PRESERVATION SOCIETY: TOMMY MITCHELL TOLE ORCHIDS

With the temperature dropping, it's nice to think of tropical climes and the beautiful blooms that grow in them. Tole artist Tommy Mitchell creates flowers of metal that are strikingly reminiscent of the real thing. He painstakingly creates metal replicas of a variety of flowers, paints them in life-like detail, and either pants them in a vessel, or, in his most recent incarnation, mounts them on the wall. Encasing individual Orchid stems, his new framed shadowboxes are made of crystal-clear acrylic, so they can be seen from every angle. They add tremendous impact to a wall, and bring the essence of les jardins indoors for a garden feeling year round.  I was taken with how striking they looked when I saw them at High Point Market, and just knew they would be right for Stylebeat. You can find his botanical designs at Bergdorf Goodman, Mary Mahoney in Palm Beach, Mrs. Howard in Atlanta, Madison in Texas, and visit his website to see his entire assortment.

Photo courtesy of Tommy Mitchell 

Orchids made of tole are laid out to dry after they have been painted.

 Once the Orchids are dry, they are affixed to a back and encased in acrylic shadowboxes.

The resulting framed specimens look incredibly hung in a grid formation, but are just as beautiful in pairs.

The vivid colors and variations of the Orchids really come across here.