurette Ryan NCPT, CSC, is the author of The Pilates Mat Coloring Book as well as Basic Cuing for Pilates Teachers, Ready for Pilates for Everybody, The Professional Pilates Teacher’s Handbook, and Jump Ahead books for movement teachers and business professionals. She enjoys writing articles on Pilates, fitness, and inspiration. She is a developer of innovative in-person and online learning experiences with a motto “In the tiniest of movements lies the key to progress.” Laurette is also a national Pilates and fitness presenter and a subject-matter expert (SME) for the National Pilates Certification Exam.

Opposite: Mari Winsor (center) with friends, including performer and choreographer Toni Basil, at the 2016 Walk to Defeat ALS at Exposition Park in Los Angeles Photo by Kathy Hutchins/ Shutterstock V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 69

P H OTO BY JON AH ALL EN

D e b u t s

2 0 2 0

FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES PLEASE VISIT

viemagazine.com/beachshowhome

“

Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.

—Walt Disney Pictures’ Lilo & Stitch

72 | AUGUST 2020

Le monde

RAI SI NG

ONE WOMAN’S VISION

By C H A D T H U R M A N Photog raphy cour tesy of OHANA INSTITUTE AND OHANA RECORDS

T

ake a tour of Ohana Institute’s classrooms on any given day, and aside from quickly realizing the esoteric nature of this school (there are no desks—only comfortable chairs and even comfier couches), you are sure to find unique, hands-on projects in action, each based on real-world life skills. This year, the school celebrates a decade of one-of-a-kind educational leadership, changing the way educators do what they love to do—teach.

Ohana Institute is a fully accredited, independent, exploratory, and innovative private school located in Inlet Beach, Florida. It serves students in grades K–12, operating on a flexible calendar that emphasizes project-based learning and combines theoretical and real-world experiences for students through an engaging curriculum. Ohana teaches students within age-appropriate focus groups known as “Elements” for kindergarten through fourth grades, “Foundations” comprising fifth and sixth grades, “Middle Years” including seventh and eighth grades, and high school as the traditional ninth through twelfth grades.

However, the latter is the only “traditional” you will find at Ohana Institute.

Left: Ohana Institute is a unique, STEAMfocused private school located in Inlet Beach, Florida.

As a snapshot picture of what a day at Ohana Institute looks like, the following scenes were recently experienced by a team of education professionals visiting the school for ideas: V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 73

Le monde

S

Photo by Marla Carter

cience students in Middle Years classes stretch a sheet of intricately sewn spandex material over a circular PVC frame ten feet in diameter. Using various spheres and masses to investigate Newtonian and Einsteinian concepts of gravity and orbital mechanics, the students use their homemade device—dubbed the Fourth-Dimensional Gravitational Simulator—to “see” gravity through the fabric of spacetime.

Right: Ohana students study real-life skills in application, including agriculture and culinary arts.

Technology students within their Elements use laptop computers to learn advanced safe and best-practice research techniques, including basic coding skills crucial to further developing society’s use of the electronic devices we all use daily.

Above: Elizabeth “Lettye” Burgtorf, founder of Ohana Institute

“

Ohana Institute educates students as individuals through a personalized learning environment.

74 | AUGUST 2020

Engineering students in Foundations employ microprocessors, microcontrollers, computers, and JavaScript coding to program LEGO robots they have made. In doing so, they identify and attempt to solve real-world problems in a four-foot-by-eightfoot arena by manipulating complex and simple machines with their programmed robots.

Art students of all ages write and perform music in School of Rock–style bands, while visual artists create sculptures for public display in Rosemary Beach to raise awareness of environmental stewardship. Others create paintings to participate in the Rosemary Beach Foundation’s Music in Pictures events, where they are annually awarded accolades for creativity, English, foreign language, and social studies. Performing arts students create costumes for a production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream they will produce, direct, and perform at the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center. (The students donated all proceeds from their ticket sales to Nokuse Plantation nature preserve.)

Other students learn to grow and prepare food from the school garden and then cook a meal during culinary arts instruction at Ohana’s state-of-the-art kitchen.

Mathematics students in high school use duct tape, foam pipe insulation, leveling lasers, and marbles to formulate and then demonstrate equations using calculus and physics through the makeshift roller coaster they designed and built along the walls of the classroom.

The five subject areas of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) are the pedagogical cornerstones of the Ohana Institute approach to learning. Ohana students and educators are at the forefront of this new educational philosophy and direction with a “lead learner” framework.

Students learn from their teachers and vice versa.

This unique and creative approach to education places an early emphasis on developing a student’s lifelong passion for pursuits that intrigue and excite them as they grow. Teachers perform more as coaches, encouraging standards-based learning while following students as they, their interests, and their passions for creative learning develop over time.

Former U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. William Bennett says, “Because of Ohana’s vision and mission, on which they have built a strong foundation, students will walk out into the world as global citizens, possessing the traits of character we most admire and hope for in regard to building the future of America and our educational system.”

Ohana Records students perform during their Rock on the Road tour as part of a music industry education and charity project.

Chris Latvala, who is currently serving in the Florida House of Representatives, believes the way Ohana teachers focus on STEAM can be replicated at other schools.

“What they do here is fascinating and can certainly be used in other education settings around the state of Florida,” he says.

Ohana Institute was founded in 2011 by Elizabeth “Lettye” Burgtorf after she spent several years leading a community homeschool group for her children and other families who desired holistic-based learning through virtual classes and teacher support.

Ohana was rooted in the premise that students should be loved and encouraged as they seek to discover their passions, while also growing in their educational journey through experiential learning. Ohana’s staff is a blend of highly qualified certified teachers and local professionals with strong expertise in their respective fields.

Delivery of instruction occurs through a range of engaging experiential curricula augmented by hands-on, face-to-face instruction and discussion.

Burgtorf says, “Ohana Institute educates students as individuals through a personalized learning environment. This type of educational experience empowers each child to know who they are, how they learn, and what their passion is in life. Through innovation and purpose, Ohana students create a meaningful educational path with the future in mind.”

The vision of Ohana Institute is to provide a personalized learning path for each student. Ohana recognizes the individuality of each child and that all children are creative and need to succeed. Burgtorf and the staff at Ohana believe that learning paths include social, emotional, physical, and intellectual development, which invite the passionate pursuits of each individual.

Ohana Institute has achieved full accreditation status as an outstanding academic institution by the Association of Independent Schools of Florida (AISF) and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI). The NCAA has also approved Ohana Institute’s core courses. The school offers dual enrollment choices for high school students through Florida International University, Northwest Florida State College, Florida State University, Gulf Coast State College, and Auburn University.

O H AN A

R ECORDS

One of the most important and unique aspects of Ohana Institute is Ohana Records. Founded by teacher Jonathan Mitchell at the inception of the school, Ohana Records is a program whereby students are grouped into bands each semester. They learn voice and harmony, electric and acoustic guitar, bass guitar, piano, ukulele, drums, and hand percussion instruments. (Most of the students entering the program have never played an instrument before, but within months they are ready to perform original and cover songs at a concert each semester, which is free and open to the public.)

Many students learn music theory and how to read and play music through the string family instruments of violin, viola, cello, and bass in an after-school club called Ohana Strings.

Le monde

F

ounder Burgtorf says, “Ohana Institute’s in-house music program, Ohana Records, is focused around supporting students to build self-confidence, learn to work together, and create unique ways to problemsolve as a team. Through music, changes happen in the brain that allow students to ultimately find success in life through various challenges.”

According to Mitchell, “Ohana Records began with twenty-one students in 2011; there are at present 170 students enrolled for the 2021 school year.” He continues, “I’ve always approached Ohana Records bands as a way for students to learn how to be a team player in life. Everyone in the band has a role, and if one person doesn’t perform their role, it affects the band or team as a whole. The kids eventually figure out how to work together and accomplish a specific set of goals.

This is a great approach to teaching valuable life lessons about teamwork while having fun playing music.”

Perhaps the most notable aspect of Ohana Records is the high school program known as Rock on the Road, an integral part of music education at Ohana Institute.

Founded by Mitchell, the program is built upon the idea of experiential student-led learning. The music business is a unique and ever-changing industry where experience is vital. Students are not only encouraged but also expected to take the initiative and dive into the music business, exploring many outlets that the industry has to offer. Rock on the Road provides students with everything they need to explore the music industry and get a taste of what it is like to be a professional musician. Each year, students write and record at least one song for a nonprofit organization, and during a ten-day multistate tour, perform at several schools across the South to share Ohana’s passion for music and education while giving back to the community.

“When students join the Rock on the Road program, they are given nine months to organize a fully funded

Shirts made from recycled plastic bottles! shop with us in store + online!

rosemary - seagrove - gulf place - 30Agear.com

independent recording and publishing company Dualtone Music Group in Nashville, best known as the label for the Lumineers.

Herrington was awarded three Grammys with Dualtone and had four additional Grammy nominations.

“I was able to sell Dualtone and move to Florida, where I subsequently met the Burgtorfs and fell in love with Ohana,” Herrington shares. “I admire the unique education opportunities Ohana offers students. That, plus the great group of teachers, drew me to the school. I’m able to share my years of firsthand experience with our students and connect them with professionals in the music industry to help them in discovering their futures.”

Ohana dive team students help conduct research for the South Walton Artificial Reef Association.

“

Through music, changes happen in the brain that allow students to ultimately find success in life through various challenges.

ten-day tour,” Mitchell explains.

“During these nine months, they play gigs at festivals, clubs, and schools in preparation for the tour. The goal of this unique curriculum is to ensure that each student can explore many aspects of the music industry, from songwriting and performing concerts to booking gigs, managing artists, stage design, music production, and coordinating full-on music tours down to every small detail.”

