The Story of Gilded Nautilus
It began in the water, in a spring-fed glacial lake in Northern Minnesota. Like so many born and raised in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”, I don’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t know how to swim. I never formed a fear of the water, just great respect. It was this lake and the acreage in which it was surrounded, where my father and mother instilled within me a deep reverence for nature. This was amplified the first time I visited the ocean. The unending vastness, phenomenal color, roaring waves, salty taste, and exceptional creatures lurking above and below. Like so many of you, I didn’t want to leave.
Crayons, playing cards and Pierre-Auguste Renoir are my earliest memories of art. When I was very young my mother, who has nurtured my passion for art throughout my life, created sketches. Two of which were of crayons and playing cards. I remember being mesmerized by the realism of the objects that she drew.
Then there was the beautiful copy of Renoir’s, Portrait of Irène Cahen d’Anvers, that my grandmother had hanging in her guest room. As a young girl, I only ever believed that this young girl was of the sea, shipwrecked, in her watery blue dress with a fish (ribbon) in her long, flowing hair.
Fast forward over three decades and countless twenty-four-hour drives to the beautiful Gulf Coast of Florida, my husband and I decided life was too short to wait to live our coastal dreams. A few years ago, we made the move from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast. A couple of years ago I retired from my career in science education. Now that my day to day no longer required a particular wardrobe, I realized that if I wanted the t-shirt of my dreams, one that I would want to live every day in, perhaps I should create it. It would have to be buttery soft, in coastal hues, with subtle, original hand drawn art that celebrates our beautiful oceans…AND the production had to be as sustainable as possible. Welcome to Gilded Nautilus!
