Artist Highlight: Theresa Drapkin
Theresa Drapkin is a Palm Beach fine artist who breathes color and warmth into her bold, whimsical still lifes. Her new series of original, color saturated pastels for Casa Branca features all things sun inspired- sun hats, shells, negroni sbagliatos and lots of lounging!- and will be on view at our Worth Avenue boutique on Friday, February 23.
✤ Q & A ✤
Where do you find inspiration?
Interior design, fashion, textiles, body movements and gestures, fruit, flora and objects.
How has your artistic style changed over the years?
I am a trained graphic designer, and I sort of fell into using pastels in a very graphic way. My method is non-traditional, I don’t blend the pastels, I create blocks of color with hard lines instead. One of the biggest misconceptions about my art is the medium!
To you, what makes a house a home?
I think homes should reflect the personalities of the people who live in them, and be playful. For us, it's having art on the walls, books everywhere, hand me down furniture and antique treasures mixed with new, candles half burned, ceramics on the countertop, photographs tucked into mirrors, a collection of tiny sea shells displayed, sculptures and plants and patterns. Gatherings of friends and family!
Who are your favorite artists?
Contemporary: Henni Alftan, Mamma Andersson, Jordan Casteel, Alex Katz, Mary Nelson-Sinclair, Kerry James Marshall, Polina Barskaya, Madeline Donahue, Luke Edward Hall, Jeanette Morrow, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Colleen Herman.
Historical: Alice Neel, Louise Bourgeois, Hilma af Klint, Jacob Lawrence, Cy Twombly, Lois Dodd, Milton Avery.
Favorite scent for the home?
Dyptique’s Santal for our house, Astier de Villatte’s Palais de Tokyo for my studio.
Go-to hostess gift?
I love gathering hostess gifts. Hive or Aioli homemade English muffins for your host to enjoy the next morning, a foraged bouquet of palm fronds from my front yard, a bundle of palo santo sticks, a bottle of bubbly from my husband’s new wine shop, West Palm Wine Co.!
Recommendations for a first timer to Palm Beach?
Start the morning by grabbing coffee at Composition Coffee, then walk around the historic neighborhoods of West Palm. Check out Show Pony in Flamingo Park, the Casa Branca Atelier and the Kristin Hjellegjerde gallery. Then pop into the Norton Museum of Art and roam the sculpture garden. Cross the bridge into Palm Beach and have lunch at Pizza al Fresco, always a classic. Head up Worth Avenue until you hit the turquoise water and enjoy! Grab a poolside cocktail at The Colony. Schedule a private viewing of the Bunker Collection. Dinner at Buccan with an "off menu" order of Tuna sliders from Imoto. I have two little ones, so the Palm Beach Lake Trail is perfect for them to bike on, and then hit up the secret pink fridge for freeze pops at Royal Poinciana.
Anything on your bucket list?
A trip to Japan!