Mitchell relates that he and Rock on the Road students are very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with and learn from two Ohana teachers who happen to be giants of the music industry: Dan Herrington and Johnny Colt.

Herrington spent twenty years in various sales, marketing, and executive roles for RCA and Arista Records in Texas, Seattle, and Nashville. He also ran an artist management and consulting company and is the cofounder and former copresident of the

Johnny Colt is an original member of the band the Black Crowes.

As the band’s bassist, Colt played on four full-length albums and toured extensively. Among other prominent roles within Americana music, Colt also served as bassist for the legendary Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 2012 to 2017. He will lead the art department at Ohana this year and continue to impart his love of music and vast knowledge and experience of the music industry to students for Rock on the Road.

Colt says, “The Ohana learning culture is unique. A child-led, project-based learning environment creates a space where a student’s strengths and weaknesses can be identified, explored, and supported.

Basically, Ohana is the school I wish I had gone to as a young student. I can only imagine how much further I would have progressed, not just academically but socially and emotionally as well.”

O H AN A

M AR I N E

S CIE NC E

During the summer of 2019, two Ohana Institute science teachers trained and certified at Florida International University’s Aquarius Academy and earned open-water scuba diving certifications. These two teachers went on to train and certify twentyfour students in sixth through twelfth grades, along with their parents and other Ohana teachers. The dive-certified teachers now teach students about marine science, including fish and coral survey techniques. Ohana students, families, and teachers give back to the community with their dive club by gathering valuable scientific data for South Walton Artificial Reef Association’s (SWARA’s) near-shore installations.

Ohana divers “go to the local reefs, dive, explore, and identify fish,” says Burgtorf, “and they begin to see what it’s like to be underwater. Our goal is to work with the county to study the reefs and help them be healthy. And so we’ll take data and all the information needed to be able to do that as time goes by.”

Ohana students and teachers will also give back to the community this year by working with students from South Walton High School to teach them what they have learned about scuba diving and marine science.

SWARA president Walt Hartley says, “We at SWARA understand, appreciate, and strongly support Ohana’s plans to enhance monitoring and research efforts V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 77

Le monde

“

Ohana Institute’s Global Education Conference began nearly ten years ago to give students a say in how the future of education looks. for these artificial reef environments. SWARA will benefit greatly not only from the expanded research data provided

by Ohana but also from their active participation in sustainability and stewardship practices. In addition to informing future habitat development work, these activities align perfectly with our broader mission to create living reefs for future generations. The passion and sense of responsibility fostered through working with and experiencing these reefs firsthand, especially for our youth, is invaluable to the continuation of SWARA’s mission. We applaud Ohana for pursuing this endeavor.”

G LO BA L E D U C AT I O N CO N F E REN C E Ohana Institute’s Global Education Conference began nearly ten years ago to give students a say in how the future of education looks. As Allen and Lettye Burgtorf ’s visionary school grew, so did the interest in state-of-the-art educational materials and how to incorporate Ohana’s core values into school systems around the world. The Burgtorfs also recognized a need for a conference that is run by the students themselves. The conference’s collective goal is to ignite the exchange of perspectives and solutions on topics of interest by showcasing students’ voices and leadership to some of the nation’s most-recognized leaders in education and government. The itinerary includes student-moderated panel discussions, engaging roundtable conversations, interactive workshops, student presentations, and a host of relaxing evening activities.

Recent graduate Carson Gaffrey-Kruse says of his experience at Ohana, “The potential that any student has at Ohana Institute is remarkable. I never realized this until I became a student at Ohana, where I was educated beyond the boundaries. Ohana instilled in me the confidence, perseverance, and humility needed to succeed as a college student pursuing my passion.”

The information shared is sure to provide participants with new and innovative approaches for successful educational outcomes in the coming months and years.

To learn more, visit OhanaInstitute.org, RockontheRoad.org, and SWARAreefs.org.

78 | AUGUST 2020

At Ohana Institute, students like Gaffrey-Kruse and hundreds of others experience the difference!

L’intermission

Wave Hello L’oeil acrylic painting

by Vanessa Mae Available for purchase – AU$2800 Visit VanessaMaeArt.com or follow her on Instagram @vanessamaeart to learn more.

Australian artist Vanessa Mae says her original painting L’oeil is a contemplative depiction of the ocean. Featuring delicate swirls of color that evoke a feeling of exploration, this piece is a perfect addition for a dramatic, atmospheric vibe in any home or office.

Love, VIE xo V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 79

Le monde

Holy Grail OF THE

BBQ CHEF SAM JONES & FAMILY TRADITION

Lovers of barbecue know that it’s not just food. It’s a culture and tradition that is distinctly American. Indigenous peoples used traditional wooden pit-style cooking techniques that date back to pre-Colonial times. In the 1920s, Edward G. Kingsford worked alongside Thomas Edison and Henry Ford to mass-produce the first charcoal briquettes from wood by-products left over from the Model T line.

Then, when Don McGlaughlin developed the portable outdoor gas grill in the 1950s, backyard barbecues became a staple of summertime and holiday gatherings across the nation. Today, that tradition is carried on in households across the US and, on a grander scale, by the chefs who have perfected this form of culinary art—chefs like Sam Jones of Winterville, North Carolina.

For Jones, barbecue is a lifestyle.

80 | AUGUST 2020

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 81

Le monde

began my career helping my grandfather, the late Pete Jones, and my uncle sell chopped pork at Skylight Inn, which opened in 1947 in my hometown of Ayden, North Carolina,” Jones says. Sam’s father, Bruce, and his cousin Jeff are also partners at Skylight Inn BBQ. “I remember that, as a child, someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and my response was, ‘I am going to be the prince of barbecue.’ I swore off the family business when I was fifteen years old, but while working on a thirteen-page paper about barbecue during my time as a college student, I was inspired to move back to Ayden to help with the restaurant and dedicate my life to the art of making traditional Eastern North Carolina–style pork barbecue. In 2015, I partnered with my longtime friend and former Skylight employee Michael Letchworth to open Sam Jones BBQ in Winterville.”

Although it is complementary to the Skylight Inn brand, Jones says he and Letchworth wanted the new restaurant to be a fresh start, unique from the family business. “Skylight is not a cookie-cutter concept, and you can’t duplicate it,” he says.

Staying true to their roots, Jones and Letchworth opened Sam Jones BBQ with a specialty focus on whole-hog barbecue pork, which Jones says is the definition of North Carolina barbecue. “A lot of people look at whole hog as being the holy grail of barbecue,” he says. “It does take more time than other techniques, but it’s definitely worth it.”

The restaurant’s menu also includes slow-cooked chicken, smoked turkey, spare ribs, wings, and more, but it’s the Jones Family Original BBQ that customers know best. The pork is slow-smoked over Carolina oak and pairs best with a

Sam Jones BBQ in Winterville, North Carolina Photo by Baxter Miller

82 | AUGUST 2020

slice of fluffy Skylight Inn–style cornbread and other traditional Southern sides. Jones’s favorites are coleslaw and baked beans.

Then, of course, there’s the sauce. Many fans believe this element can make or break a tasty barbecue dish, but Jones asserts, “If you start with good meat that you’re cooking the right way—which is over wood, in my opinion—then the sauce should be applied very lightly. The Sam Jones BBQ Sweet Heat sauce is one of my favorites, and the application of it should be more like a dressing than a sauce.”

“I remember that, as a child, someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and my response was, ‘I am going to be the prince of barbecue.’”

Sam Jones undoubtedly lived up to his childhood dream of becoming barbecue royalty; he has been a semifinalist for the James Beard Awards Best Chef: Southeast, and the Skylight Inn has won an America’s Classics Award from the James Beard Foundation. Both restaurants have been recognized as top barbecue destinations by national entities, including Southern Living, AFAR, Details, Bloomberg.com, Travel Channel, Food Network, History Channel, CBS Sunday Morning, Southern Foodways Alliance, and more.

You might even say Jones wrote the book on Carolina barbecue—because he did.

Left: In addition to barbecue classics, Sam Jones BBQ has wings and more.

Photo by Denny Culbert

Le monde

he idea for Whole Hog BBQ: The Gospel of Carolina Barbecue with Recipes from Skylight Inn and Sam Jones BBQ started at a dinner with friends who mentioned I should write a book,” he recalls. “My first thought was, ‘Who would even buy it?’ But they said I was selling myself short. I then signed a publishing deal with Ten Speed Press in 2016 and teamed up with barbecue expert Daniel Vaughn to share his best stories, recipes, and family secrets from both Skylight Inn and Sam Jones BBQ.” Almost a year after the book’s release, fans and aspiring pitmasters can purchase it from Amazon and other booksellers and the online store at SamJonesBBQ.com. They can also put the book’s recipes and tips to great use by purchasing a Sam Jones Southern Starter Kit, which includes a variety pack of four full-sized dry rubs designed to be complementary to almost any protein or vegetable. The kits are also available in the online shop, along with other samplers of dry rubs, Sam Jones BBQ sauces, apparel, and more.

Jones also offers words of wisdom to those barbecuing at home: “Depending on what they are cooking, the most common mistake is not allowing enough time for specific kinds of barbecue and not having the grill set up correctly. Cooking hamburgers and hotdogs

“Depending on what they are cooking, the most common mistake is not allowing enough time for specific kinds of barbecue and not having the grill set up correctly.”

is not the same as cooking barbecue. Cooking different types of meat—from brisket to ribs to whole hog— requires different time frames, different equipment, and different grill settings.”

