Joy at the Beach

I love the internet! In one of my early online searches on the Florida artist Joy Postle, I found articles in the Daytona paper from 2001 that mentioned that a couple had purchased a historic home in Ormond Beach and were looking to restore some Joy Postle murals. My friend and Joy Postle afficinado, Denise, sent them a letter and received a call back from the home's current owners who just purchased the house and they invited us to come out and take a look.

The home, built in 1913, was named Rowallen after a Scottish castle by it's original owner, Alexander Millar Lindsay. Lindsay made his fortune in the department store business, and reportedly, at one point, his store was the largest between New York and Cincinnati. The home passed hands several times and was bought by Harold and Eileen Butts who renamed it Linsaroe, the Celtic word for "by the water", according to historian Steve Ratjar. Eileen Butts, named a Great Floridian by the state in 2000, was responsible for the creation of Tomoka State Park, the Ormond Museum of Art (a former client of mine), and the presevation of John D. Rockefellor's home, The Casements in Ormond Beach. It has been rumored that Mr. Rockefellor was entertained in this noble residence.

It was probably Mrs. Butts who hired Joy Postle to create the murals for Rowallen. Upon entering this amazing space, the first room to the left has wonderful Postle murals, that are reminiscent of the ones I saw in west Orange County. These, however, were painted in 1940 and the style is more minimal and reminds me of Japanese painting; it has a zen-like quality to it. Of course all my favorite birds are featured including Green Herons, a Black Crested Night Heron and a Purple Gallinule.





The room directly behind that one has Postle murals of a completely different style and they remind me of something one might see in a European estate. They are much more monochromatic and very elegant. There are paintings of the Scottish castle, Chinese junks and pastoral wildlife like deer and rabbits. Very unique for what I've seen of Joy Postle's work.




Then even more in the attic. These murals, unlike the one's I'd seen before, were painted on canvas in 1940, instead of directly on the wall. The huge attic had many canvas murals removed from other rooms, notably bathrooms, featuring subject matter like the lighthouse at Ponce Inlet, and of course more birds, flowers and butterflies. Some of the murals appear to have been folded up for years, and we are hoping they will find a good home where they can be displayed and conserved.


Like the other house of Postle murals I visited, these home owners seemed to really appreciate the art treasures they have inherited and are committed to maintaining the artwork of this fascinating Florida artist.

Note: Joy Postle's beautiful mural of flamingos at Casa Iberia on the Rollins College campus is featured in my latest book, Shaping a Sense of Place: Historic Murals and the Aesthetic Character of Winter Park. 

Good from bad

You know the old saying when given lemons make lemonade. One of the trends I've noticed in these intense economic times, is that new stuff isn't popping up everywhere all the time and some of the more ephemeral roadside objects, like billboards, are not getting updated quite as often. In many cases, the billboards created from paper slowly deteriorate into modern art masterpieces, thirty feet in the air. I shot this one in Orlando on Orange Avenue.

My Florida Favorites

Since I started Visual Ephemera in December, I have completed 99 blogs. In celebration of number 100, I'm listing some of my current Florida favorites, based on photos I have presently available. I'd love to list more faves, but until I have more images, I'm going to refrain.

Favorite place to see manatees:
Homosassa Springs

Favorite place to see Bald Eagles nest:
Greenwood Cemetery, Orlando

Favorite motel I really want to stay in:
Driftwood Motel, Vero Beach


Favorite place to watch sunsets:
Ana Maria Island

Favorite boat ride:
Wakulla Springs

Favorite tower:
Bok Tower, Lake Wales

Favorite gift shop:
Presidents Hall of Fame, Clermont

Favorite historic city
St. Augustine

Favorite college campus
Flagler College, St. Augustine

Favorite place to fly
Fantasy of Flight, Polk City

Favorite Polynesian dining experience
Mai Kai, Ft. Lauderdale


Favorite sculpture garden
Ringling Museum, Sarasota

Favorite endangered natural resource
Florida's Springs

Favorite lighthouse
Ponce Inlet

Favorite rotosphere
Lakeland
photo by Kilby Photo

Favorite putt putt
Goofy Golf, Panama City

Favorite bird watching
Merritt Island National Wilderness Area

Favorite forgotten attraction
Stephen Foster Memorial, White Springs

Favorite collection
Presidents Hall of Fame, Clermont

Favorite way to spend a penny
Coin Drop, Citrus Tower, Clermont

The list could go on and on. Some things I couldn't pick because of the number of choices, like favorite Florida bird. I love birds but it would hard to choose between the limpkin, spoonbill, purple gallinule and wood duck. Or favorite restaurant. Or favorite beach. Too many choices.

And it is very obvious that many of my picks are Central Florida-centric. Writing this blog has whetted my appetite to explore more of the state and I am attempting to see the parts I've missed. I love the panhandle and can't wait to see more of it. And South Florida is a treasure trove of history and mid-century marvels.

