Design Hunter's Journal

When the time came to downsize my mother’s vintage Berkey & Gay dresser, I immediately thought of artist Kandi Jamieson of Orchid’s True Blue.

Kandi refinishes and paints astonishing murals on furniture in her Evanston, IL backyard studio. She turns practical pieces of everyday furniture into works of art, and I have long admired the pieces she posts on her Instagram account.

I always thought my mother’s early 20th Century black dresser needed “a little something.” There were some hand-painted details along the sides, mostly rust-colored roses and some green leaves, but the details really didn’t stand out that well on the dark background. There was also a small Baroque-style painting of two cherubs that never appealed to me. I decided to give the dresser and matching vanity mirror to Kandi to see what she did with it.

Well I was in for a surprise! Kandi went much further than I ever envisioned. She painted a stunning portrait of an African woman, wearing a magnificent floral crown that extends beyond the cabinet itself and onto the vanity base:

“Something about it was so dark and black and striking, that I just felt like she needed to be on there,” Kandi told me when I visited her studio recently to see the dresser. “I definitely see her as an African queen, a pre-colonial young African queen, out in nature.”

I was floored by the stunning new appearance of this dark old cabinet. I love the way the original color of the cabinet is still visible in the face and hands of the African woman. And I appreciate the way Kandi enhanced the leaf details on the sides into tropical foliage, set off with bands of hot pink. She took the tiny exotic details of the original cabinet and went much further, turning the whole cabinet into a gorgeous, exotic work of art.

“The colors are vibrant and modern, but referring to history as well,” Kandi said. She was inspired by pre-colonial African history and also the floral masterpieces of artist and illustrator Olaf Hajek to create this astonishing work of art.

Just a footnote to this story: Kandi discovered something about the dresser we never knew about, not in the 50+ years my mother owned the piece: it has a hidden drawer. At the bottom of the dresser, what I thought was a decorative border is actually a shallow drawer:

I grew up with this cabinet, and I never knew about it! This is one of the reasons why I love old pieces of furniture. Sometimes there are hidden “surprises.”

I am so glad that Kandi has given this old cabinet new life with this astonishing transformation! I hope this vibrant work of art goes to a new home where it is cherished for a long time to come.

-Louise Hunter Burton