Always striving for the next achievement, Jones and his team are making 2020 the year to expand the business by opening a second Sam Jones BBQ location. The new restaurant will serve the Raleigh, North Carolina, community with the same incredible barbecue and Southern favorites for which they’re currently known.

“The new location in Raleigh is going to be different in regard to architecture, because we are remodeling an existing building,” Jones shares. “We never intended Sam Jones to be a conceptual design, and this particular building is super special because it was originally a garage that has been there for many years. We are still going to have certain elements and touches from our store in Winterville, while also fitting in with the new neighborhood. It will have around 130 seats, a full bar, and a meeting room that will hold thirty-five guests.”

In the meantime, the Winterville location is open daily and also offers online ordering and curbside pickup. Stop by for a taste of Carolina barbecue with the royal treatment!

Visit SamJonesBBQ.com and SkylightInnBBQ.com to learn more.

84 | AUGUST 2020

RIBS

PORK SPARE

Courtesy of Whole Hog BBQ by Chef Sam Jones MAKES THREE TO FOUR SERVINGS

Ingredients Brine • 1 gallon water • 1 1/2 cups sugar • 1 cup kosher salt • 1 gallon ice Ribs • 1 full rack pork spare ribs (about 2 1/2 pounds) • 1/4 cup Sam Jones BBQ Rub Potion Number Swine • 1/3 cup Sam Jones BBQ Sweet Barbecue Sauce

Directions To make the brine, bring the water to a boil in a tenquart pot, then turn off the heat. Add the sugar and salt and stir until dissolved. Pour in the ice to chill the mixture. If you’d rather not bother with the ice, make the brine with two gallons of water, and do it far enough in advance so it will be completely cooled before adding the raw ribs.

To make the ribs, brine the ribs overnight, or for at least 4 hours. Preheat a smoker to 250°F. Evenly coat the ribs with about two tablespoons of the rub on each side. Put them bone side down on the rack of the smoker, directly over the coals. Let them cook for 1 hour, then flip and cook for another hour.

Check the sag of the ribs with the bend test. To do so, take a pair of tongs held perpendicular to the rib bones and guide one arm of the tongs under the rib rack. Do so carefully so as not to rough up the underside of the ribs too bad. Once the arm of the tongs is halfway up the rack, pinch down on the rack and lift the whole thing up. If the ribs don’t bend at all, you still have a long way to go. The more tender they become, the more bend you’ll see when performing this test. Once there’s enough bend that a

seam opens up, cracking the surface of the rib bark on the top side of the ribs, they’re tender enough to wrap.

Once they’ve reached the proper sag, wrap the ribs in foil and place them back on the pit for at least another hour. Use the bend test to check for doneness and tenderness. Rewrap and continue cooking if needed.

“Feel free to season the ribs as heavily or as lightly as you like at home. At the restaurant, we evenly coat them from a shaker full of Rub Potion Number Swine.”

Unwrap the ribs, lightly brush each side with half the barbecue sauce, and put them back on the pit for ten minutes longer or until the surface of the ribs is browned.

To serve, cut through the rack between the rib bones. The bones will be easier to locate with the ribs turned upside down. Serve with the remaining barbecue sauce on the side. Enjoy!

A tip from the chef: “Feel free to season the ribs as heavily or as lightly as you like at home. At the restaurant, we evenly coat them from a shaker full of Rub Potion Number Swine.

‘Evenly coat’ means a lot of different things to different people, but it’s not a rub.

The racks aren’t dunked into a large pan full of rub either. It’s shaken on to a thickness where you can still see some of the meat underneath.”

Above: Pork spare ribs are a specialty at Sam Jones BBQ; this recipe is included in Jones’s book, Whole Hog BBQ. Opposite top: Sam Jones barbecue is smoked over hickory wood in the restaurant’s on-site smokehouse.

Opposite middle: Chef Sam Jones Opposite bottom: Don’t forget the Southern-style sides!

Photos by Denny Culbert

Note: The foil wrapping helps tenderize the ribs, and it also buys you some time. If you’re at home executing an entire meal, it’s hard to keep a close eye on meats that are cooking over direct heat. They might be burning while you’re brewing sweet tea or mixing up the potato salad. The foil wrapper helps prevent that.

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 85

Relax. Create. Inspire.

Find hand painted, pool-ready tile and more at Q Tile!

17 Uptown Grayton Circle #2 , Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459 (850) 213-0000 | @Q_TILE | Q-Tile.com

Le monde

the

t r a e H

m y l O

n a of

n a i p

ODD L AL T S IN A G E A V I AL M REA D HIS G IN P E KE

By TORI PHELPS When elite runner Chaz Davis went blind almost overnight, his new vision included the world’s biggest athletic stage.

I

Opposite: Olympic runner Chaz Davis Photo © Robert Houser 2020.

All rights reserved.

88 | AUGUST 2020

t was something he’d done hundreds, if not thousands, of times. Climbing into the driver’s seat on a hot July day, nineteen-year-old Chaz Davis backed out of his driveway and into what should have been a familiar landscape.

Except he couldn’t see what he’d always seen. Even seven years later, he vividly recalls pulling back into the driveway with a heavy heart. “That was the last time I drove a car,” he says.

By any measure, Chaz had been living a charmed life. Growing up with a younger brother and both parents in the small town of Grafton, Massachusetts, he was a gifted distance runner who, by his junior year of high school, was divisional state champion

S

n

“

IN A SHATTERINGLY SMALL TIME FRAME, HE HAD GONE FROM BETTER-THAN-PERFECT 20/15 VISION TO LEGALLY BLIND. in the indoor two-mile event. He and running pal Bryan Quitadamo were roommates at the University of Hartford and teammates on the track and crosscountry teams, where Chaz continued to rack up impressive performances.

In March of his freshman year, however, everything changed.

He was battling a headache in class one morning, assuming a late-night study session was to blame, when he absently rubbed his right eye. Suddenly, he couldn’t see out of his left eye. Still hoping his symptoms were the result of short sleep, Chaz left class and took a nap. However, the vision problems remained after awakening, so he called his mom and soon was scheduled for a battery of tests. The diagnosis: Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), a rare disease that destroys the optic nerve.

He managed to finish his freshman year, squinting and straining to make out the text on his finals with one eye almost completely blind and the other close on its heels. In a shatteringly small time frame, he had gone from better-than-perfect 20/15 vision to legally blind. And it was almost more than he could bear.

In the darkness that blanketed not only his eyes but also his heart, Chaz fell down a rabbit hole of compulsive eating and substance abuse. The highly disciplined athlete gained sixty pounds within a matter of months and welcomed the oblivion that drinking and drugs promised—coping mechanisms Chaz doesn’t endorse but, admirably, refuses to omit from his narrative.

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 89

Le monde

T

he six-month spiral ended someplace he never imagined he’d be again: the finish line. He had agreed to participate in his hometown’s annual five-mile road race, a competition Chaz had won in high school and whose profits that year were dedicated, in part, to LHON-related research. He didn’t set any records that day, yet it’s among the most memorable races of his life. Bryan and a second roommate and friend, Rourk Marlow, served as Chaz’s unofficial guides, and the three finished arm in arm. “It was pretty powerful,” Chaz says. “That was the moment I decided to get back into running.”

He didn’t think it would be easy to resume his running career. And he was right.

He fell off the treadmill more times than he cares to remember and, essentially, started from scratch in his physical conditioning. Thankfully, hard work had never bothered Chaz. To ensure his motivation didn’t waver, he set a goal that was ambitious even for a decorated runner like Chaz: qualifying for the Paralympic Games two years away. The grit he needed to return to running shape spilled over into every area of his life; he lost the weight he’d gained, left substance abuse behind, and even competed at the divisional level again. But his performance wasn’t on track for the Paralympics.

Then he met Roger Busch.

The new head track and cross-country coach at the University of Hartford during Chaz’s senior year, Coach Busch didn’t give the blind runner any breaks when it came to training. Chaz didn’t understand how he was going to run the crosscountry terrain, but he trusted the new coach, who ultimately became a transformative part of resurrecting his running career. “The fact that he treated me as he would any other athlete and had a lot of confidence in what I could do gave me confidence,” he says.

Steadfast friends were also key. Knowing Chaz didn’t like asking for help, pals like Bryan and Rourk stepped up without being asked. Rourk ran with Chaz every day for months on end, their strides synching as Chaz blasted past goal after goal. In recounting his memories of that time—like feeling Rourk’s arm thrown out across his chest, as a mother does in a car, every time a car pulled into their path—it’s clear that those runs restored him emotionally as much as physically.

90 | AUGUST 2020

“

THE FACT THAT HE TREATED ME AS HE WOULD ANY OTHER ATHLETE AND HAD A LOT OF CONFIDENCE IN WHAT I COULD DO GAVE ME CONFIDENCE.

in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic has muddied the road to Tokyo. Even so, Chaz continues to train. At his peak, he runs about ninety miles a week, making it difficult to find volunteer guides. The situation became even trickier when COVID-19 quarantines began, understandably prompting many guides to temporarily opt out of the job. Since hitting pause wasn’t an option, Chaz began to train more on his treadmill, finding the motivation he needed in an app called Charge Running. His longtime girlfriend, Kyra, introduced him to the platform, which allows people all over the world to run together virtually. Even lengthy sessions fly by, he says, and the close-knit, supportive community pushes him to keep his goals front and center.

