The Big ToDo: Making Their Mark

The Summer Homegrown Artists Series is closing out with a feature on two successful young artists from Columbus. Teil Duncan Henley and Lulie Martin Wallace grew up in Columbus and went to Brookstone School. They each landed in Charleston, S.C., and have spent the past few years working in studios near each other at Redux Contemporary Art Center. Their styles are very different, but each of them have built companies with international audiences. The two spoke with The Big ToDo to discuss their work, major influences and collaborations.

Teil Duncan Henley

Q: What was it like to grow up in Columbus?

A: I loved growing up in Columbus. It’s so nice to be so close to the Chattahoochee river. Many fun memories at Lake Harding.

Q: Where did you go to high school? What did their art curriculum introduce you to?

A: I went to Brookstone. My high school teacher, Mr. Dozier, expressed so much confidence in me that it caused me to really believe that I could pursue art in college.

Q: When did you know you wanted to be an artist?

A: I never knew it was an option for me until a year out of college. I juggled baby-sitting, worked at a preschool, waited tables and commissioned dog paintings (by far the No. 1 commission request- people’s pets.). I discovered a shared work space, housing several artist working full time. Among them were young women who were really thriving in their art career. That inspired me to drop everything I was doing, and give an art career a try.

Q: What brought you to Charleston? What is your favorite thing about living there?

A: I moved to Charleston because it’s an all-around incredible town. It’s got the ocean, marsh, historical architecture, food, ect. They’re all tied for first place in reasons why I moved here.

Q: Who are your major influences?

A: My husband. He is such an encourager. If ever I am down, he lifts me right up with his words.

Q: Describe your process. How do you approach your work?

A: I typically start with photography. I have been traveling a lot, and my husband gave me a really great camera last Christmas that I always keep with me. I will come home with loads of pictures and pick my favorites. From there, I start the painting off (while looking at the photo) with a rough sketch. I then layer and layer paint, solving matters of form, light and shadow, color, pattern, composition and abstraction, until I feel it is complete. No mater what the subject, that is a consistent approach I take each time.

Q: You have been featured by many large publications such as Vogue and Southern Living. How did you establish relationships with those companies?

A: Honestly, the Internet is such a powerful tool. In fact, nowadays it’s everything. I had been discovered by a few bloggers that featured my work. The bloggers thankfully had a large following, so helped getting my name out. From there, people just shared my work through Pinterest, smaller blogs, various Instagrams, to where it eventually came across someone’s eye at major magazines.

Q: You also have worked on major collaborations with corporations like One Kings Lane and fashion designer Christian Siriano. How have those collaborations helped shape your business?

A: They have helped with validation, in that people that have respected taste endorse my work.

Q: Describe a day in your studio.

A: When I arrive, my sister and I sort out what needs to be done for the day. It is a dream to be able to work with her. She is absolutey my very best friend (besides my husband) and one of the funniest people I know. Her gifting is entirely opposite of mine. She works on the left side of the brain. She handles costumer service, promotional graphics, framing, studio management...she does everything besides painting. After we go through the plan, I just start painting. I paint from about 11:00-5/6 Monday-Friday.

Q: Where do you see your business in 10 years? What are your goals?

A: That is hard to say. I just got married seven months ago, and am now traveling with my husband on the PGA tour. I paint on the road, so this allows me to work on much smaller, intimate pieces. I also would like to provide more products into the mix. We would love to have kids, so it would be a miracle if I could juggle it all. I’m also not superwoman, and may have to make some sacrifices because my husband and our family come first by far.

Q: Is there anything else that you want our readers to know?

A: Sure. So since my whole business is run on Instagram, everyone knows we only put the good stuff out there. On the outside, my job might look like a huge dream come true, and it is. But as wonderful as it is, it does not bring true fulfillment to life, as nothing on this earth does. The times when I can really put my hope in Jesus, it reminds me that true satisfaction comes from resting in Him. I am so thankful for everything He has blessed me with, but the gift of Himself, which we all have access to is the only source of fulfillment. If only I could live by that every second!

Lulie Martin Wallace

Q: What was it like to grow up in Columbus?

A: I loved growing up in Columbus. I have a whole bunch of family that lives in Columbus and is from there. One of my favorite parts about growing up in Columbus is that there were always cousins and aunts and uncles around. I absolutely love Columbus and love the quality of friendships that I have from high school and growing up there.

Q: Who is your high school art teacher? What did their art curriculum introduce you to?

A: I had three art teachers in high school at Brookstone. My first art teacher in high school was Mr. Dozier. He was amazing. He was always very encouraging and kind. He was very nice. He definitely encouraged me in art. My second teacher was Ceil Bone. She was also incredibly encouraging. She came after Mr. Dozier and was super supportive. She was always very complimentary of what I was doing. My third teacher was Sally Bradley. I had her for a semester my senior year in high school. My favorite thing she did was she went to Atlanta once to go to an art supply store there that she really loved and she brought me back some oil pastels. Just for me. That definitely left a mark on me. She had always been really encouraging to me and knew how much I enjoyed art. For her to go out of her way and buy me art supplies from a special art supply store was very sweet.

