Nashville Interiors
A GREEN HILLS HOME IS RENOVATED TO GROW ALONG WITH A FAMILY IN A WAY THAT MAINTAINS ITS CHARACTER, HONORS THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND PROVIDES A WARM HOME BASE FOR A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES.
COLLECTION
NERO PARQUET
DALLE DE BOURGOGNE
PARIS GREY
COBBLESTONE DE FRANCE
DUBUISSON SAINT RAPHAEL CLAIR
VENETIAN CHEQUER
O N Y X + A L A B A S T E R D E S I G N S T U D I O | H O M E M A R K E T | C O F F E E L O U N G E
The Alchemy of Home + Living
A BEAUTIFUL CONVERGENCE OF A MODERN ESTHETIC, INSPIRED LIVING, AND A SHOPPING EXPERIENCE
ALL IN ONE LOCATION
Nashville Interiors
I I Welcome Welcome
am asked quite often about the state of magazines and print media. Is print a dying medium? Is it having a resurgence? How does it compare to digital? What is the value in it? Is it even worth the paper it’s printed on?
Obviously, I have a bias — the success of my business depends on the success of print media. But after more than two decades interning in, working in and owning magazines, I can say without a doubt that print media now, as a document of our time, has more value than ever.
My love of magazines is much more visceral than the time spent sweating out a deadline in journalism school or opening that first box at the printer after grinding through production.
When I was growing up in the Midwest, magazines were a window into a life beyond my own. My parents, my four siblings and I lived on a farm in the suburbs of Chicago. Good Catholics, we attended the same school my father and his family had attended. Our world was an insular bubble that offered little outside perspective.
But my mom, who dropped out of college to have my older sister, had magazine subscription upon magazine subscription. Ladies Home Journal. Cosmopolitan. Allure. Shape. Mademoiselle. Vogue.
I picked up her love of magazines: Jane. Sassy. Seventeen. Tiger Beat. Rolling Stone. Lucky. If an issue had an especially special cover, I would buy two — one to preserve and one to join the growing collection plastered onto my bedroom walls.
At Columbia College in Chicago, I majored in magazine journalism. I wrote letters to Hearst Magazines asking them for every media kit of every publication they owned. In one class we had to create a magazine, and I made a Nashville city magazine. There was no other path for me.
But when I think even further back, I see my mother sitting on the couch with piles of laundry next to her and in a basket by her feet. She’s sorting through the mail — a stack of magazines included — and flipping to an ad with a perfume sample. She peels back the flap from the sample, takes a sniff and then rubs the paper all over her arms, her decolletage and her neck. Magazines held a whiff of luxury for a woman in a midwestern farmhouse who put her life aside to instill dreams in her own children.
Print media is so much more than pretty pictures and words strung together. It is a documentation of a time in this community that will connect what will soon be the past to people in the future who want to know more about who we were.
In this issue it is the story of a botanical business growing during a pandemic. It is a first responder finding purpose in art after an injury. It is a family breathing colorful new life into a historic Sylvan Park bungalow. It is a Nashville institution’s art being used in new ways. And it is countless people finding their purpose and personalities in the spaces they live, during a time we were all driven indoors.
Magazines mean more to me than they do to most people. I know not everyone will pick up this issue and think of their mom finding just a few minutes of escape in glossy pages. But I hope they do pick it up and find a little of themselves and of what being at home means to them now.
—Hollie Deese Publisher
Shot by Pamela Monaghan at Inside Out Markets in Gallatin
Nashville Interiors Visit NashvilleInteriors.com
Visit the online edition of Nashville Interiors regularly for fresh content between issues, profiles of designers, businesses, artists and architects, extra photos we couldn’t fit in print, style tips, trend pieces and information about events, art openings and other design events around Middle Tennessee.
ON THE COVER
In renovating a family home in Green Hills, designer Wesley Stanley of Hunt + Gather Design and architect
Elizabeth Pogue opened up the structure for more flow and cohesion while still keeping spaces special and defined with the help of layers of fixtures from Circa Lighting. The end result creates warmth and definition throughout.
SPRING 2021
PUBLISHER/MANAGING EDITOR
Hollie Deese
EDITORIAL DESIGN
Ginger Katz
ADVERTISING DESIGN
Mary Grace Gauerke
Tracey Starck
COPY EDITOR
Jennifer Goode Stevens, GoodeEdits.com
SALES
Hollie Deese
Pam Harper
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Leslie Brown
Reed Brown
William DeShazer
Allison Elefante
Emily Followill
Pamela Monaghan
Richard Suter
Warner Tidwell
Michelle Morrow Reagan Taylor
Erin Hines
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Jennifer Chesak
Marq Burnett
PRINTING
Catalog Kings
Nashville Interiors is the premier building and design guide of Middle Tennessee. We feature regional master artisans, designers, architects, builders, artists, collectors and retailers, and we bring you news of the region’s trends in building, design and development. We also showcase the inspiring spaces of our area’s eclectic group of residents.
Nashville Interiors is published by Deese Media LLC. Nashville Interiors has continuously been in print since 2000.
All editorial and photographic content is the sole property of Deese Media LLC and is not to be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of the publisher.
Nashville Interiors is available at select locations and events. For information on where to find a copy, receive an advertising rate sheet, request content reprints, suggest story ideas or notify with website or social media issues, contact Hollie Deese, hollie@nashvilleinteriors.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow Nashville Interiors on social media for updates when new content is posted online and behind-the-scenes looks into photo shoots and insider events.
Nashville Interiors
CONTRIBUTORS
RICHARD SUTER | PHOTOGRAPHER
Richard has been a photographer for more than 20 years, and his lengthy client list has included 13 seasons for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. Self-taught, Richard’s focus is making sure his clients have the “best day ever!” When he’s not taking pictures, he’s involved with the Middle Tennessee Boxer Rescue group and taking care of his own beloved boxer.
JENNIFER CHESAK | WRITER
Jennifer is a freelance journalist, manuscript editor and fact-checker. Her work has appeared in Washington Post, Prevention, Healthline, Verywell, Real Simple, Greatist, The Daily Beast, Runner’s World and more. She teaches copy editing for Belmont University’s Publishing Program, facilitates workshops for Nashville’s The Porch Writers’ Collective and serves as the managing editor for the literary magazine SHIFT. Chesak earned her master of science in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School. When she’s not writing or editing, she’s usually futzing in her garden or running a muddy trail.
REED BROWN | PHOTOGRAPHER
Reed is a commercial photographer based in Nashville. He started out shooting for the automotive and boating industries in the 1980s, and his love for architectural photography began around 2003. His client list includes Nissan, Ford Racing, Coca-Cola, Eddie Bauer, Bosch, Jack Daniel Distillery, Aladdin, Gibson Brands, Tractor Supply Co., Averitt Express, Castle Homes, Page Duke Landscape Architects, roux llc, Nashville Interiors, Legend Homes, Grove Park Construction, JFY Designs, Julie Davis Interiors and Trace Construction. Married with two children and one granddaughter, his spare time is spent at home in Mount Juliet around motorcycles and family.
LESLIE BROWN | PHOTOGRAPHER
Leslie is a seasoned lifestyle photographer who specializes in using artistry, styling and light to create inspiring imagery for editorial, architectural and branding photography. She began her photographic journey in portraiture more than 25 years ago and has been published in Cottage Journal, American Farmhouse Style, Coastal Lifestyle, Country Home and more. She is in charge of creative content and photography for Eden & Vine magazine, and her work is featured in Home Stories by Kim Leggett. She enjoys life at the beach and keeping up with four grandchildren.
Nashville Interiors
CONTRIBUTORS
PAMELA MONAGHAN | PHOTOGRAPHER
Pamela is a freelance photographer and owner of Wynd & Paisley Photography. She has a bachelor of arts from Palm Beach Atlantic University, where she met her husband. The majority of her work is wedding and lifestyle photography, but she’s always up for new and exciting shoots. Her work has been featured in multiple magazines, including Your Sumner and The Pink Bride, and she runs a blog called Girls Gone Mild. She lives on several acres in Portland, Tennessee, with her husband, three children and four Dalmatians.