Chaz was back. Faster, stronger, more focused than ever—and headed to the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Despite a paperwork snafu that left him without a guide for the 1,500- and 5,000meter races, he says competing in Rio was everything he dreamed it would be. Here, he wasn’t “the blind runner.” He was simply a world-class athlete who happened to have a physical disability, just like everyone else around him. As for the races themselves, the thrill of running in front of eighty thousand people is still fresh in his mind. “It was so loud in the stadium that I couldn’t even hear myself breathing,” he laughs.

He hopes to experience that feeling again at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, now rescheduled for 2021.

Though he may try to qualify for a couple of track events, Chaz is most focused on the marathon. He competed in his first marathon after the Rio Games— setting the American record for his division—and immediately got hooked on them. Running on a track is pretty much the same whether you’re in Boston or Botswana, he explains, but marathons are tactical affairs that require not only stamina but also an ability to navigate different course profiles.

The 2020 Boston Marathon was supposed to be the qualifying event for Tokyo, but its cancellation

At age twenty-six, Chaz has more on his plate than just running. He earned a master’s degree in social work at the University of Denver last year and now works for the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

He had always believed he would go into law enforcement and even completed a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. But LHON changed his career plans.

Not because he couldn’t go into law enforcement; rather, it inspired him to help people in the same way he’d been helped. “When I lost my sight, my case manager gave me perspective about life not being over because I was blind,” he says. “Of course, I had friends and family as an outlet, but my social worker, Jacob, was a really influential person in the beginning.”

It’s been seven years since life changed forever for Chaz. There’s ongoing research into LHON, but he accepts that it’s almost certainly a permanent condition. And that’s okay. Always a glass-half-full kind of guy, he admits it was tough to find the positives in the beginning. Today, it’s easy for him to name the ways in which his life has changed for the better, and, as he’s fought to live life on his terms, he’s found enviable clarity about what’s important to him. “Working with people with disabilities is one of my passions; running is the other one,” he says. “And I want to keep doing both for as long as possible.”

Left: Chaz Davis and Michael Wardian representing the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired at the 2018 Boston Marathon as part of Team with a Vision Photo courtesy of Chaz Davis Opposite bottom: Chaz Davis competes with a guide in the 4x400 meter relay at the 2016 FloTrack Beer Mile World Championships in Austin, Texas.

Photo by Scott Strance, courtesy of Chaz Davis

Follow along with Chaz’s journey on Instagram @blackkidrunning. Learn more or download the Charge Running app at ChargeRunning.com.

Tori Phelps has been a journalist and writer for twenty-five years.

A longtime VIE collaborator, Tori is committed to storytelling that honors the subject matter and inspires the reader. She lives, reads, and bakes vegan biscuits with her family in Charleston, South Carolina.

Opposite top: An Olympic flag flutters in celebration of the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Photo by Lazyllama / Shutterstock V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 91

Debu ts

2020

SPONSORS

VIE is proud to announce its fourth show home, coming this year to Seagrove Beach, Florida!

We are once again working with the developers and owners, Suzy Accola of Q Tile and Jim Accola of Coastal Elements Construction, to create a show home of inspired ideas, the VIE Beach House! They will implement the latest in innovative building techniques, integrated home technology, appliances, and more to build a house unlike any other. An incredible lineup of partners and participants is also on board with building materials, flooring and tile, furnishings and decor, artwork, and so much more.

Stay tuned for more updates as the VIE Beach House – A Show Home takes shape!

PARTNERS Betsey Mosby Interior Design · Bevolo Gas & Electric Lights · Brizo · Frank’s Cash and Carry Gregory D. Jazayeri Design · Lovelace Interiors · Maison30a Home + Garden · Mediterra Tile Mobile Appliance · Summer House Lifestyle · The Beach Group Properties

PARTICIPANTS Artistic Tile · ARTO · BlueStar · Charleston Academy of Domestic Pursuits · Cindy McCarley Designs E. F. San Juan · Farrow & Ball · Grimes Cabinets · Horton Land Works · Jonah Allen Studio · LiLi Cement Tile New Ravenna · Porcelanosa Tile · Sabine Hill · Shoreline Title · SICIS Tile · Tabarka Studio · YOLO Board

PHILANTHROPY PARTNERS Food For Thought Outreach · The Sonder Project FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES PLEASE VISIT

viemagazine.com/beachshowhome

Introspections

Introspections THINK DEEPER

Colette by HelloMarine Limited edition prints are available at AbsolutArt.com.

Learn more at HelloMarine.com or follow her on Instagram @hellomarine.

Inspired by the artwork of Henri Matisse, Margaret Kilgallen, and Henri Rousseau, artist HelloMarine says of this illustration, “It all started with me wanting to do a piece to celebrate the female form and women in general. I did a few versions of this nude and then kept this one, the one I was most happy with. At first, she was just floating there, but I felt like I needed to give it a frame, so I created that box, which created some perspective, so she could sit rather than just float. Some people see it as her breaking out of a box, which is fine with me.

But to me, the position of her body suggests a kind of peace.�

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 93

Introspections

C H A N G I N G

All the While

By S U Z A N N E

94 | AUGUST 2020

P O L L A K

COVID-19 changed all of us. Living alone during quarantine became a time for concentrated contemplation, looking backward and forward, knowing what matters now. I missed three men so much that I added their daily habits to mine to bring them back into my life, at least spiritually.

Doing this changed me in fundamental ways. I developed a new personal culture.

ersonal culture is the way you arrange your domestic life, changing all the while. What you need now you might not have needed before, or will not need later. But now, in this moment, it is necessary. We are a collection of habits.

I miss my father. I miss male company, but only some males. Perhaps it’s no surprise that I rekindled memories of my three favorites, all now deceased, and incorporated their ritualized end-of-day activities. Each man finished his workday with a cocktail and music. I channeled my cocktail companions by remembering their stories and wisdom. With the three spirits hovering around, I conversed with myself, which might be the most important type of conversation we can have right now.

American. Nothing light for him! While my father sipped his scotch, he taught me how to listen, how to fit in anywhere, how to make people comfortable, and how to be elegant. He didn’t do this on purpose or by design; he did this simply by being himself.

Years later, in Father Ralston’s house (the rectory of Saint John’s Church in Savannah, Georgia, where General Sherman lived for three months during the Civil War), the after-work ritual was drinking Old Weller in antique sterling julep cups—sometimes with shaved ice, other times neat. Most of his small living room was filled by a huge Yamaha piano, and

My ghostly cocktail hour, drinking while listening to their preferred cocktail tunes, brought me a shot of male companionship. To riff on a friend’s pronouncement, “There is whiskey season and there is wine season.” To me, there are male and female cocktail hours. My associations with men are all about the hard stuff—scotch, bourbon, cognac. The discussion topics are different from girl talk. With the men, it was about sipping slowly and going deeper.

While my father sipped his scotch, he taught me how to listen, how to fit in anywhere, how to make people comfortable, and how to be elegant.

My cocktail education began in Africa by watching my father, the spy. After work, he made himself a drink, played music, and read a book. He relaxed.

His drink was scotch, his music chosen from his collection of thousands of LPs or reel-to-reel tapes.

Cocktail favorites were Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Dave Brubeck—all classic cool cats. Plus, the jazz gave him a way to connect to his country’s culture while living on a different continent. His reading material was philosophy, mathematics, Dante, or Scientific

his interests ranged from Maria Callas to voting rights, wars to Greek philosophy, Georgian silver to the history of baseball. This jolted me right out of the present into a past brought vibrantly to life as only the most gifted teacher can do. What I learned from my priest was to believe in myself, that I was smart. He told me no dummy could write a dummy’s book when I said I only wrote Entertaining for Dummies. I learned how to hear Callas’s high Cs, to appreciate Dante’s entire trilogy (not just The Inferno), and to love bourbon.

The third male figure, the cognac drinker, was an extremely accomplished gentleman sitting at the top of large organizations. He said part of his success was focusing on the small moments, honoring his daily victories, which all added up to major achievements.

He celebrated by drinking his favorite cognac in a brandy snifter, eating a cookie (adorable, like the little kid in us all), or watching his favorite European sport live late at night. His ritual transformed the small successes into proud moments internally, before he received accolades from so many for the big wins. He taught me to honor myself and not to wait for other people’s recognition. His philosophy was never to wait until you reach some impossible moving target or an unknown goal in the future. Instead, celebrate yourself with a ritual on a regular basis.

I realized that it was my curiosity that got these men to open up and share what life taught them. I learned how important it is to ask questions and then to listen.

I understood that cocktail hour does not necessarily include alcohol. In one of my father’s Scientific American magazines, he read that after six months of not drinking, brain cells repair themselves. So he stopped drinking and replaced his scotch with tonic with lime. Why he did this, with so many brain cells already, I do not know. And maybe the science isn’t even true. Regardless, I saw that alcohol was not the point. The ritual of slowing down and relaxing was most important.

Sixty minutes and five o’clock do not define cocktail hour, either. In fact, those arbitrary rules ruin it. My mentors drank their cocktails for thirty minutes to three hours (depending on schedule, needs, and company), at five or five-thirty or six or eleven-thirty.

During COVID, my cocktail rule was “one and done.” One drink is enough, one person (myself ) is V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 95

Introspections

enough. But parties are my passion, and I miss throwing them! So, on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. eastern time, I host Sip with Suzanne for the Charleston Academy of Domestic Pursuits followers. I share stories of my favorite men, discuss the history of a classic cocktail, suggest ideal snack pairings for it, give style and etiquette tips, and then we all make the drink together. It’s just like what you do at all the most fun parties you’ve ever attended. At the end of thirty minutes, we toast each other and decide next week’s cocktail. You, reader, are invited to the party anytime. All sorts show up, just like at my father’s parties in Africa. One guest even played his trombone!