Thanks to all my readers and keep the comments coming. Let me know what your favorites are and I'll do my best to check them out for myself. Creating Visual Ephemera makes me want to take note of the wonders, large and small, of this state I'm in... I hope it does for you too.

Number 38 and proud of it

This interesting news was in the paper on Sunday; the Central Florida town of Winter Park was picked 38th in list of 106 historic places around the world by National Geographic Traveler Magazine. According to the article, the magazine "called attention to Winter Park's historic homes and its 'small downtown' with historic businesses and small businesses." There is plenty of material to blog about concerning Winter Park, especially in terms of fabulous architecture and great museums. Today, however, the focus is based on the references I currently have on hand in the Studio Hourglass library, that being mostly images of Winter Park's signs, past and present.

First, a couple vintages images from the in-law's photos. The Schmidts have been in Central Florida, mostly Winter Park, for four generations now. The Colony Theater on Park Avenue, now a Pottery Barn, is a special place in the family history because my father-in-law worked there and he would bring his deposits to the bank across the street and flirt with a particular teller who ended up being my mother-in-law. He passed away at an early age and I was not fortunate enough to have met him, but these images help me feel connected to him.


A couple of blocks away from the Colony Theater was where the Langford Hotel used to sit. The Del Prado Lounge at the Langford was my favorite watering hole and I miss the amazing atmosphere of this incredibly unique place. This photo is from the Kilby Photo archives, look for another, more in-depth blog when he lets lose of some more Langford images. Hint, hint.


This next image from Kilby Photo is of a business that has moved but left its signs behind. Holler Chevrolet has relocated to SR 436, but it signs still remain a fixture in Winter Park.




Right down the street from the former Holler location lies Winter Park Bowl, just on the other side of the famous Winter Park sinkhole, now called Lake Rose.


Further down the road, closer to I-4 lies a Central Florida institution, Skycraft. Wacky hardware, NASA surplus and gimmicky gadgets abound in this paradise of interesting stuff.


And finally I featured the giant citrus formerly of Lee Road yesterday, but one shot could not do it justice.

The Winter Park Art Show is going on this weekend, celebrating its 50th anniversary!

Coming soon, my special 100th blog!

Gone but not forgotten...

I joined Flick'r yesterday to participate in another online community of people who share similar passions, in this case, roadside architecture. I uploaded every shot I had on the subject, that is currently on my computer, excluding the good ones shot by my brother the photographer. Then I dug into the archives a little and found a CD from 2001 with my first roadside retro calendar. I launched my design business, Kilby Creative, in December 2000 and wanted to create a self promotion piece for myself, so I went through all my old photos and made a pocket-sized calendar. They were well received and I went on to make 3 more with my brother handling the photography duties. If you'd like me to send you the '03 or '05 version, let me know, I have plenty left.

Since then I've always been on the lookout for great vintage signs and other roadside icons. Part of the project became simply documenting these beauties from the mid 20th century because I quickly noticed they tended to be here one day then gone the next. The hope became to create awareness of the relevance of these monuments to Florida's past so that we might preserve some them before it is too late.

Today, I'm highlighting some that didn't make it into the the 21st century. This Great Dane that was on the Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando used to mark the location of a truck dealership. When the dealership went away so did the dog; who knows where?

The Pepto pink dinosaur used to guard little kids at a daycare center in Port Orange.

I love roadside citrus and produce stands in Florida, because the signage is often as colorful as the fruit they sell. This amazing produce stand in Leesburg mixed religious messages and product pricing in a unique way.

This sign used to mark a citrus stand in Maitland.

There was actually a nice little strip of vintage signs in Maitland that has since succumbed to development.

I've blogged about the great City of Cars sign that used to be on Highway 50. This is a Satellite Sign from that interesting used car dealership.

This Muffler Man used to have a fine home in Ocala.

Every Muffler Man's dream, this Uniroyal Girl, stood outside a boat business in Winter Garden. Maybe she and the Muffler Man ran away?

This monumental citrus stood alongside a giant orange and blue globe at a Lee Road motel complex in Winter Park.

Nancy's Guys and Dolls was perhaps one of the "diviest" bars I ever visited. The walls long ago white, were dark tan from years of nicotine exposure. However I still feel sad when I drive by it's old location near Orlando's executive airport and see where it used to be. Thank goodness we still have Wally's!

Our favorite time machine restaurant near Orlando's Ben White Raceway was knocked down and moved to a motel down the road. The original in DeLand is still open- go there with a healthy appetite!

This building on Bumby in Orlando is for rent, sans neon.

And finally Kane's Furniture on Highway 50 was one of Orlando's finer examples of mid-century commercial architecture. It's gone now, as have much of the remnants of that period in Orlando's past, and it has been replaced with a couple new buildings. A bank, a fast food Chinese restaurant and this brand spanking new, mid-century inspired McDonalds. I think it is incredibly ironic that they would tear down something from the 1950s or 60s to build something that looks like it was from the same period!