EMILY FOLLOWILL | PHOTOGRAPHER
Twenty years ago, Emily began an adventure in photography. Since her early years studying her art, her style has been concise, crisp and classic. From residential interiors to gardens, product to lifestyle, Emily demonstrates a passion and an eye for simple beauty in the most complex settings. Her work is recognized in nationally and internationally known publications, including Veranda, Better Homes and Gardens, Traditional Home, Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles, Garden and Gun, Southern Living and many others. As an Atlanta native, Emily continues to enjoy everything about the South. She and her husband love raising their two children in Atlanta, and they continue to pass down the traditions handed to them by their families.
MICHELLE MORROW | PHOTOGRAPHER
Michelle started her photography journey in a middle school and high school magnet arts program in her hometown of Miami, Florida. While attending The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, she was fortunate enough to be awarded an internship at the Miami Herald Michelle later landed her first job at the Boca Raton News, where she worked for two years. She went on to freelance for the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale before moving to Nashville in 1999. She freelanced before being hired as a staff photographer for The Tennessean in 2000. She resigned in 2007 to focus on being a full-time mother to her two daughters. Michelle, however, never put her camera down and has been doing freelance photography since.
WILLIAM DESHAZER | PHOTOGRAPHER
William is an editorial and commercial photographer based in Nashville. He spent 12 years working at various newspapers, including Memphis’ Commercial Appeal and the Chicago Tribune. He’s a regular contributor to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. His work has appeared in magazines from National Geographic, Golfweek, ESPN The Magazine, Runner’s World and O, The Oprah Magazine. His interior photography has been used by Holiday Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Whiskey Advocate Magazine and Davis Jewelers. William has been recognized by Photographer of the Year International and the National Press Photographers Association. When not taking pictures, William is either writing music or exploring locally and beyond with his wife.
Nashville Interiors CONTRIBUTORS
ALLISON ELEFANTE | PHOTOGRAPHER
Allison is a Nashville-based interior and architectural photographer, and her company, Ruby and Peach Photo, has become a mainstay with local designers, builders and artists. She is classically trained in photography and graduated from the Art Institute of Philadelphia. Allison developed a passion for interiors over the last several years and is genuinely excited when she walks into the rooms of her clients. Her work is widely published on social media and in local magazines. When she isn’t behind the camera, she enjoys time at home with her husband and three young children.
REAGEN TAYLOR | PHOTOGRAPHER
Reagen Taylor is an interior design and architectural photographer. By using a mix of fine art and editorial photography styles, she focuses on creating bespoke images that capture delicate details and document sincere moments. Reagen’s images have been featured in LUXE Magazine, Modern Luxury Interiors, Southern Living, HGTV, Style Me Pretty Living, Tribeza, and many more. Reagen is based in Austin and Chicago but is available for travel. Find her at rtarchitecturephotography.com and on Instagram @rtarchitecturephotography.
MARQ BURNETT | WRITER
Marq Burnett is a sports writer turned business reporter. He iscurrently writing for the Nashville Business Journal, where he breaks news and writes thoughtful, informative stories about the city’s business community. Marq moved from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to Nashville in May 2019 after a decade of covering the University of Alabama’s athletic programs. He enjoys all types of comedy, delicious food and staying active. He’s been known to crush a happy hour and loves meeting new people. This is his first time contributing to Nashville Interiors.
KATIE KENDALL | HMUA
Beauty by K² is a professional freelance business owned and operated by lead artist Katie Kendall. Katie is also a licensed esthetician and Norvell Sunless Inc. certified in professional sunless spray tanning. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Katie has styled for events ranging from national and state pageants to musician photo shoots, country music videos, weddings, red carpet events and eventually everything in between. Katie has also worked with country artists Brett Young, The Cadillac Three and Big Machine Label group Delta Rae. Inspired by her mother, along with her closest friends and now colleagues, Katie took the leap in 2015 and created Beauty by K². Since then, Katie has styled more than 400 events. NI
CONTENTS Nashville Interiors
26 SPRING’S BEST BOTANICALS
We can’t get enough plants in our homes, and these are the people and places making our spaces greener.
31 CREATING A SPACE THAT FITS
A Green Hills house is renovated and expanded to make just the right space for the growing family who wanted to make it their forever home.
40 TO NASHVILLE, WITH LOVE
Andrew Clancey and Laura Citron show off their eclectic design style as they make a rental their own in East Nashville.
51 EXPRESS YOURSELF
A historic Sylvan Park bungalow gets balance with bold colors and assertive patterns.
57 IT TAKES TWO
A botanical design business blooms out of the pandemic and takes root in Germantown.
62 CUSTOM COLLABORATION
Careful planning with a custom builder helped ensure a smooth build for a family building their dream home.
72 TIME FOR TILE
Master printmaker Jim Sherraden brings his textiles and patterns to tiles for an artistic interior application.
PHOTOGRAPH BY JERRY ATNIP
CONTENTS Nashville Interiors
A BUCOLIC BRENTWOOD ESCAPE
A 1960s California ranch gets a total renovation for interior designer Mark Williams and his husband, Dolly Parton’s creative director Steve Summers.
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: JAY JENKINS, AKA WOKE3
A mixed media artist from North Nashville works to ensure other artists from his community get representation with an arts collective and upcoming mural festival.
97
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: ANTHONY FAZIO
Two Germantown-based artists work together to create a new home product line in the months following the tornado.
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: KEITH TUCKER
From large-scale set pieces and sculpture to fine art illustration to murals, the Mount Juliet-based artist works from a studio and home filled with personality, memories and art.
Bradington-Young, Hooker, King Hickory, Sam Moore, Universal & more
SPRING’S BEST BOTANICALS
THESE ARE THE SHOPS, STOPS, NURSERIES AND FLORISTS
WE ARE LOVING THIS SEASON IN NASHVILLE.
FOILED & FERN
1210 Second Ave. N. Suite 101
615-920-5141
In a shop twist we never knew we needed, owner Derrick Lachney has brought together hair and houseplants in Germantown for the kind of self-love experience that feels good in the moment and then extends to happiness at home. The “nearly native” Nashvillian has done hair all over the city (Studio Gavin, Shine), but he opened his hybrid shop right before COVID-19 hit and was happy to have the plant side of the business while the hair side was dormant. Now that people are gathering again, he is excited that people will be turning to plants not only for their own homes, but for housewarming and hostess gifts, too, making sure every little plant is ready to go in a stylish vessel. “I want the person to know what it is they have and how to take care of it, but I want it to look really cute sitting on the counter or the floor,” Lachney says.
CHEEKWOOD
1200 Forrest Park Drive
615-356-8000
Coming off the success of the Chihuly exhibit last year, Cheekwood Estate and Gardens is planning even more programming that combines art and nature in a way that brings longtime Nashvillians back to the grounds to experience something new, as well as drawing tourists who may have come for the country music but then take in some culture. “The historic landscape Cheekwood provides through its natural beauty is a lovely venue for most anything,” says Peter Grimaldi, vice president of gardens and facilities at Cheekwood. “And there’s that juxtaposition when you start introducing modern art into that composition that’s intellectually interesting.” That includes the Sean Kenney “Nature POP! Made with Lego bricks” exhibit, which is on display through Sept. 5, 2021.
JVI SECRET GARDENS
227 Donelson Pike
615-871-7338
JVI is also the place to turn to for ponds, landscaping and water features, making it a one-stop shop for creating your own secret garden. Overflowing with annuals, seasonal décor, trees and pottery, this is a super-charming nursery tucked behind a gate on Donelson Pike that is filled with friendly staff who appreciate the eclectically beautiful garden gallery they work in and know what they are talking about. Their goal is to show people how things might look in their own space, so the whole experience is like walking through a backyard paradise. A secret garden.