Suzanne Pollak, a mentor and lecturer in the fields of home, hearth, and hospitality, is the founder and dean of the Charleston Academy of Domestic Pursuits. She is the coauthor of Entertaining for Dummies, The Pat Conroy Cookbook, and The Charleston Academy of Domestic Pursuits: A Handbook of Etiquette with Recipes. Born into a diplomatic family, Pollak was raised in Africa, where her parents hosted multiple parties every week. Her South Carolina homes have been featured in the Wall Street Journal Mansion section and Town & Country magazine. Visit CharlestonAcademy.com or contact her at Suzanne@CharlestonAcademy.com to learn more.

tweens, womens, gi�s 104 north barre� square RO S E M A RY B EA C H , F L

850.231.1720

A Bohemi a n Melody

The Red Bar Is Back, Baby!

Kudos to Jonathan Hampel of A BOHEME Design and The Red Bar owner Oliver Petit for bringing this landmark back to life!

EVERYTHING IS ART

If you take a few moments to look for art, no matter where you are, you’ll realize that it is all around you! Creativity abounds in makers around the globe. From the chair you sit in to the clothes you wear, most items begin as the vision of an artist. And when the world falls on hard times, art brings it hope and happiness. Take a peek at this gallery of goodness just waiting to be discovered. We hope it brings you a smile!

Send in the Clowns 1

Harlequin Credenza $3,950 – JonathanAdler.com

98 | AUGUST 2020

C’est la vie

Falling Flowers

2

Rosantica Gold-Tone Crystal Earrings $245 – NET-A-PORTER.com

3

She’s Beauty; She’s Grace

Garden Original Painting by Sally K $2,200 – 1stDibs.com

4

Birds-of-Paradise

The Botanist Pink Mini $250 – StreamlineLuggage.com

5

Worship Me

Large Golden Sphynx Cat Sculpture $233 – Audenza.com

Style Is 7 Eternal

Kelly Wearstler: Evocative Style Hardcover $55 – Amazon.com

Here’s Lookin’ at You

6

Fornasetti Flora Scented Candle $215 – NET-A-PORTER.com

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 99

C’est la vie

8

Love Your Sister

Medea Top and Sistra Skirt $198; $398 – CultGaia.com 100 | AUGUST 2020

9

Book Smart

Olympia Le-Tan Venus Embroidered Appliquéd Clutch $1,530 – NET-A-PORTER.com

Show Your Stripes

10

Zebra Wall Vase $43 – Audenza.com

The Warm Shoulder

11

Gucci GG Marmont LeatherTrimmed Raffia Shoulder Bag $2,100 – NET-A-PORTER.com

12

Prismatic Perfection

Vortex Circular Rug in Standard Size $3,262 – SonyaWinner.com

Sip, Sip, Hooray!

13

Pink Martini Gin Glasses, Set of Four $50 – Audenza.com V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 101

Discover your MASTERPIEC E A r t . B e a u t y. P r o v e n a n c e .

Christies’s International Real Estate’s curated network of real estate specialists are trusted advisors in the art of connecting buyers and sellers of fine homes.

Artfully presented at G O T O T H E B E A C H . C O M

Sartorial

Sassy Oranges in a Bowl

by Kendra Dandy Prints are available at Society6.com.

See more at TheeBouffants.com or follow Kendra on Instagram @theebouffants.

Sartorial STRIKE A POSE

Sass has always been in style, but during this pandemic, it’s especially important to break away from the humdrum and the ordinary and live a little, baby! Meet Kendra Dandy, the creator of Bouffants and Broken Hearts, a creative studio based in Philadelphia. This fun-loving artist knows how to pack a punch and get your attention with her colorful and playful illustrations, custom artwork, and surface patterns, as well as commissions, pop-ups, events, and collaborations. The world needs more fun and color, and Kendra’s art will not only uplift your mood on a rainy day but inspire you on the sunniest of days as well.

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 103

Sartorial

IT’S

ING HEAT Summertime and swimwear—two things

that make us jump for joy! Our wardrobes may be full of sundresses, Levi’s jean shorts,

UP

and of course, swimsuits, but every year, women are faced with sorting through old or ill-fitting suits and trying to find a perfect new bathing suit. The thought alone might make many of us sigh with disgust—but there’s good news!

BY OLIVIA MANTHE Y P HO T OGR AP H Y COUR T E S Y OF BROMELIA S WIMWE AR

The world’s ideals of a woman’s shape have finally evolved, with the truth that every form is beautiful and that you don’t have to be a size zero to rock a bikini! Every woman is unique, and that is what Bromelia Swimwear celebrates in its colorful swimwear line.

romelia Swimwear is a female-owned, humanity-empowered, confidence-inspiring brand that encourages all women to embrace their shape. Its suits highlight the female figure with cheeky cuts, bold patterns, and seamless stitching that flatter and contour. The brand’s collections are full of vibrant prints and rich solids in both statement pieces and traditional ones, and each bikini or one-piece is timeless and subtle without being forgettable.

104 | AUGUST 2020

California native Lauren Quinn created the ethically manufactured swimwear brand in 2015. “I’ve always been a fierce solo traveler, and on a six-month trip to South America in 2014, I decided to visit Brazil,” she recalls. “When I stepped off the plane, I felt instantly enamored of the country. During a month of indulging in culture, salt, and sand, I discovered the most interesting, best-quality swimwear I’ve ever come across. I am from LA, so a bikini, to me, isn’t just what you wear to the beach—it’s a lifestyle. Whenever there’s a beautiful piece of swimwear in a shop, I naturally gravitate toward it. So, I pretty much spent my time in Brazil in bikini shops. By the last day, I realized that that was the end of the rainbow for anyone who’s ever had a whole drawer devoted to swimwear—or, in my case, two.”

Bromelia Swimwear’s Adeline bikini and Rafaela one-piece in Feathers print V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 105

Sartorial

o grow the brand’s authentic roots, Quinn learned Portuguese so that she could study at Brazilian design houses to understand the intricacies of what it takes to define the perfect swimsuit. Through that process, she met local women who had stories to tell through their patterns and designs. These real Brazilian artisans are experts in how to construct a swimsuit that gracefully highlights a woman’s silhouette. Each piece was authentically handmade in their community, where swimwear is a way of life and not just a summer fashion staple.

Quinn says holding the first finished bathing suit from her brand was a big moment for her. “I am overly optimistic about time lines in general, and I drastically underestimated how long it would take to actually complete a full season’s collection,” she admits. “I was brand new to the business, and what I thought would be a matter of a month or two took nearly a year. Holding that first collection in my hands made my heart sing—a little bit from pride and a lot from exhaustion!” Moving back to Los Angeles meant making a move for her business as well. “Producing locally is fundamental no matter

where I am living, as it is a more sustainable practice. I relocated to LA a year ago because I had a baby and wanted to be based closer to my family. I still have strong ties to Brazil, as this year’s current collection was produced at the end of last year in Rio de Janeiro, but starting next season, our goods will be produced in LA.” The name Bromelia Swimwear stems from the native South American bromeliad plant family. Like the swimwear brand’s design aesthetic, these plants are strong and adaptable and have exquisite, feminine blooms—a difficult combo to beat.

The attention to detail in Bromelia Swimwear and the incorporation of the softest fabrics and artisanal hardware make its signature pieces look effortlessly stunning and the people who wear them feel beautiful and powerful.

“I STILL HAVE STRONG TIES TO BRAZIL, AS THIS YEAR’S CURRENT COLLECTION WAS PRODUCED AT THE END OF LAST YEAR IN RIO DE JANEIRO, BUT STARTING NEXT SEASON, OUR GOODS WILL BE PRODUCED IN LA.”

The ethos of Bromelia Swimwear is based on the practices of ethical fashion. Each staff member is empowered through fair pay, a dignified workspace, respect, and experience. Sustainable fashion as a movement promotes change to fashion products and the billion-dollar industry through implementing higher environmental ethics and social equality. It is about more than just fabrics or products; it involves treating the entire fashion system differently. Bromelia Swimwear is designed and produced by an all-female and LGBTQ team, where every local artist involved is treated with dignity and also paid fair wages. From the design stage to patternmaking, from sewing to putting on the final trims, the artists who make Bromelia Swimwear are appreciated for the work they give. Everyone who touches a suit is important and treated with respect, no matter how big or small their part.

106 | AUGUST 2020

“Bromelia didn’t start as an ethical brand. To be honest, I had no idea what an ethical brand was when I began the line; but that doesn’t mean that I’ve done anything differently since day one,” Quinn explains. “I just thought that fair wage practices and treating people with dignity were what one did in business. The brand is rooted in empowering underrepresented communities: women, Latinx, black, trans, and the LGBTQ community in general. It’s not that I intentionally sought out these groups; it’s that I didn’t avoid them by using common commercial methods. For example, for some of the first patterns, I literally walked the streets of interesting but off-beat neighborhoods for days on end until I crossed paths with artists that fit the line.

In Brazil, people are much more open to this random method of meeting a stranger and creating together.

LA is different, so while I might not be physically walking the streets, the concept of being open to all types of artists is still very real.”