Q: When did you know you wanted to be an artist?

A: I really didn’t think I could be an artist for high school and the majority of my college career. I thought it was something that I could do as a hobby but not necessarily something I could make a living doing full time. After I graduated from College of Charleston, I decided that I wanted to give art a shot as a full time career. So the summer after my senior year of college I spent painting. I said, “OK, if at the end of the summer I am selling paintings then I can move forward with selling paintings, or if there isn’t any interest I can stop.” The neat thing was that I sold enough for it to be encouraging. It wasn’t overwhelming and it wasn’t this big feeling of “this is what I’m meant to be doing” at first, but it definitely was encouraging enough to keep going.

Q: How did you decide where you wanted to go to college and study art?

A: I was attracted to Charleston and College of Charleston because of the art scene and the art department at College of Charleston. I really did think it was a neat place to be in an art program. I didn’t think I wanted to be an artist. I knew I wanted to major in art. What I thought I wanted to do was major in art and then go to grad school to get my masters in social work. My last semester of college I was talking to my sister Katie who has her masters in social work. She told me that if I could do art as a full time career and make my own schedule that it would be super beneficial in the long run if I wanted to have a family one day. She said that the people she knew who were artists really had a high quality of life and really enjoyed what they did.

Q: Who are your major influences?

A: Right now I work in a community art center that houses about 20 other artists. I really feel like I am heavily influenced by the people working and creating art around me. I also follow and pay attention to a lot of people I’ve found out about on social media and I am inspired by them. It’s a real neat time to be pursuing art. I love having access to tons of different people who are doing similar things as I am right now.

Q: Describe your process. How do you approach your work?

A: I really consider each piece a study. There has never been a piece of artwork I’ve created that I’ve said, “I’m done. This is perfect. This is exactly how I want it to be.” Normally when I approach a painting it’s, “What can I learn from this? What can I do that’s different from the one before? How can I push myself?” I feel like I learn a little something with every painting that I do.

Q: How do you name your paintings?

A: I name most of my flower paintings after girls’ names. Most of the time it’s just girls’ names that I like. Often, I name them after people I come in contact with that day. So if I take a walk with someone or grab lunch with someone, they’ll probably get a painting named after them.

Q: As your business has grown you have masterfully translated your work to other design mediums including textiles, home goods and apparel. How have you decided which products to produce next? What is your favorite product you sell?

A: Deciding what to produce next depends on a lot of different things. It’s what can we logistically produce and how can we produce them? It also is based on what excites me and what I think excites people who buy my art. Right now we do scarves and lunch boxes and we are testing kids play mats, stationery and journals. So there’s really no big rhyme or reason as to how we decide which products to produce next, but there is a lot of thought and sampling and prototyping that goes into producing products. My favorite thing we sell is the candles. Part of it is because I loved the complexity of the project. I loved going in and choosing the smells that we did. A lot of thought went into each candle. They are special to me. I like the way we package it. I like that they’re accessible and I like the way that they are in people’s homes. Right now when I walk into my friends homes and they’re burning one of my candles it means a lot to me.

Q: You hold collaborations with major corporations like Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters. How do you find these relationships have shaped your business?

A: I don’t know if they have shaped my business necessarily as much as they’ve just been amazing opportunities. I see them kind of as companies that have come alongside of what I am doing and have really helped. They have just been amazing opportunities to compliment what I have going on. Both of them have been awesome to work with and it’s definitely a huge honor to be represented by their stores.

Q: Describe a day in your studio.

A: I usually get to my studio around 9:45. My babysitter gets to my house at 9:30 and then I walk from my house to my studio which is about 4 blocks away. I carry my lunch with me and usually a jug of water. I get to my studio and procrastinate for at least 30 minutes, sometimes up to an hour. Then I go and get my canvas. Depending on what series I’m working on that day kind of decides what I’ll be painting that day. So I’ll paint for about two hours and think about lunch for about 30 minutes until it gets to be lunchtime. I eat lunch at 11:55 very promptly. I always get hungry very early. We usually sit around in the studio and chat with the girls that I work with. Then I finish painting and I walk home at about 3:30.

Q: Where are your products sold locally?

A: On my website there is a stock list of everywhere you can find my work. In Columbus, you can purchase work at Dinglewood Pharmacy, Fiddleheads, Spunky Skunk (Galleria Riverside), Traditions, St. Francis Hospital Gift Shop and River Road Pharmacy & Gifts.

Q: Where do you see your business in 10 years? What are your goals?

A: I have no idea where my business will be in ten years. Part of my goal is to keep growing in the product and textile design side of what I do. I just thoroughly enjoy the process of the textiles and pattern designing. I love seeing what I do come off the canvas. It’s really exciting to me. My goal is to keep a business that I feel excited about going into every day. So keeping my business manageable and enjoyable for me is a huge priority in terms of where I want my business to go. If that means growing every year but still keeping it manageable, then great. If that means downsizing because I go in less often then that’s fine with me.

This story was originally published June 30, 2016 at 10:45 PM with the headline "The Big ToDo: Making Their Mark."