By Karen Parr-Moody
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – There are white vases, wooden hands, Brownie cameras, colored vases, apothecary scales, globes, maps, tintype photos of dogs, train cases, jewelry boxes, folding fans, French textiles, composers’ busts and Mexican salt-and-pepper shakers. The historic home of photographer Susan Bryant and mixed-media artist Billy Renkl is characterized by a particular style of décor: Well-tended collections, much of them vintage.
What makes these collections unusual is that they are grouped with such tidiness. Beyond that, they are conversation pieces – and the first question that comes to mind is, “Why?”
A close-up look at Bryant’s hand collection./Karen Parr-Moody
Bryant – who is an Austin Peay State University professor, as is her husband – is known among her friends for collecting wooden, ceramic and metal hands. This fascination has roots in her childhood.
“My first memory of noticing hands was when I was five,” Bryant said. “I took ballet and my dance teacher wanted our hands to look natural, but graceful. So then I would go to ballets and always watch their hands.”
As an elementary school student, Bryant was intrigued by how students’ raised their hands to answer questions. To her, the hands possessed emotion – some were eager, others undecided. Later on, Bryant became fascinated by watching deaf people engaged in sign language. And in college, she was awed by photographer Alfred Stieglitz’ shots of Georgia O’Keeffe’s hands.
Bryant and her husband have collected an array of white vases over the years./Karen Parr-Moody
Bryant’s other collections, along with those of her husband, have roots, as well. For example, vases are a natural outgrowth of the couple’s love of growing flowers. So they have collections of vases made of colored glass along with pastel ceramic vases and all-white vases. (Naturally, there is even a grouping of hand vases that reflect Susan’s passion alone.)
The collection of white vases is the largest one on display. In fact, the couple hired a local artisan to create a beautiful cabinet for them when, as Renkl said, the collection “reached critical mass.”
Another collection in the couple’s home is one of tintype dog photographs./Karen Parr-Moody
One might imagine that having multiple, large collections throughout a house would engender a sense of chaos. But it is exactly the opposite: This home’s décor is uncluttered and calm and there is a reason for that. As Renkl said, “Almost all of these collections are the variations that are possible within a narrow set of rules.”
For example, there are parameters to every white vase that enters the collection.
“It has to hold flowers and it has to be white and it has to be non-glossy,” Renkl said. “That’s a pretty specific set of rules for what you have to look for.”
Renkl is fascinated by how artisans stamp their individuality in Mexican salt-and-pepper shakers./Karen Parr-Moody
The same is true of the Mexican salt-and-pepper shakers. Each one of these hand-turned wooden shakers is similar, but slightly different.
“They were apparently the tourist tchotchke to bring back in the 1950s and there’s such a narrow vocabulary,” Renkl said. “They’re black, red and green and they’re all about the same size. But they’re all different and they’re all made by different wood turners in Mexico. I just love to see that happen – how there’s so much variation possible, even within a tight set of rules.”
These parameters are certainly what contribute to the sense of calm in a home filled with so many collections. So for those who are considering collecting, this couple has created some helpful rules by which to decorate.
Tiny busts of famous composers are lined up neatly on a girder in the basement./Karen Parr-Moody
Karen Parr-Moody began a career as a New York journalist, working as a fashion reporter for Women’s Wear Daily, a beauty editor for Young Miss and a beauty and fashion writer for both In Style and People magazines. Regionally, she has been a writer at The Leaf-Chronicle newspaper and currently writes about arts and culture for Nashville Arts magazine each month.