A bonus from this beautiful swimwear line is the recently released men’s collection, which Quinn says was inspired by Brazil’s beach-loving gents. “We added a small men’s capsule collection this season because men need interesting swimwear too! Working heavily alongside the LGBTQ community, I’ve come to realize that there’s a real lack of men’s swim options. Men spend large amounts of time on the beach in Brazil just as

This page left: Fernanda bikini in Monkeys print This page right: Anastacia one-piece in Artichoke print Opposite top: Adeline bikini in Papaya print Opposite bottom: Antonella one-piece in Sea Floor

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 107

Sartorial in swimwear, but all across the board. It has not been unheard of to design a collection eighteen months to two years before the launch. But the world has other plans for us, and brands have been forced to embrace the element of living in the now and actually hearing what your customer is interested in. The Bromelia wearer has been wanting fresh looks but also to maintain comfort, so we will be folding more beachwear into the next collection that will double as pretty and practical everyday summer fashion.”

women do, so I took inspiration from the classic Rio de Janeiro style of men’s trunks. I kept them simple, as this style’s concept is to have swimwear that doesn’t move around on you, but stays still so you can focus on what’s around you. And I kept in the most crucial element—the hidden zipper pocket—so that you can leave your house or car with nothing more than your flip flops and an appetite for the beach.”

Above: Rafaela one-piece in Midnight Right: Avelina bikini in Birds of Paradise print 108 | AUGUST 2020

Dealing with the effects of COVID-19 has not been easy on this fledgling brand, but Quinn says it has caused her team to look at its production time lines and methods with more flexibility in mind. “The biggest thing I’ve taken out of the COVID experience is the fact that you have to truly live in the moment with design. Former fashion time lines and ridiculously early season launches are changing fast—not just

Bromelia’s care and commitment to its customers go far beyond remarkable swimwear; it’s also promoting the sustainable, beautiful, laid-back lifestyle its designs reflect. The Bromelia Swim Blog on the company’s website includes fun stories like “History of the Bikini” and tips such as “Your Guide to High Waisted Bikinis.” Bromelia gives its customers an all-around experience that brings us back to its Brazilian roots.

The focus is on helping the customer in any possible way. We especially love the blog installment “Finding the Perfect Swimsuit” as it can often be frustrating shopping for swimwear online. Still, Bromelia bridges the gap to ensure this stressful process is made painless and simple. Bromelia Swimwear includes beautifully unique shapes and poppin’ patterns that make them the perfect summer must-haves!

VI S IT B RO M E LIA S W I MW E AR .CO M TO LE ARN M O RE AN D S H O P O N LI N E , O R F O LLOW ALO N G O N I N S TAG R AM @ B RO M E LIA _ S W I MW E AR .

Sartorial

A

S I LV E R S M I T H

WITH

A

Heart of gold K AY P E A J E W E L R Y

DEFINES

HIGH

By M E G A N

DEMAND

WA L D R E P

P h o to g raphy co ur tesy o f K A Y P E A

JEWELRY

T

he countdown begins. There are only two minutes until Kristin Mein, the silversmith behind the jewelry brand Kaypea (pronounced “KP”), drops her new collection. With her online shop nearly sold out, her buyers’ fingers hover over the refresh button to get the first bite of the new merchandise.

The clock strikes, and it’s game on. Minutes after the online shop goes live, Mein posts images on Instagram of pieces that have just been purchased. Sold, sold, sold. Once again, she makes a clean sweep. The lucky owners of the newest Kaypea collection message her their ring sizes, choose band styles, and anxiously wait about ten days for customization and delivery.

The cult following of Kaypea Jewelry began in Charleston, South Carolina, and has spread across states and international borders—which makes sense, considering Mein once sold jewelry on the streets of Bocas del Toro, Panama. But let’s start at the beginning.

Mein, a native of Charlottesville, Virginia, has made jewelry as a hobby since she was a kid, starting with friendship bracelets and progressing into beading and basic 110 | AUGUST 2020

wire-wrapping jewelry during her college years. She sold her pieces in a few boutiques during that time.

After graduation in 2008—a tough year for any business, let alone a new graduate—Mein took her environmental conservation degree and worked at a sea turtle conservation in Costa Rica. “While I was down there, my now-husband was working in DC, hated his job, and wanted to become a scuba divemaster,” says Mein. “So, after I finished the sea turtle conservation project, the choice was to go back and live in my parents’ basement and get an unpaid internship somewhere, or just stay in Latin America and see what happened.” The couple settled in Bocas del Toro. Due to the lack of resources, limited shipping options, and no opportunity to sell online, Mein’s jewelry making was limited. She made the best of it, occasionally selling her designs on the streets “with all the Rastafarian hustlers, which was kind of a funny time,” she says.

Jewelry took a backseat when Mein and her future husband were involved in other business ventures, such as a partnership with an American businessman on an eco-lodge. Six years sailed by, and the couple got married and decided to move back to the States, where running her business shot to the forefront for Mein. “I wanted to take making jewelry to the next level and make it from scratch,” she says. “Rather than buying preassembled pieces and charms, I wanted to take the basic materials and make something completely unique with them.” As it turned V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 111

Kaypea is known for an eclectic, colorful, beachy, bohemian vibe with unexpected pairings.

Silver shark teeth, a nod to Charleston’s coastal influence, also make an appearance . out, their honeymoon through Southeast Asia brought more than a new chapter for the newlyweds. It was then that Mein discovered a jewelry studio in Thailand that offered silversmith classes. The couple took a one-day introduction class and, a week later, went back for a second day with the same instructor. “After that trip, I was ready to take it on and teach myself, grow, and learn,” she explains. “I taught myself a lot on the internet and learned a great deal at a lapidary school in Georgia to grow my skill set.”

Kaypea is known for an eclectic, colorful, beachy, bohemian vibe with unexpected pairings. Silver shark teeth, a nod to Charleston’s coastal influence, also make an appearance. So, why Charleston? Friends there beckoned, and, not wanting to return to their home state of Virginia, the couple were drawn to that and the nearby beaches. Mein says, “If a palm tree can survive, so can I.” Once settled, it was back to selling jewelry. Kaypea began selling at farmers’ markets in Charleston for exposure, which was great, but experience among the Panamanian hustlers had taught Mein a few things. “Knowing what you want your market and client to be is crucial,” she says. “I wasn’t making expensive jewelry in Panama, but everybody wanted to haggle for the price.” Mein knew the value of her work and was unwilling to sell pieces for pennies. “It was fun at the time, but that was not my ideal clientele. That has translated throughout my whole experience making jewelry.”

112 | AUGUST 2020

Sartorial

N

ow, Mein is choosy about selling at markets and focuses her energy online instead. She’s more deliberate with her buying choices, as well, going to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show in Arizona with designs in mind before she picks up the first stone. Working at a Charleston art collaborative, Redux Contemporary Art Center, also shifted her vision to include an understanding that what she creates is art rather than just accessories. And you’ll most likely fall in love with her art when you pop over to her Instagram. If you see an upcoming sale with a piece you can’t live without, I leave you with these parting words, which I tell myself before each collection drops: good luck!

Follow along with Kristin Mein’s story on Instagram @KaypeaJewelry or visit KaypeaJewelry.com to shop.

Kaypea creator Kristin Mein Photo by Nickie Stone

irl

on G t y a r lG

a

Origin

Megan Waldrep is a freelance writer who recently traded life on a thirty-four-foot sailboat in Mexico for a vintage Airstream in Carpinteria, California. She also writes a relationship blog called I Heart under the pen name Elizabeth Rose. What does all this mean? Find out at MeganWaldrep.com.

Kitty Taylor, Broker, GRI, CRS, CIPS Catherine Ryland, Broker Associate “Grayton Girl Team” Selling Grayton and Beach Properties along 30-A President of the Emerald Coast Association of Realtors 2020

4 © 195

850.231.2886 | 850.585.5334 133 Defuniak Street, Grayton Beach, FL GraytonCoastProperties.com

Visit Charleston Virtually Enjoy “Sip with Suzanne Pollak,” Wednesdays 5:30 PM EDT.

ZOOM IN After a cocktail demo and toast, learn what matters most: How to make a meaningful life at home.

MAKE A RECIPE PLAYLIST Learn the classic dishes and drinks to know by heart and why they’re important.

RAISE YOUR SOCIAL IQ Develop skills to be comfortable anywhere, anytime—online and off.

C H A R L E S T ON AC A DE M Y. C OM

Gregory D Jazayeri | Design A Custom Residential Design Firm SANTA ROSA BEACH, FLORIDA | GDJDESIGN.COM | (850) 217-3286

Tim eless | Su st ain able | D esig n

Sartorial

OLLI D

WHEN FASHION AND ART

116 | AUGUST 2020

ABIGAIL RYAN Photography courtesy of ZAVALA BESPOKE Interview by

A

rt and fashion are more intricately linked now than we could ever have imagined. From clothing design to creative direction for the runway, from notable fashion houses to boutique brands, the worlds of fashion and art have converged, leading to the creation of breathtaking masterpieces beyond just pieces of art or pieces of clothing. But when you think about it, what is fashion if not wearable art?

Zavala Bespoke operates right in the middle, where fashion and fine art intersect. From clothing to handbags and suitcases and everything in between, its designers are there to customize your luxury pieces into one-of-a-kind wearable art.

We had a chance to catch up with Lauren Zavala, lead designer and artist of Zavala Bespoke, to discuss the evolution of the brand, her favorite handbag, her dream collaboration, and more:

V IE : What ignited your passion for creating art and fashion?

LA U RE N Z AVA LA :

I’m twenty-six years old. I was born in Houston, Texas, but have lived in Boulder, Colorado, since I was ten. I have a bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of Colorado Boulder and a master’s in decorative arts and historic interiors from the University of Buckingham in London. I started getting into art after high school. I wasn’t sure what I was going to major in, so I went backpacking through western Europe for a semester. I spent most of my trip in and out of museums and discovered a great love of art. That’s when I decided to study art history.