GENY’S FLOWERS
14407 Charlotte Ave. 615-269-0177
Geny’s is not only one of the oldest flower shops in the area, it’s also one of the oldest businesses; it’s been operating continuously since 1868. While they are definitely a florist who can make an amazing arrangement, they also offer wholesale flowers, foliage and floral supplies to independent designers and florists. Their farm-sourced flowers are delivered using a continuous cold chain form of transportation, are inspected upon arrival and are properly processed with fortified water to ensure high-quality buds for arrangements and special events. And while they pride themselves on their roots and longtime traditions, the arrangements are modern and fresh. Keep them in your rotation for go-to gifts that will never fail to impress.
FLWR SHOP
5133 Harding Pike, 615-487-5097 2809 Dickerson Pike, 615-401-9124
Owned by Alex Vaughan, her tagline is a florist with a passion for design, and that is evident in the arrangements coming out of the FLWR Shop from her and her team of designers — some of whom are also interior designers. A Miami transplant, Vaughan handles design for weddings and events, all the way up to full-scale design, which can be everything from a simply stunning Mother’s Day bouquet to hanging 10,000 tulips upside down over a dance floor.
SYMMETRIC TWIST DOUBLE SCONCE IN ANTIQUE-BURNISHED BRASS BY CHAPMAN & MYERS
HACKNEY BRIDGE ARM FLOOR LAMP IN BRONZE BY J. RANDALL POWERS
“Circa is always my first stop when sourcing lighting for clients. I love their offerings of classic fixtures with clean lines and beautiful finishes that I know will stand the test of time.”
- Wesley Stanley
Left: Wesley Stanley of Hunt + Gather Design
Right: Architect, Elizabeth (Betsy) Pogue
Creating a Space That Fits
Creating a Space That Fits
BY HOLLIE DEESE PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALLISON ELEFANTE AND WARNER TIDWELL
WA GREEN HILLS HOME IS RENOVATED TO GROW WITH A FAMILY
hen Leigh Hillenmeyer and her husband, Morgan, moved into their Green Hills home in 2012, she was pregnant with their son, Parks, and their daughter, Reiling, was 3. Drawn to the traditional feel of the house, they saw a home set far back from the street, a back yard great for kids to run around and large bedrooms their children could grow into.
“We thought, we could be here for a really long time,” she says. “And we
loved the bones of the house. We knew one day we would renovate, but we thought this was a well-built house that we could see ourselves living in forever. It had this charm.”
After a few years of growing and living in the space, though, the flaws the home did have came into focus. The time for renovation had come. Hillenmeyer worked with designer Wesley Stanley of Hunt + Gather Design and architect Elizabeth Pogue to help guide their family into a renovation that best served their family.
Ultimately, they all worked together to get exactly what the family needed without taking away any character or changing the home in a way that didn’t work in its surroundings.
“We liked the neighborhood, and we knew we wanted to stay,” Hillenmeyer says. “We’re so glad we renovated it and kept the character. I think that’s what we love the most and what Betsy was really good at doing — preserving what it was and, when adding on, making it feel like effortlessly the same house.”
A native Nashvillian, Pogue was very familiar with Green Hills architecture, having previously worked on nearby 1940s-era homes like the Hillenmeyers’, which had already been renovated once from its original two-bedroom, onebath layout.
So when the family discussed tearing the whole thing down and starting from scratch if that was what made the most sense, Pogue was happy to draw up an option that kept the character of the house but still gave the family all the extra room they needed for a master suite and kitchen expansion.
Architect Elizabeth Pogue was able to open the home up without losing its defined spaces, and designer Wesley Stanley added lighting from Circa in every room to handle overhead, ambient and directional needs for the space. Left, above the table, a Chapman & Myers Launceton large oval chandelier from Circa.
“I really thought there was a lot of charm to that house,” Pogue says. “I was able to come up with a plan that they really liked while keeping the house.”
Working with the Hillenmeyers and Stanley, a final plan was approved and executed that almost doubled the footprint to 5,000 square feet — all in the back, so what faces the street still looks like the quaint cottage it always was.
“You can look at the front of it, and it looks the same now as it did when it was originally built,” Pogue says. “You don’t notice any change until you walk around the side and to the back.”
That is where Pogue designed all of the extra space to almost wrap around the new and improved screen porch like a courtyard.
“It’s almost as if we have a whole other room on our house,” Hillenmeyer says. “And on nice days, like Easter, we open all the French doors and it really feels like it’s almost part of the house. So we hope spring days last a little bit longer.”
What Pogue accomplished with the renovation, Stanley did with the design: mixing old and new, taking the family’s heirlooms and combining them
Despite the home almost doubling in size, the rooms were made to accommodate a family of four who loves to entertain, with the expanded kitchen and master suites finding space around the porch, which almost acts as a courtyard. Above, the island is so large it can handle dramatic lighting, like the Visual Comfort Thomas O’ Brien Goodman large hanging lamps pendants.
with more modern pieces, giving Hillenmeyer the contemporary feel she wanted without losing the meaningful items that she loved.
“This is the house they brought their second child home to, the house that was the grownup house after their ‘we just got married house,’” Stanley says. “To be able to navigate all those transitions in the same spot, and have your house keep evolving, and to be able to take it to ‘forever house’ level is really special.”
Finding the right light
Because Stanley had known Hillenmeyer awhile, she was really tapped into her tastes and style of living. In fact, the front powder room was one of Stanley’s first design projects in Nashville years ago, pre-renovation.
“There are some sconces that I would have never thought to use, but she put those on the wall and it’s almost like a piece of art,” Hillenmeyer says. “And the sconces in the kitchen to the sides of the stove, I would have never thought to do that. But lighting is such a pretty way to decorate a house and just adds to the feel of the room.”
Stanley turned to Circa for most of the lighting, everything from wall sconces for directional light to soft ambient light from chandeliers. She knew Hillenmeyer loved brass, and that Circa’s finishes were exactly in line with the quality she wanted in a forever home.
The chandelier from Circa draws the eyes up, while a tiny powder room tucked in the back showcases a bold wallpaper pattern.
INTERIORS
A mudroom was added in the back, with a wide stairway that makes plenty of room for kids bustling in together after school.
“Circa served as jumping off point,” Stanley says. “Their brass finishes are just so lovely, and I used that as inspiration to create continuity from room to room, which makes the space feel even larger and grander than it is.”
Working with Stanley and Pogue gave the Hillenmeyers everything they needed to host friends for parties and family in from Louisiana as often as they want.
“They love to entertain,” Stanley says. “Morgan and Leigh are so gracious and always throwing open their doors and hosting dinner parties and having people over. And I just think they didn’t have the space to do that before. They certainly didn’t have anything like that beautiful great room or that incredible porch.”
Below, designer Wesley Stanley (standing) and architect Elizabeth Pogue.
INTERIORS
Now the home they started to grow their family in can continue its job hosting dinners and birthdays and one day, graduations and weddings and baby showers.
“It’s very similar to the feel of the house that they loved when they were 28 years old, but now you walk in the door and there is so much more than the outside reveals,” Stanley says. NI
A front room gets plenty of naturalsunlight and a lighting design boost from the Aerin Cristol tiered chandelier from Circa.
To Nashville, With Love To Nashville, With Love
LOUSIANA
MEETS LONDON IN AN EAST NASHVILLE COTTAGE FILLED WITH UNIQUE PERSONAL TOUCHES
BY HOLLIE DEESE
BY
PHOTOGRAPHY
RICHARD SUTER AND WILLIAM DESHAZER
Perched in a Lower East Side karaoke dive bar and flanked by badly upholstered animal-print furniture, Laura Citron’s eyes were drawn to a guy wearing sparkly shoes.
“He was doing this break dancing, and the shoes were just like little disco balls,” Citron says, laughing. “My friend said, ‘Oh my God, look at that guy.’ He had this huge smile on his face. She’s like, ‘He looks fun. We need to know him.’”
Citron stared. Break-dancing guy stared back. And the two seemingly haven’t looked away for more than a decade. It’s a love story born of alcohol, sparkly shoes and fashion.
