I grew up in a family of nine children. Our mother, an artist, fostered a deep passion in us for making art every day. I don't remember a time where there wasn't a child playing the piano in the midst of our mom climbing up on a ladder to paint murals on the ceiling, or us kids creating inventive tableaus or birthday parties under her direction.My mom has passed, but her many talents have been passed down to my siblings who continue to inspire me daily. My oldest sister is a nationally known fine art photographer, Julie Blackmon, and another sister is an author/illustrator, Rosie Winstead. My youngest sister, Millie Johnson, is a designer of dolls, and reinvented vintage clothing. Six of us siblings all live within a mile's radius from each other and we usually have a daily four o'clock design-talking session over a glass of wine or tea, depending on how the day has gone (mostly wine!).
I started my business out with a few gals six years ago. We sold furniture and antiques and I was the one who artfully arranged the vignettes and rooms at the shop. I also planned and set up the shop's promotional parties, which then had me being asked by more and more customers to decorate their houses and design their parties. I branched out on my own three years ago and now have a full time business which also includes creative retail window installations as well.Wishful dream of mine: I'm from Brad Pitt's hometown and would love to someday throw a party for that beautiful brood.
This was a private dinner party set-up for a party of eight. The owners built this arbor for their in-town property from cedar beams from their property just outside of Springfield, MO. They had never held a dinner party under this beautiful cascade of wisteria. The arbor spans twenty feet long and the antique waterfall chandelier is from Sharon Taylor Designs collection. The waterfall chandelier is a sculptural mimic of a wisteria bloom (in a tiered-layer-of-sorts).
The blue willow place setting is set atop one large fresh hosta leaf. The flowers are a spring mix of freshly picked garden flowers done by the lovely Orchid Lady (Janet Pearson). An additional bouquet of white roses from the local grocery store market has been supplemented along with a couple of fresh wisteria blooms (all sunk into a recycled pasta jar for a relaxed-Ozark-styled alfresco).Resources:
Dishes: Antique Blue Willow (personal collection)
Flatware: Antique Silver (personal collection)
Linens: Bardwill napkins from Tuesday Morning ($2.98 each), tablecloth is a strip of linen from a local wholesale fabric store
Lemonade Jug: Antique (found on Ebay)
Placemat: one large freshly picked hosta leaf.
Flowers: Created by the Orchid Lady, Janet Pearson. 1st arrangement: a garden mix of snowball hydrangeas, rabbit-footed fern, blue wisteria, sweet tea roses, wondering jew, mandevilla
2nd arrangement: white roses from the local grocery store sunk in an old pasta jar with an added sprig of wisteria
Chandelier: 1920's Antique Waterfall
I absolutely love the romance of this setting - classic, yet comfortable with the soft casual garden arrangements placed with china and chandeliers. Simply stunning! And, don't you love learning where these creative people come from? Sharon, I love that your family is such an amazing artistic brood! Thank you for sharing this amazing tabletop!