When working on my MA in London, I found the leather-based paint that I use now and purchased it to make gifts for my family. I painted a leather jacket for my boyfriend as a gift, and people started asking

him where he bought it. Enough people inquired about the jacket that Zavala Bespoke was born as a hobby. It took off after that, and now it’s a full-time career!

V I E: Is there a specific message you want to convey through your art?

L Z : My art aims to operate where fashion and fine art intersect. I think wearable pieces make art more accessible to the masses. As someone who has spent years in and out of museums, it can be frustrating to feel like fine art is only visible in private collections and establishments like galleries and museums. With fine art on a wearable surface like a luxury bag or piece of clothing, your artwork is displayed wherever you go and to whomever you see. We see art everywhere out in the world in fashion, architecture, design, etc. I think it’s important for fine art to be seen en masse.

V I E: What inspirations or influences do you draw from when you create beautiful things?

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 117

Sartorial

LZ: I am largely inspired by art history, which is what I’ve studied for years. I try to implement a lot of art-historical aspects in my work, which I think makes my specific style a little unique. I take a lot of inspiration from pop art, seen in the bright pops of color and my line work. I also love to implement some impressionistic styles, especially in flowers. I am also inspired a lot by fashion. I want my art to work with the luxury pieces I’m working on to create cohesive designs.

Other artists and brands continually inspire me. Artists like Frida Kahlo, Ashley Longshore, and Claude Monet are huge inspirations for me. Kahlo had the innate ability to make pieces so personal to her and add so many layers to create cohesive designs despite having many parts. Longshore is my favorite living artist, as she makes fine art so approachable. Her use of humor and light in her work always reminds me to add personality to each piece. And Monet used color in a way that is enviable to any artist.

PAINT IS SO VERSATILE THAT YOU’RE NEVER REALLY DONE LEARNING. I CONTINUE TO LOVE ART HISTORY, SO I IMPLEMENT NEW ASPECTS OF IT ALL THE TIME.

V IE :

Something incredibly important to me is working with the pieces that I am painting on. With handbags, I want to respect the bag that I am working on. For example, I painted on a Louis Vuitton NéoNoé bucket-style bag, and it was the perfect bag to do a wraparound design since the bag is so rounded. I painted an Alice in Wonderland scene of the “Golden Afternoon” flowers. It adds so much color and personality to the bag, which I love. I look at each painting as a collaboration between the handbag, the client, and myself. All three of us have to work together to create a design that’s really a showstopper.

LZ: I think if you asked any number of artists, they would probably say that

VI E: What advice would you give to your younger self or aspiring artists and designers?

Fashion-wise, I am inspired by brands that utilize artists and artist styles. Gucci, for example, has amazing collaborations with artists. They’ve partnered with Longshore and Unskilled Worker and have made such unique pieces that are incredible for any collector. Virgil Abloh’s work with Louis Vuitton is a reminder that fashion brands are art in themselves too, which largely inspires me.

How have you developed your career and worked to evolve over the years, and what helps you navigate the combined worlds of art and fashion?

they were still learning in one way or another. I have developed in my career by learning different techniques and styles. Paint is so versatile that you’re never really done learning. I continue to love art history, so I implement new aspects of it all the time.

118 | AUGUST 2020

L Z: Keep going! Don’t get discouraged, and never compare yourself to other artists. It’s hard not to do that as an artist and as a small business owner, and I would tell that to anyone in my position.

V I E : What does your work mean to you?

L Z : My work means everything to me! I have studied art history for years and never thought I would be a practicing artist. I say all the time that I fell into being an artist, and it’s my favorite thing that I never thought I’d get to be. My clients often send me photos of their bags out in the world. Seeing my pieces travel to different continents like that is my favorite part. It’s probably one of the things I reference most when discussing why I like painting on designer pieces. I’ve had my paintings travel the world from Big Ben to Machu Picchu and everywhere in between. How many artists can say that? I consider myself very lucky.

VIE:

Where do you source your luxury bags and other goods?

L Z : Most of the bags I paint are sent to me by my clients. I am often shipped

L Z:

My biggest success has been piloting what started as a passion project into being a full career for myself. It came, genuinely, from my blood, sweat, and tears and has been incredibly rewarding. Seeing my pieces across the world, having my business featured in Forbes, and evolving my style are all huge successes to me and always push me to work harder, be better, and think bigger!

VI E:

If you could collaborate with any artist or fashion brand, who would it be and why?

L Z:

Gucci, in their artist collaboration. I would love to follow along in the footsteps of artists that I admire with a brand that I love.

new ones directly from the retailer, but I have also painted damaged pieces and family heirlooms and have given new life to older pieces. I have been known to shop at my local Louis Vuitton store to pick up bags for clients. There are so many ways clients get pieces from me.

Can you tell us about your favorite piece you’ve created?

VIE:

LZ: Tough question! Selfishly, I love pieces that I

So far in your career, what has been one of your proudest moments?

VI E:

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 119

Sartorial

get to go a little crazy with. I worked on a Louis Vuitton piece featuring a skull with a flower crown filled with all sorts of different flowers, insects, and little metal designs. The bag is a feast for the eyes. There are so many details to it that it never gets old. This bag took hours and hours to complete but was such a treat.

VI E: Where do you see the future of Zavala Bespoke headed this year and beyond?

L Z: I see many, many more paintings in my future. I also want to see my pieces on every continent in the world. There are so many opportunities and fun projects that I’d love to continue to work on; the possibilities are pretty endless. I think, in a perfect world, that my work would be on a Broadway stage or in a music video— yes, like the movie Uptown Girls—or on a catwalk. Those would be incredibly fun experiences. Just give me a little bit of time—I’ll get there!

To learn more about Zavala Bespoke, visit ZavalaBespoke.com and follow along on social media @ZavalaBespoke. For inquiries about purchasing or sending in your pieces to be painted, email ZavalaBespoke@gmail.com.

SAVOR THE CLASSIC & SOPHISTICATED The Emerald Coast’s only AAA Four-Diamond Steakhouse

SANDESTIN BEACH GOLF RESORT & SPA

4000 Sandestin Blvd. South, Miramar Beach, FL 32550 RESERVATIONS 850-622-1500 | SEAGARS.com

SEAGARS.COM | 850-622-1500

L’intermission

Once You Pop . . .

Rainbow Splat small resin sculpture by Betsy Enzensberger Visit BetsyEnzensberger.com or follow her on Instagram @betsyenzensberger to see more.

. . . the fun doesn’t stop! What better way to cool down this summer than with the deliciously gorgeous and nostalgic resin sculptures of Betsy Enzensberger? You may want to find another sweet treat to actually lick, though.

Love, VIE xo V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 121

Steak | Seafood | Sushi | Dessert | Cocktails Private Rooms & Full-Service Catering Available Firefly Restaurant & Lounge at the Shoppes of Edgewater Panama City Beach, Florida

850.249.3359 | fireflypcb.com

BECOME PART of a BEAUTIFUL COFFEE TABLE BOOK CELEBRATING our HOME. DEBUTS WINTER 2020 Contact Editor-in-Chief Lisa Burwell to learn more at Lisa@viemagazine.com

Sartorial

T H E

Eye Needle O F

SAMANTHA ACCOLA CoURTESY oF LEX & LYNNE KNITWEAR BY

PHoToGRAPHY 124 | AUGUST 2020

T H E

QUALITY IS A RARE FIND IN TODAY’S FAST-PACED AND CONSUMERIST SOCIETY. HOWEVER, INCREASINGLY, IN THE MIDST OF OUR HURRIED CULTURE, THERE IS A DEEP LONGING FOR INTENTIONALITY AND PERSONAL MEANING ATTACHED TO THAT WHICH WE, AS HUMANS, ARE DRAWN TO INVEST.

a

lexis Corry, a textile lover and designer, reveals a clothing-conscious approach to the fashion industry’s existing footprint and her personal attention to detail. After working in New York City in her early twenties under stylist Liz McClean, Corry learned to “appreciate the art of making and the entire production process, as well as the little things, the importance of fit, and understanding that loved clothes can truly last a lifetime.”

In 2011, Corry founded Lex & Lynne, a travelinspired sustainable lifestyle brand that empowers women cross-culturally. The company surrounds itself with an uplifting spirit by creating opportunities for artisans, both globally and locally, to embrace and share their crafts. Lex & Lynne ethically sources materials from craftswomen in Mineral de Pozos, Mexico, and Ahmedabad, India, to create novelty knitwear pieces and expand its cotton line. Lex & Lynne also works with local American artists to offer a collection that is full of character and handmade “slow fashion.”

Motivated by simplicity, Lex & Lynne was built on the foundation of a few organic materials and a heartfelt passion for wearing life’s experiences close to the heart. Each knit is made in the comfort of a craftswoman’s home, surrounded by her family, and in her own time. Located in the small historic mining town of Mineral de Pozos, the women who create the company’s garments are wives to third- or sometimes fourth-generation miners. They care for their homes and children while the men work the mines.

“Lex & Lynne’s production is a precious process that is appreciated by everyone involved and therefore delivers an exceptional garment that is one of a kind,

made with love and care,” says Corry. From exquisite crocheted cutout dresses to beaded healing bracelets, Lex & Lynne’s individually inspired apparel captures a relaxed resort lifestyle while also helping to sustain global communities.

Whether it is taking in the sunrise by hot-air balloon in Cappadocia, hiking to remote lighthouses in the Faeroe Islands, or tasting authentic spices and flavors while cooking with a family in a small village on Peru’s Lake Titicaca, Corry says, “Translating an international experience into a garment or a piece of jewelry to share with my clientele is always motivating me.” Her vision for the company is “to provide unique pieces full of heart and soul that tell a story—or your story.”