“We caught eyes across the room. That had never happened before, but it was literally like we could not look away,” Citron says. “Each of us. And it was like, ‘He’s still looking at me and I’m still looking at him. Look away, somebody.’ It didn’t happen.”
Andrew Clancey and Laura Citron have settled into their East Nashville rental. Personal touches are everywhere, but they look forward to owning a home soon they can truly customize.
The sparkly shoe wearing man was designer and stylist Andrew Clancey. He recalls the encounter.
“Drunk,” he says, with a laugh. “I wasn’t chickening out. It was freaking me out that she was looking at me that long. I thought maybe she was blind or something.”
Clancey, from London, is the designer behind Any Old Iron. Citron, from Louisiana, has her own eponymous clothing line that is sold out of the couple’s fairly new storefront at 8 Music Square South off Music Row. They took over the space in May 2020.
A decade after that chance encounter in New York, Clancey and Citron have found their professional home in the heart of Music City.
“When I met Andrew and we got to talking, I found out that he was in fashion in New York. We connected because I was in fashion, also,” Citron says. “Some people tend to be a little bit pretentious or uptight, and Andrew was very much the opposite. So, I was attracted to him because of that.”
Left, the couple (with dog Panda) have adorned the shelves in their kitchen with glassware, Asian-inspired art and rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia. Wearing their own designs (as they are in all the photos), they lean against counters they’ve filled with red, retro-graphic appliances. Above, a fun surprise greets people in the guest bathroom.
Walking in to the couple’s home sets the stage for the entire experience: the cheetah painting by Old Made Good’s Ashley Sheehan, the Prince pop art piece by East Nashville artist Jason Brueck, the green velvet couch and the stuffed plush white tiger “head” over the mantel. The house, years before they moved in, was featured on the HGTV show “Nashville Flipped.”
INTERIORS
The name Any Old Iron is said to be rooted in the oldtimey cry of a scrap man collecting metal with his horse and cart, and also harkens to Clancey’s family scrap metal business, which its website says was founded in 1872.
“Any Old Iron” is also an Old English music hall song that references a “young man’s sartorial dandyism — a quality that is distinctly English, and, ever-present in the brand’s aesthetic,” the website says.
While in New York, Clancey says stylists would come in and tell him they were from Nashville and often mentioned that he should open a store in Nashville. After taking a visit to the city, the duo decided to move on a whim and join Nashville’s growing fashion scene.
They made the move in October 2014, with the goal of dressing the city’s musicians and fashion-forward locals.
The company’s clients include megastars such as Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Cher, Ozzy Osbourne, Kate Bosworth, Taylor Swift, Elton John, Miranda Lambert, Cardi B and the Jonas Bros, to name a few.
“I think the reason behind it is because we thought that the country music artists didn’t want to look like country music artists anymore,” Clancey says. “They didn’t want to look like that old style. I mean, some still do it and there’s a place for that. But most people want to be more contemporary and look like the Oscars red carpet now.”
Clancey and Citron originally rented space at 1627 Shelby Ave. in the former S.W. Simpkins Groceries store, and the couple even added a Coca-Cola mural on the side of the building to give it character. The space served double duty as their retail store and home, and they really loved growing both aspects of their lives in the neighborhood.
After getting pushback from the neighborhood and successfully fighting tooth and nail to get the building rezoned to become a store, the owner of the space sold the property less than a year later.
Today, Clancey and Citron view the owner’s decision as a blessing.
Left, funky floors flow throughout, and a bar cart under a psychedelic mushroom embroidery piece holds a tray and cocktail napkins from Ashley Longshore, plus some of Laura’s other favorite pieces.
Left, a corrugated metal ceiling is only one of the interesting details left from the house’s participation in “Nashville Flipped.” Clockwise from top left, the bedroom is all about Laura’s feminine accessories and dark, deco details.
“It wasn’t the best location for retail,” Citron says. “It was off the beaten path, and the store was kind of struggling at the beginning. We were upset at first. Then it was a blessing in disguise that we had to move on.”
Clancey and Citron have found ways to let both of their styles and personalities show up in their shop. There are touches of London from Clancey and slices of Louisiana from Citron mixed with a little bit of Nashville and aspects from their world travels.
And the same is true of their new home, finally separate from the shop so they can have a place that is a respite from Music Row. A charming East Nashville cottage, the home was once featured on the show “Nashville Flipped” and is filled with architectural details like a galvanized metal roof, raised ceilings and exposed brick.
Citron appreciates vintage art, while Clancey’s rock ’n’ roll side shines through with skulls and vintage rock ’n’ roll books. Chinese influences are everywhere, from dragons to wall hangings, and their bedroom is a dark, art deco den where Citron’s jewelry is on display, including wire breast forms from their last location.
The home is a showcase of what they love, what makes them happy and what speaks to them as a couple as well as individuals. It works — especially since more often than not Clancey knows to get out of Citron’s way when it comes to design.
“She always tries to move my stuff to hide it as far away as possible,” Clancey says, laughing.
“I’m allowed a little weird area in the back bedroom. It’s gotten to the point where it’s like ‘Laura, you do the house.’ She’s got a great eye, though, so I’m never offended.”NI
Left, Andrew feigns shock at a little rock star nudity in the 1980 Paula Yates book “Rock Stars in their Underpants.” The couple’s luxe bedroom is done up mostly in black and gold.
YOURSELF EXPRESS
Historic Sylvan Park bungalow gets balance with bold colors and assertive
patterns
BY HOLLIE DEESE PHOTOGRAPHY BY REAGEN TAYLOR
When they needed someone to renovate their 1930s-era Sylvan Park cottage, a couple didn’t even have to look outside their neighborhood.
Erika Thompson, who then was a designer with the interior design firm JL Designs, helped the homeowners work through their redesign room by room until eventually the entire home was done.
“They knew what they wanted, but they were also very trusting with the vision and the process,” Thompson says. “We developed that trust from the first couple of rooms that I worked on with them, and then it was a dream job because they made it so easy.”
It also helped that the homeowners were not opposed to wild pops of color, patterns or prints, like the orangepatterned wallpaper in the entryway—actually one of the first design choices they made.
“That set the tone for the kind of fun and funk that we wanted to bring throughout the home,” she says. “And it showed me they were on board with color and pattern.
The homeowners were able to find the right balance for their lifestyle and personality by adding unexpected colors and mixes of patterns to their historic Sylvan Park bungalow.
Living space is extended with a covered outdoor space with furniture in materials durable enough to handle weather and small children.
Above, the wallpaper was the first thing designer Erika Thompson helped the homeowners decide on, which set the tone for the attitude of the rest of the house — filled with personality but totally livable.
They had a bold vision about when people first come into your home, what do you want it to really say?”
The juxtaposition of fun with the historic nature of the home was where Thompson says they found livable balance. “We were really trying to balance some of that original character but also bring in some of their personality and some more interest.”
Thompson says when they started the project the couple had no children, but they knew they were coming and designed accordingly. Today, they have two little ones, a boy and a girl, and together they all enjoy the large, covered outdoor space and basement buildout with extra closets.
“It’s so helpful to live somewhere for a little bit before starting renovations,” she says. “I know everybody wants everything done to move in, and I can do that for you, but I just know the value of living with a space for a while and how your perception of that space will change. Because it will. So if you want it done now, let’s make it adaptable. Let’s make it so that it can shift along with your needs.”
Thompson encourages all families to embrace color and pattern. For this family, that meant it was okay to paint a brick wall bright Kelly green, then carry hints of it throughout the rest of the home’s design.
“We looked at such fun patterns and colors, and we really made sure that in each space, as you’re walking through, there’s still that element of fun and the unexpected—something surprising in this little cottage house.”
She encourages her clients to design in a way that makes them feel like the best version of themselves in their space. “The super-monochromatic, nocolor palette seems like it is taking a back seat. People want more interest, they want something that inspires them.”
For some people that will mean a totally serene environment, while for others it would be décor that stokes their creativity.
