We've Only Just Begun

As I sit here writing this, our family and probably yours is under a quasi-quarantine. Stuck inside. Running around the kitchen table. Clawing at the walls.  

All we can do in times like these is look forward.  

But those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it as Winston Churchill once paraphrased. So, while we wait on tomorrow, we look back to the past.  

My mother, Jeannie Joyner, the artist whose work this very site is built around, has always been the creative type. She grew up in a generation that still taught home-ec and wood shop. Now, I doubt that mom could make a birdhouse, but she sure as heck would give it the college try. She wanted to escalate what she had been doing for so many years leading up to the last one. 

She decided to sell her artwork of the city which is so near and dear to her heart: Charleston! 

We set up Facebook and the website and things just kind of sat. And sat. And sat.  

I posted a few pictures. I really didn’t know what to do next. It would be about a year before I really sat down with the family to form any type of business game plan.  

And right before we did… 

Beep. 

A Facebook message from Lisa Graham. 

“This is an odd question. I recently changed a light plate in my home that I purchased about 4 yrs ago. The back is signed by Jeannie Joyner along with Rainbow Row Charleston SC but the plate is not painted. Just curious who Jeannie Joyner is. I found online she is [a] Lowcountry Native.”  

And the journey began. 

The above pretty much outlines the discovery of this former artwork. The former owners of the house had apparently scrubbed the painting of Rainbow Row that Jeannie had so painstakingly recreated transforming this simple household item into a work of art. All that was left was a white nothingness.  

After a little bit of back and forth, Jeannie and Lisa came to an agreement that Jeannie would repaint what once was hers. Bring history that had been erased back from the dead.  

In the end? Voila! Lisa and her family had Jeannie transform this everyday switch plate into a view of Charleston once again. Not to mention she made a few friends along the way… 

(Picture of Lisa and Mom and the switch plate.) 

In the end, this rekindled the passion for the project. We started taking more and more pictures of what mom had painted. The flower pots. The saw blades. The lightbulbs.  

The fire was stoked and we built an inventory and were ready to really gear up to share our love and Jeannie’s art. We always knew how we wanted to work. Help people connect with the town of Charleston in which they live or help a visitor take a piece of our city home with them. We’ve been doing it ever since. Hence, this blog.  

Before we go, you might be asking yourself where the name of our illustrious company came from. The answer may surprise you. Jeannie and David had a little business years and years ago. The name? Designs from Our House. Some of you may remember it.  

When approached about this new endeavor, she was asked if she wanted to go with the same name as her former company. She simply replied, “No. I want it to be called such and such designs.” 

Perfect!  

What started as a placeholder for something more fanciful became our moniker for one of the most consistent and creative artistic establishments on all of the interwebs.  

After this first full year of business online, we simply want to say: Thank you! 

Thank you for interacting with us on Instagram. 

Thank you for commenting and sharing our work on Facebook. 

Thank you for reading our quaint newsletter every week. 

(Thank you, Lisa, for looking us up and helping to put our butts into gear.) 

We appreciate you and your patronage. But if you want to pick up one of our wine glasses or a set to celebrate along with us? We would LOVE that too! 

~ Brandon L. Joyner