Through an unparalleled mission for personalization and service, Lex & Lynne demonstrates excellence and creativity through the art of living.

Left: Model Lily O’Dare wears Lex & Lynne luxury knitwear on Vero Beach, Florida.

Photo and styling by Alexis Correy Opposite: Designs by Alexis Correy shown at the Lex & Lynne studio in Sewickley, Pennsylvania Photo by Merritt Lee Creative direction by Christina Stein Hair by La Pomponnée Salon & Spa Makeup by Katie Sasinoski Modeled by Danielle Mock, Mia Gilroy, and Rachel Landry V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 125

g

rowing up in Vero Beach, Florida, the involved founder combines natural hues, evocative of the beaches of her childhood, with handcrafted clothing styles. Corry describes two of her favorite pieces, the From the Heart sweater and the Pepper Floral sweater, as quite literally seeing the earth’s elements in the wool. Both styles convey a sense of comfort, adventure, nature, and love. In 2019, Lex & Lynne repurposed its vision around these two influential stand-outs as they were the line’s first garments to incorporate recycled materials. “There was an honest shift in Lex & Lynne once I received the samples because they were experimental. The two sweaters made me realize that there is always room for creativity,” shares Corry. Every piece has balance and creates a masterfully contrasted effect.

Minimalistic, neutral tones align with vibrant textures, colors, shapes, and patterns.

Above and right: Photos

by Merritt Lee 126 | AUGUST 2020

“LEX & LYNNE’S PRODUCTION IS A PRECIOUS PROCESS THAT IS APPRECIATED

BY EVERYONE INVOLVED AND THEREFORE DELIVERS AN EXCEPTIONAL GARMENT THAT IS ONE OF A KIND, MADE WITH LOVE AND CARE.”

Sartorial

L

ast December, Lex & Lynne met international success when the luxury resort brand, which Corry classifies as “polished bohemian,” was featured in British Vogue and on WGSN.com.

Lex & Lynne’s studio is headquartered in Sewickley, Pennsylvania (just outside Pittsburgh) in a historic three-floor building nicknamed the Flatiron Building for its small-scale resemblance to the NYC landmark.

The studio offers one-on-one styling and a boutique shopping experience. During the global pandemic, Corry has learned to connect with her customers, followers, and readers in a new and improved way.

Through virtual “fashion forward” social media shopping events in support of Giving Kitchen in Atlanta and City Harvest in New York City and interactive recommendations on Lex & Lynne’s blog, the company’s online presence strives to give back not only to its clients but also to people in need.

As a collaborative optimist, Corry shares, “Now, more than ever, I appreciate the art of making, our approach to production, and the importance of providing a product that is honestly made.” By focusing on customer service and prioritizing her availability to them, Corry is taking this pandemic day by day.

As for 2021, Corry and her artisans will continue to create novelty pieces. She is excited to “introduce a new selection of loungewear and resort wear knits that will be made with Peruvian organic cotton yarn.” Lex & Lynne is the eye of the needle in a world that longs to see beauty and ethical transparency.

Visit LexandLynne.com or follow on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @lexandlynne to learn more. You can also drop by the shop at 514 Beaver Street, Sewickley, Pennsylvania 15143.

Opposite top right: In addition to knitwear, Lex & Lynne has a collection of designs made from organic cotton sourced from Ahmedabad, India.

Photo by Alexis Correy Left: Photo by Merritt Lee V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 127

Artisan Artisan Shiplap Shiplap

® ®

Artisan Artisan Lap Lap

® ®

Artisan Artisan V-Groove V-Groove ® ®

Artisan Artisan Square Channel Square Channel ® ®

Artisan®® Artisan Bevel Bevel Channel Channel

INNOVATIVE FIBER CEMENT EMBRANCE THE INNOVATIVE FIBER CEMENT EMBRANCE THE products from the #1 brand of siding: products from the #1 brand of siding: GREAT GREAT INDOORS INDOORS

• Design versatility and deep shadow lines • Design versatility and deep shadow lines • Stands up to storms and harsh weather • Stands up to storms and harsh weather • Outlasts andthat wood-based Revel in thewood sunlight fills your siding room. Feel connected to the • Outlasts andthat wood-based Revel in thewood sunlight fills your siding room. Feel connected to the – Termite Resistant outdoors while you connect with each other. At Marvin, our – Termite Resistant outdoors while you connect with each other. At Marvin, our windows and Resistant doors are inspired by how you live, so you’re – Fire windows and Resistant doors are inspired by how you live, so you’re – Fire inspired– to live well.

Water Resistant inspired– to live well.

Water Resistant • 30 year non-prorated substrate warranty • 30windows year non-prorated substrate warranty See and doors differently at Frank’s Cash and Carry.

See windows and doors differently at Frank’s Cash and Carry.

Frank’s Cash and Carry Frank’s Cash and Carry 244 FL-20 244 FL-20 Freeport, FL 32439 Freeport, FL 32439 850-835-4221 850-835-4221 ©2019 Marvin Lumber and CedarInc.Co., LLC. Reserved.

All rights reserved. © 2019 James Hardie Building Products All Rights AD1953 10/19 ©2019 Marvin Lumber and CedarInc.Co., LLC. Reserved.

All rights reserved. © 2019 James Hardie Building Products All Rights AD1953 10/19

Learn more at AspyreDesign.com Learn more at AspyreDesign.com

114 Logan Lane, Suite 4, Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459 BurwellAssociates.com | (850) 231-6377

Florida LIC AA0003613

The Last Word

Solution on next page

AFRICAN AMERICAN ICONS

BY MYLES MELLOR

ACROSS

DOWN

1 5 8 9

1

10 11 12 15 16 17 19 20 22 23 24 25 28 29 31 33 34

Romare ____, painter of Cotton Workers He painted Barack Obama’s portrait in 2017 for the Smithsonian, Kehinde ____ Law and Order: Special Victims Unit actor, ___-T Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a ____ case in regard to segregation in schools Former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, Carl ____ Beyond what is ordinary Winner of four Olympic gold medals in 1936, ____ Owens Cadillac, for example Jimi Hendrix hit “All ___ the Watchtower” Tuber often confused with the sweet potato Jamie Foxx’s vehicle in Collateral “The Greatest” boxer of all time Do something Military person Bride’s new title Sugar ___ Robinson ___ Jam Recordings, Kanye West’s record label Her protest on a bus paved the way for the civil rights movement to end segregation, Rosa ____ She sang “No One” and “A Woman’s Worth,” Alicia ___ Endless time He told the most influential tale about slavery and how he gained freedom and continued to fight for it, Frederick ____

2 3 4 5 6 7 12 13 14 18 21 24 26 27 28 30 32

His untitled painting of a black skull set a new record for any American artist at auction, Jean-Michel ____ Abstract painter from Washington, D.C., who used vivid color patterns (2 words) Top disco singer Summer Zero Ida B. ___, cofounder of the NAACP Painter of scenes from life in Harlem, Jacob ___ For sure!

Hip-hop icon and cofounder of Roc-A-Fella Records Chapter in history Civil rights advocate W.E.B. ____ The Last Dance documentary subject, ___ Jordan Fury Initials of the great civil rights leader who believed in nonviolent protest Trendy hairstyle of the 1970s Makes a living with great effort Doctor of science, for short Distress signal Former partner

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 131

The Last Word

Y

“

I don’t think about art when I'm working. I try to think about life.

—Jean-Michel Basquiat

”

ARTISTS AND THEIR ART ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION FOR $29.95 V IE M A G A ZINE .C OM / S UB S CR IBE

THEIDEABOUTIQUE.COM Santa Rosa Beach, Florida: (850) 231-3087 Clifden, Co. Galway, Ireland: +353 (85) 158 9879

Au revoir!

Au revoir!

BEFORE YOU GO . . .

Photo by Brenna Kneiss

A resounding welcome back—it finally feels like we’re all home again! The eclectic landmark restaurant The Red Bar, located in Grayton Beach, Florida, reopened its door to the world in July 2020 after being completely leveled by an electrical fire over a year ago. This tragic accident was felt hard by the Petit family, with Oliver “Oli” Petit at the helm of the family-run business and his father Louis Petit Sr. as the patriarch and overseer of his large brood. Shock waves shook the entire community as The Red Bar truly was and is a beloved place where everyone knew your name and where countless memories have been made by locals and tourists alike. The restored landmark was designed by one of A BOHEME’s principal partners, architect Jonathan Hampel, with Oli making sure no detail was missed. Congratulations to the Petit family! To say that it feels like all may be right with the world again would not be an overstatement—even in times such as these.

V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 135

MAKE IT COLORFUL

Return to the sugar-white sands and turquoise waters of Panama City Beach for endless family fun, eco-adventures, nonstop thrills and weekend escapes. And discover even more incredible things to do at our real FUN events. Come make Panama City Beach your Real. FUN. Beach.

VISIT NOW VisitPanamaCityBeach.com

Fall Class Registration Now Open In-Person & Virtual Classes Available

Community Division Classes Pre-Ballet ∙ Ballet & Pointe ∙ Contemporary & Modern ∙ Jazz ∙ Dance Conditioning Adult Division Classes Ballet ∙ Contemporary Styles ∙ Barre Conditioning Please see our website for current studio schedules, availability and to register for classes.

850.664.7787

NFBallet.org/Classes

NFB is Supported in part by:

E XPERI ENC E

TH E

C U R ATED

OUTDOOR

SPAC ES

AT

A LYS

BE AC H

We connect here—to nature, to art, and to each other—where coastal beauty meets exquisite design.

A LY S B E A C H . C O M — 8 5 0 . 213 . 5 5 0 0