“I think people are finally realizing that it is important to feel like your home is an expression of yourself and not necessarily a blank slate that looks pretty,” Thompson says. “They want it to really inspire them and have their personality infused in it. I think that’s what everyone wants.” NI
Elan Skin
Elan Hair
It Takes Two
A BOTANICAL BUSINESS BLOOMS OUT OF THE PANDEMIC
BY HOLLIE DEESE PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAMELA MONAGHAN AND ERIN HINES
Alesha Sebie arrived in Nashville in 2015 from Wisconsin to get her master’s degree in social work. She finished, through the UT-Knoxville satellite campus, with a concentration in substance abuse, mental health and HIV, and she was determined to use her degree in a nontraditional way that made a difference. Not getting bogged down personally in other people’s problems was a priority for her own mental health, too, so she worked at the now-closed Green Pheasant while she considered what was to come next.
It was there she met visual artist and plant enthusiast Aijeleth Boda, who had moved to Nashville from Colorado in 2018. Out West, Boda had spent years working in a nursery, cultivating a love for plant care and design that wasn’t so far removed from her childhood among gardeners, landscapers and arborists.
“I needed this, to switch some things in my life,” Boda says of moving to a city she saw only once on a quick day trip. It wasn’t long before she met Sebie. “It all just kind of fell into place, as life tends to do.”
When Nashville’s service industry was hit hard by a tornado/pandemic double whammy, it forced the two of them to really think about what was next.
“A group of people had gotten together, a support within the pandemic and the tornado. There was just a lot of loss associated with that within our lives,” Sebie says. Throughout it all their friend Kate Ross continued on with her plans to open Hearts Café, and she needed some plants for the space.
“She knew that I had a jungle in my apartment, so she asked me to help her buy some plants for the space,” Sebie says. “I brought Aije to help me build a design plan, and we installed everything together.”
People started asking who did the plants, and when it became clear they had a viable business model, Zion Botanical was born. Since then, clients have been a mix of residential and commercial and include Joyland chef Sean Brock’s personal home, which they secured after completing Audrey, another of his restaurants; the Of Note influencer house; Lockeland Table; the Eleven Willow creative work space and Two Ten Jack.
thriving times in Nashville. Their business was born out of a pandemic pivot.
Above, an installation at Audrey’s upstairs tasting room.
Aijeleth Boda, left, and Alesha Sebie, met in the service industry during
Clockwise from above, a residential installation; plants in the Germantown studio; the upstairs bar at Audrey.
Zion Botanical’s services include design, installation, maintenance and repotting, like at the Note House in East Nashville.
They have worked with Katie Vance, lead designer and partner with 10Powell Architecture and Building Studio, and more and more frequently, they say, other interior designers have been in touch for help incorporating live plants into their designs.
“There is that interior design aspect of it, but we can help include plants and have them actually thrive in a space,” Sebie says. “Not just incorporate them in the design, but to know where the best spot for them to get light is, or if there’s a draft here should we switch it out? That’s where we come in with the knowledge and background to work with the client to make sure the plants live.”
First, they meet with clients for about an hour to get a feel for the lighting, size and aesthetic of the space they will be working in, as well as budget and maintenance requirements for the plants they will be bringing in. Based on that consultation they will come up with an estimated rendering of a design plan for hanging installations, shelving units, planter customization and grow lights.
“To create some beauty within your home now that you’re spending all this time there, or to bring some plants into a restaurant to create warmth in the environment with everyone six feet apart — we just love creating that changing environment,” Sebie says.
All installations include a two-week follow-up to ensure that all plants
installed are adjusting to their new environment. Clients who love the look of live plants but can’t keep them alive can add on maintenance services, establishing a watering schedule, pruning, repotting as needed, rehabilitation as needed and client plant education.
“We’re working with a client right now who’s been gone for two and a half months. She has over 60 plants, so every week we go in and take care of them on a maintenance contract,” Sebie says.
They source their plants as locally as possible from places including Gardens of Babylon, Bates Nursery, JVI Secret Gardens, 615 Nursery and Garden Center and Lawrence & Clarke Cacti Co.
It was a cross-country trip to Zion National Park, combined with her love of plantscapes and textures, that ultimately led Sebie to plant therapy — despite previously being unable to keep plants alive.
“I felt like I killed every plant I was interested in, but then I just came to realize I needed to start smaller and start with plants that were low maintenance,” Sebie says. “The jungle kind of came from that. Then one day I realized I had had this one stick plant for six years. And that little tiny aloe plant I got from the grocery store four years ago? It’s massive and in a gallon pot. And you just slowly come to realize that no one has a black thumb. You just have to be honest with where you’re at with plant care and the time that you have.” NI
Legacy Living
A BUILDER AND HOMEOWNER CREATE A HOME THAT HONORS FAMILY — PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
BY HOLLIE DEESE
INTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHY BY LESLIE BROWN | EXTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHY BY REED BROWN
Dionne Dewitte knew there was one element that had to be incorporated into the design of her Nashville dream home: the stone lion from her grandmother Marie’s garden, a heavy piece she had played on over and over as a little girl. Family is important to Dewitte. A Lipscomb grad, she had left the Nashville area for a long time and then moved back from Michigan five years ago because of family ties — including her twin sister living here. She approached Alan Looney at Castle Homes about a custom build, and she worked with him to get exactly what she wanted and needed in a house.
“We have four children, and I wanted to have a space that
was timeless as well as good for entertaining,” she says. “I wanted to have it very functional for our family with lots of storage, so I had them create walk-in closets everywhere — even in my family room. They don’t have as many choices as they used to, but there’s still a lot of games and puzzles and books and stuff like that. Where do people put all this?”
In addition to the walk-in closets, she also leaned on Looney and his team to install built-ins as many places as possible to avoid dressers and other bulky storage pieces. Plus it makes sense on a resale level. If someone wanted to convert just about any room into a bedroom it would be no trouble at all.
Cutsom bulder Castle Homes worked directly with the homeowner to deliver exactly what the mom of four needed in her kitchen, including a back kitchen to keep the mess contained and away from company.
BUILDING, DESIGN + DEVELOPMENT
“Everything you see inside that house — flooring, cabinetry, tile, backsplashes, lighting, built-in ceiling details — we design in-house,” Looney says.
One of Dewitte’s favorite parts of her house is the prep kitchen with a second refrigerator and a bar that leads to the walk-in pantry. It’s the perfect place to get things ready, execute them and stage them for later when friends and family come over.
“I can have a kitchen mess in another spot rather than having it all out when I entertain,” she says. “And my mother thinks that my kitchen eating area is the prettiest she’s ever seen.”
Even the laundry room features a standout view and so much storage that the cabinet maker Castle Homes brought on site commented it was the nicest one he had ever worked on. With four children — ages 17, 14, 12 and 8 — it was the kind of everyday, utilitarian space that could easily be dreary but was made anything but with tons of space, windows and style.
It is also the perfect first stop for sorting everyone’s assortment of gear. Dewitte had a locker with a door made for each child with shelves and hanging bars inside so anything she finds around the house that belongs to them can be easily stashed inside.
Left, a walk-in pantry. Below, the kind of laundry room anyone who actually has to do laundry would dream of, with stunning views and lockers for each kid to stash errant gear.
Dewitte turned to friend and designer Melissa Howser for help making sure every room lived up to its full potential.
One space that does is the covered outdoor area. It’s great for entertaining almost all year round, and it got used to its full potential in the 2020 pandemic era.
“We want to be out there all the time,” Dewitte says, adding that they’re glad they decided to put so much emphasis on the outdoors.
Looney worked with Memphis-based Looney Ricks Kiss architects (some sort of distant relation) on the 7,000-square-foot modern English home, and Michael Baldwin of Outdoor Ink on the landscape design and hardscapes by the front entrance.
“This home is more of a contemporary retreat with smooth lines and architectural details, like the limestone around the entrance of the
Left, like most rooms in the custom buld, the homeowner wanted built-ins so bulky furniture pieces would not stick out and interrupt the flow of a room. Below, the outdoor space is used year round thanks to a covered area with fireplace.
porch in front, and the landscaping,” Looney says. “One aspect that was really important to her was incorporating this stone lion she had.”
And so now her grandmother Marie’s lion gets prime real estate out front, greeting guests in the most grand fashion. And there’s more — in the backyard Dewitte has a standing lion sculpture that also belonged to her grandmother; it was one of a pair of 1970s lawn ornaments.
“They are very tacky, white marble stone,” Dewitte says. “But they’re a treasure to me.”
It makes Dewitte think of Marie every time she sees the lions, and she often wonders what Marie would think of the home her granddaughter is living in now.
The stone lion that once belonged to the homeowner’s grandmother takes a place of pride at the entrance of the home. The triple-arched entryway was the vision of Dewitte as well, executed by Castle.
Pools are key to enjoying sweltering hot Nashville summers, and Dewitte’s is perfection with adjacent outdoor kitchen and dining areas.
“She was a champion cotton picker from Piggott, Arkansas, and was the hardest-working, most wonderful Christian woman. And she had a huge impact on my life,” Dewitte says. “My sister and I went through all the ways that our grandmother had influenced our life: She taught us how to
work, how to cook for a crowd, how to study the Bible. She was just an amazing woman with a great legacy. So anything I have of hers I treasure, and the fact that it’s sitting out in front of this house — it’s very dear to me.” NI
Visit our new showroom at 256 Seaboard Lane in Franklin. Open Tuesday – Saturday to assist with your lamp, shade and repair needs. www.NashvilleLamps.com
Grand details throughout the house are kissed by sunlight.
Time for Tile
BY JENNIFER CHESAK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
MICHELLE MORROW
Former Hatch Show Print master printer
Master printmaker Jim Sherraden, who managed Nashville’s iconic Hatch Show Print for more than 30 years, has a new venture called jimjim and co. His artisan tile business is a collaboration with sculptor Jammie Williams and the crew at Nashville Tile & Interiors.
“I regret allowing the word ‘retired’ to be used,” Sherraden says about his 2016 farewell from Hatch Show Print. He says the goal was always to “move on, creating my own art based on my woodcuts in designs that resemble tiles or textiles, in traditional patterns or those of my own making.”
Sherraden, who has been making wooden and paper
quilts from his woodcuts, says he was always interested in ceramics and that tile was a natural next step, even though he lacked experience in the medium. “I don’t have the same amount of ceramics books as I do printmaking and art books,” he says, “but it’s close.”
He reached out to Williams, a painter and sculptor who does the inductee portraiture for the Country Music Hall of Fame, and Williams took him under his wing. “I wanted to not be the artist who just pointed and said ‘do it,’” Sherraden explains. He also is working with intructors Jessica Wilson and Perry Johnson of the Appalachian Center for Craft in Smithville, Tennessee.
“I wanted to learn the process. It’s going slow right now. But the only thing that could make it slower is if I took a
Jim Sherraden is using his woodcut technique to collaborate on tiles for the home with Nashville Tile & Interiors, a division of Hartert-Russell, under the name jimjim and co.
donkey and a wooden wagon on the drive over to Ashland City to work with Jammie.”
The process goes like this: Sherraden carves his wooden blocks and prints them, and then he cuts that printed paper into a tile motif. He sends the digital motif to a platemaker in Michigan. Then once he receives the crafted magnesium plates, Williams and Sherraden press in the clay to make the plaster tiles. Sherraden now has seven designs in the mix.
“I’ve always been cognizant of the value of the border to not so much control the information, but to enhance or accent the information,” he says, “whether it’s a Johnny Cash poster or something of my own art. So you have a border design built into the artwork that I make, which reflects well into the tile design components.”
Another jimjim and co. collaborator is Nashville Tile & Interiors, a division of cabinet maker and full-service construction company Hartert-Russell, which Sherraden says has supplied the print shop with wood to carve for decades. Nashville Tile will be representing jimjim and co. and finding clients.
“I stood in front of the people for almost 34 years,” Sherraden says, “and I feel like I’ve accomplished all that I’m supposed to as the front man to that great letterpress destination called Hatch Show Print. This is my opportunity now to completely transition into becoming an artist.”
Some of Sherraden’s work under jimjim and co. will appear at The Roots Barn, the new Music City Roots venue that’s scheduled to open early next year at historic Amqui Station in Madison. The commission involves an 8- by 8-foot piece of art based on Sherraden’s individual woodcuts that will be paper on wood in a tile design. And the bar and restaurant will incorporate jimjim and co. tiles into the interior.
Sherraden says having worked with repetitive imagery for years provided a natural entry into the tile space. “All of those decades of binding posters, annual report covers, pieces of art called monoprints—all of that has led me to this road,” he says. “All that I learned at Hatch has prepared me for this next phase of my aesthetic and spiritual career. I’m still in my early 60s, and I want to do this until I can’t lift up the woodcutting tools anymore.”NI
Sherraden works on his art, including the woodcut tiles, at his Whites Creek studio.
A Bucolic Brentwood Escape
A 1960S RANCH GETS A TOTAL RENOVATION IN THE SUBURBS
BY HOLLIE DEESE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY EMILY FOLLOWILL
Designer Mark Williams never intended to stay in Atlanta, much less put down roots in Nashville. Raised in Boston, he always assumed he would return after college. But after studying at Georgia Tech, he leaned on the connections he had made in Atlanta and began to grow his business.
he thought he could do and started his first design firm when he was 28. Gradually his business and vision grew, and he is now the owner of the Atlanta-based architectural and design firm Mark Williams Design. He maintains a home and office there as well.
In the master bedroom, classic shapes and colors make for a comfortable retreat, with bedding from West Elm and a lamp and artwork from Bobo Intriguing Objects.
“I figured I would end up in New York or Boston, back in the Northeast market somewhere,” he says. “But when you are in architecture school, you meet so many professionals that come in to view your work. And when you graduate, that provides a warm market of people who have met you and are familiar with your work.”
He got started in one of those fresh-out-ofcollege low paying jobs and built his business from the ground up. He had a vision for what
But once he met his now-husband Steve Summers, who is Dolly Parton’s creative director, Nashville was destined to be a part of their life together.
“Nashville has grown so much in just the last 10 years,” Williams says. “So many people have flocked to the city for those same reasons that people flocked to Atlanta 20 years ago: It’s a very livable city, there’s a reasonable cost of living, the climate is fantastic. And there’s natural beauty just a very short drive outside of the city. People are discovering that Nashville’s small-town charm is something that they want to be a part of.”
The dining room has a table set and ready from Oly Studio with chairs from Knoll and a light fixture from Jonathan Adler that matches the scale of the wall-size art.
Renovating a classic
Williams describes the Brentwood home he and Summers bought about eight years ago as a “total unicorn. Sitting on more than an acre, the backyard overlooks a creek and is surrounded by parks and greenspace. But the home itself needed some serious work. The midcentury ranch, built in 1969, was stripped down to the studs and underwent a full year of renovations before it was ready for Williams and Summers.
“Every inch of it had to be completely redone,” Williams
says. “In the end it worked to our advantage because it allowed us to not only reinvent the floor plan of the house, but also reinvent the mechanical systems of the house.”
That meant new electrical wiring throughout and an upgrade to a tankless water heater.
They also added some serious square footage on the back; the now U-shaped house is double its original size. What was once the garage became a clean and modern kitchen with a custom stainless-steel wall. Artwork was showcased gallery-style, and the whole house was set up for entertaining, which came in handy whenever Dolly herself dropped by.
When their youngest was nearly done with college, they sold the home they thought they would live in forever. They agree it is truly more suited for a family with young children than it is for a couple of empty nesters.
“We realized it was time to pass it along to somebody with younger kids than our own, and that’s what ended up happening,” Williams says. “A great family with two little kids running in the yard, with the creek in the back and that big family room — which is the heart of the house. It was great for our family when everybody was home, but that’s not the case anymore.”
A self-described real estate junkie, Williams had resale
Above, the kitchen cabinetry from IKEA is paired with Silestone countertops, floor and wall tiles from Crossville, stools from Modernica and Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances; a porch brings the inside out with a custom-stained IKEA table and West Elm accessories. Across, the living room has a standout custom Skylar Morgan coffee table over a custom Bjork Studio ottoman.
No neighbors within their line of sight means plenty of privacy when relaxing on the porch.
A master bath with tiles from Crossville looks out over nothing but nature; across, Williams with husband, Steve Summers, right.
in the back of his mind when he planned the home’s renovation anyway — as he does with all his clients.
“I always want to think it through to solve the Rubik’s cube for a family that accommodates every single one of their needs but doesn’t make it such a personal home that the next family isn’t going to get it, or is going to have to change everything after they move in,” he says.
He wants homes to be personal while still accommodating a broader market need — and he doesn’t think the two goals are total opposites. “There’s typically a way where you can find a pathway to accommodate both. And that’s what we did with this house,” he says.
Now that it has sold, they have a townhouse on Wedgewood Avenue and are excited about their next stage in life.
“There’s so many great neighborhoods, and we looked all over the place,” Williams says. “But my husband works in the 12thSouth area, so it just made sense for us to be within walking distance from where he works. We enjoyed being at the end of a cul-de-sac in the suburbs when the kids were younger. Now we are ready to enjoy something else.” NI
Classic Elegance Captured.
Emily Followill’s balanced and carefully curated photos tell a story, and she is recognized for her natural quality of light.
From residential interiors, to gardens, to lifestyle, to products, she demonstrates an ability to capture simple beauty in complex settings.
Each client and project is a new story to tell – one that captures the spirt and essence of each person and place.
R. Higgins Interiors I Durden Architecture I Crestline Builders
DAPHNE
Quirky | Pretty | Home
ART, ARTISANS AND ANTIQUES
Artist Spotlight WOKE3 JAY JENKINS —
BY MARQ BURNETT PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEEP3
Jamal “Jay” Jenkins, known artistically as Woke3, describes himself as a melanated muralist and mixed-media artist from “Norf” (North) Nashville.
Jenkins was born outside of Los Angeles but left the West Coast at the age of 4. The “Norf” raised and made him into the man he is today, and he hasn’t forgotten that upbringing. It’s so integral to him that it’s in the name of the art collective he founded: Norf Art Collective.
You don’t just see Jenkins’ work, you feel it — he’s a man using his unique talents to ensure that his community is represented in a positive, confident and bold way.
Woke3’s gift is the ability to make people feel connected, appreciated, respected and submerged in his artworks. His works are praised by the community for being diverse and inclusive and for showing how no one thing is greater than another while expressing his heart for a more equitable world for all.
He fell in love with art in high school, doing graffiti and painting on trains with friends. He became engulfed by the history behind it and how expressive it allowed him to be.
That love was harnessed and showed signs of becoming a career during his days at Tennessee State University.
Jenkins originally thought his path would be computer
science because he and his friends enjoyed taking computers apart. But a conversation with friend and mentor Michael “Ol Skool” Mucker — whom Jenkins refers to as a legend — turned pursuing and creating art into his sole focus.
“Ol Skool” told him to get in touch with Michael McBride, a painting/drawing instructor at TSU.
“After talking to them and being around other artists in classes, I got the chance to see and study artists who were living off their work,” Jenkins says. “One of my favorite artists I got introduced to is Justin Bua. When I saw his work and read his book, it changed everything, and I decided to go for it.”
Bua is an artist, author, speaker and entrepreneur widely known for his lyrical narrative paintings of musicians, along with developing visual concepts for the video games NBA Street (2001) and NFL Street (2004).
“When I found out he did those games, I was like ‘Damn, this dude is hard,’” Jenkins says. “He was doing graffiti back in the golden era. His style was dope. I didn’t even know you could paint like that. He gave me a new height to reach.”
Jenkins hopes to leave his mark on younger artists, the community and the youth in his neighborhood through his works.
A mural Jenkins painted as part of The Norf Wall Fest, which consists of several large-scale murals that relate to pressing social issues like materialism and race, in North Nashville.
That starts with focusing on the business side and ensuring that his family is well taken care of. In his quest for better balance and structure in his life, he’s made changes like journaling, eating better, getting rest and even using his calendar to create goals and keep up with what’s going on throughout his weeks.
Those are all things that sound simple but can get in the way of the creative process for an artist.
He’s committed to taking time off when needed and dedicating that to his family.
He’s leaning on the woman in his life, Angel Adams, to help guide him.
“She moves in a way that’s really inspiring, and she gets things done,” Jenkins says. “She’s sharing her knowledge, and I thank her for that.”
Woke3 founded The Norf Wall Fest in 2015 by inviting local artists to create several murals that spoke to the social consciousness, history, beautification and livelihood of the North Nashville neighborhood.
One of Jay’s portrait pieces.
Jamal “Jay” Jenkins, who paints as Woke3, was an art student at TSU and grew up in North Nashville. He founded the Norf Wall Fest as a way to celebrate the culture and history of that neighborhood.
But Norf Wall Fest is more than just murals. It is described as an inclusive festival for the celebration of cultural, visual and performing arts by local artists. The 2021 festival is scheduled for June 12.
“I want to invite the community to be a part of this mural we’re creating. I want it to reflect the community and its legacy,” Jenkins says. “We want to acknowledge our history, our ancestors and what they left behind. You also want to pass the baton. I want to make sure I’m providing opportunities and speaking messages onto the wall. We want this to be something that will represent the community and for it to be something the community will be proud of seeing. It’s like a gift. I’m from here, and I want to leave something here that’s going to be up for years.” NI
The Forever Level
$1,000+ Artist Sponsor
Thank you for being a Forever Friend to the North Nashville Community. Your donation makes it possible to continue our programming and activities.
❖ Name listed on our Donor’s Circle ❖ 2 (two) Invitations to Reception
Comissioned portrait work of Jay’s.
NORF WALL FEST
The North Wall Fest 2015 was a celebration of the surrounding community ideals, potential and current events. Through the creative efforts of muralists, street artists, and painters the festival created large issues such as materialism and race. The artists worked over a two September 28 to October 16, 2015. The festival took place on the final two days of the project. These artists painted within the north Nashville
18th Ave North and Herman Street, Buchanan Street and
Woke3 founded Norf Wall Fest in 2015 by inviting local artists to create several murals that spoke to the social consciousness, history, beautification, and livelihood of the North Nashville neighborhood.
The Norf Wall Fest is more than just murals. It is an inclusive festival for the celebration of cultural, visual, and performing arts by local artists.
The project itself drives innovation by lending artists the space and materials needed to add an aesthetic flare to the neighborhoods of North Nashville while maximizing the capacity for social and cultural influence.
It also seeks to make transparent the processes of street art so that those who are already involved in the arts or interested may gain access to the artists and communities who work in this medium.
Thank you for being a TITAN to our
DB Todd Jr Blvd
Artist: Brad Wells
Photograph taken by: Keep3
Artist: Woke3
The Norf Art Collective was created out of the Norf Wall Fest in 2015.
community:
Dr
Artist: Thaxton Waters
Artist: Sam Dunson MURALS of the
Artist: Thaxton Waters
NORF WALL
The North Wall Fest 2015 was a celebration ideals, potential and current events. artists, and painters the festival issues such as materialism and September 28 to October 16, 2015. project. These 18th Ave North and Herman
Artist: Thaxton Waters Artist: Elisheba/OneDropInk
Art for All
Persona Contemporary is a grassroots arts organization seeking to empower diversity, inclusion, and mental health awareness in the arts community at large.
With a mission to create opportunities for creative play and provide a brighter spotlight for Women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+artists.
Led by contemporary artist and visionary Andrés Bustamante, the organization has been impacting Nashville communities since 2018. By raising funds for local non-profits through art sales, teaching art workshops to urban youth, and creating community mural projects.
The artist states “Persona Contemporary is a place where creative play is the heart. Creating opportunities where there were none for artists that are often underrepresented in galleries, collections, public art, and in the media. To bridge the gap and connect our youth to emerging artists, and those to established artists. To help minds expand in awe and wonder. A place where mutual empowerment meets community.”
The young organization is currently seeking volunteers, partners, and funding that share a passion for seeing Nashville neighborhoods unite, heal, and be beautified.
Bustamante states, “The way I see it, creative play is the way that our higher self smiles and the way that humanity heals. Let’s empower one another!”
GAIN TIME AND PEACE OF MIND WITH A FRESH SPACE
Organization and design are essential to giving a space character and beauty.
Our detailed, efficient, and seamless process has been refined by over a decade of working with clients creating beautifully organized spaces.
We are full service, meaning we take care of everything from start to finish, from organizing to unpacking to collaboration with builders and designers.
Artist Spotlight ANTHONY FAZIO
BY HOLLIE DEESE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY WILLIAM DESHAZER
Ten years ago Anthony Fazio’s life was almost unbelievably different than it is today. A firefighter from New Jersey, he was more accustomed to going into burning buildings than buying art supplies. But a shoulder injury on the job forced him to reevaluate everything.
“I had a few surgeries and had nerve damage in my fingers. In hindsight, it was almost a release, where I was free from my whole life and structure,” he says.
“A firefighter, an EMT, corrections officer working in a jail — going from that to art, it just suddenly all made sense to me. It was like it was always what I was supposed to be doing. In reality, I’d been an artist my whole life — painting cars, painting houses — I’d just never thought it.”
Art was not totally new to him. His grandmother was a fine artist who created landscapes and portraits, and she had Fazio drawing at a very young age. And his parents always supported his creativity, because they never doubted his success at anything he did.
“You would have to ask them, but they know whatever I put my mind to I’ll figure out,” he says. “Art didn’t come easy, but I think that mentality got me to where I am now with my art career.”
Fazio moved to Nashville in 2017 based on growth potential and crane count after he spent some time in Colorado regrouping from his injury. He got involved
Left, artist Anthony Fazio in his Midtown studio. Above, a set of pastels that belonged to his artist grandmother.
in the arts community right away, even doing a few gallery shows before pulling back to refocus.
“Any growing city needs a strong arts community,” he says. “I think that’s the foundation where everything is built. I just realized I wanted to explore myself as an artist and see how I could grow.”
There are multiple sides to Fazio as an artist — the large-scale, black-andwhite pieces that he does primarily for designers and home staging; the thick, layered colorful abstract pieces that are never really done until they leave his possession; and the landscape photography that is the antithesis of the abstract.
“The photography came because I wanted to remember exactly what I was seeing in Colorado. It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen,” he says. “That’s why I don’t do realism paintings. I can see the ratio of your face and the different points and planes and values. And for me, if I don’t get them just right, it doesn’t work.”
But it is the abstract pieces in wild contrasting colors where Fazio finds himself working most, filling his small Midtown studio with canvas upon canvas. Some canvases will get 30 or more layers before he is happy with them, and he documents each layer with a picture before adding more and more and more.
“Art — it breathes and grows,” he says. “My productivity definitely prospered during the isolation of quarantine. It just made me grow in different styles that I had never grown before. Creating something that has never existed before, and that has meaning behind it, is one of the hardest things I have ever done in my entire life. You’re putting something together that has never been shown to the public or anyone else — or even to yourself.”
That would be a lot of pressure for a less confident artist, but the first responder deep inside Fazio thrives on it.
“I love pressure,” he says. “I don’t know how to think or how to be without pressure. Going into burning buildings or jail cells, it’s the unknown. Art,
for me now, it’s like the unknown of your subconscious. I have no other choice but to paint; I don’t feel right unless I put my hand on multiple paintings a day. I have to get it out of me.”
Post pandemic, Fazio appreciates just how much 2020 did for his art and what he was able to achieve, alone.
“If you look into art history, you have to be high-risk,” he says. “You have to take that gamble. You have to be able to put it all on the table and believe in yourself to be like, ‘I got something.’ Anybody could just coast through life. Anybody can find something that works. But we are in a once in a lifetime moment, and artists need to take advantage of this pivotal time in history.” NI
Fazio’s studio is a rotating gallery of work.
Fazio among his work.
Artist Spotlight KEITH TUCKER
BY HOLLIE DEESE PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICHARD SUTER
It’s hard to find a medium that artist Keith Tucker doesn’t work in when creating his paintings, murals, sculptures, illustrations or occasionally even furniture. The honorary Kentucky Colonel — a distinction he earned in 2005 in recognition of a sculpture he created of Abraham Lincoln for the opening of the Gaylord Hotel in Washington, D.C. — has a knack for creating.
Most of his work is made in his Mount Juliet studio. Filled with memorabilia from his journey as an artist — the medical foot he bought on the street in New York when he was illustrating medical drawings, the large-scale gargoyle he sculpted for his first gig for the Tennessee Repertory Theater (now the Nashville Rep) — it’s where he is free to express himself in a way he wasn’t encouraged to as a child.
“I did not grow up in an art house at all. My parents didn’t read books, they didn’t listen to music and didn’t go see
films,” he says. “I’m just like many others who gravitate to that thing that wasn’t in your life, and I drew a lot. I drew what every other kid does, which is not terribly interesting, but I drew a lot, and was maybe a little better and so people would tell me I was good.”
As a 10-year-old, he liked how it felt to be recognized for something he was good at, and the encouragement was enough to keep him going. But Tucker didn’t really consider art until he was a teenager. One of his high school art teachers encouraged him to attend an art camp at Murray State University, living on campus for a week and taking drawing classes from college teachers.
“That changed everything,” he says. “It taught me how to draw in a different way.”
He ended up getting his BFA there and spent one semester studying in Italy. He went to work for a large outdoor
Keith Tucker in his Mount Juliet studio.
advertising business right out of college making large-scale murals on buildings. “And so I learned how to grid things and scale things and paint big,” he says.
But he was always drawn to New York and moved there with a suitcase, $500 and a place to stay. He soon began making set pieces for a theater company, using his largescale creative skills.
“The theater, it was really fast and dirty. And it had to be read from 40 feet away,” he says.
In New York he also began working on improving his painting skills. It was one aspect of his art that he never really got into in college, where the focus was on functional design like ceramics and sculpture. He would visit local museums and was drawn to the masters, like Rembrandt. He wanted to paint like that too. He asked a couple of painters to teach him some things, then he got some turpentine and got started.
“Living in New York city, you can’t do much,” he says. “You’ve got a space this big, what are you going to do? You can just paint little pictures and draw. And so I just started painting. And I would stick with earth tones for a while, to keep it simple. And I just slowly just started transitioning from drawing into painting, and each one got a little bit better than the one before. And I just kept playing with it.”
A friend at work saw what he could do and commissioned him to paint his children for $400 apiece. It was thrilling, and he continued doing fine art pieces alongside his set work for the theater. Eventually, he had a rep who sold his work and got him into galleries in Dallas and Louisville.
“And for a while that was my world. And then when I did work in the theater you have to throw all that away and paint totally different — it has to be bold. Nobody cares about what it looks like as long as they can read details far away,” Tucker says.
Eventually, one of the guys at the theater left to work for Nashville’s Gary Musick Productions and convinced Tucker to join him one summer to make some extra money.
“I had been here a lot in college, and I loved it and thought it was cool,” he says. “I thought it would be a good place to relocate. And it was so much better.” Eventually he became an art director there, working on projects for the Nashville Predators.
Other production clients have included Brad Paisley, Chely Wright, Taylor Swift and Shawn Mendes.
Today Tucker’s work is more experimental than realistic, but his talent range is such that he can still do it all. A 20’ x 10’ “Animal Band” mural he painted on a muslin canvas and transferred to a wall in the children’s section of the Mount Juliet Library touches people in his community every day.
And he is looking for more projects that can have an impact. After all, he is compelled to create. “I have found that it just works,” he says. NI
Tucker’s studio is filled with memorabilia and past projects.
Co-list: Nathan Matwijec
Photo: Model Representation
with your FALL IN LOVE BACKYARD
PHOTO: ROBERT PETERSON
PATINE BY O’NEIL RUPPEL