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Home Designs Inspired by Family Histor y SHORTCUTS ART 54 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 1 5 F or Anne Thull, it's always been about art. Even as a little girl growing up in Detroit, Michigan, working on a drawing could consume her consciousness, transporting her to a separate world of creativity, expres- sion and freedom. "I remember sitting in our living room—I was 7 or 9— trying to teach myself to draw a goldfinch," Thull recalls. "My mother kept calling me, finally saying 'Anne, if you don't come now, you won't have any dinner.' I was ecstatic that she would leave me alone. To this day, I'm never hungry when I'm working." Anne Thull has turned her passion for art into a suc- cessful career. Her company, Anne Thull Designs, pro- duces functional art, pieces of one-of-a-kind or limited edition home décor that are informed by Thull's unique artistic vision. And sometimes the pieces' inspiration reaches back to her childhood. "In high school we were assigned to produce a large-scale drawing," she says. "I saw a photo of a Native American in full headdress." Captivated by his eyes and the roadmap of his life manifested in the lines on his face, she decided to replicate it. "I told myself that somehow, someday I was going to honor him." And she did, creating the "Arrow Table," a functional sculpture that evokes a Native American arrowhead motif. Another of Thull's hallmarks is her grapevine sculptures, also inspired by her upbringing. When her ancestors arrived in America from Italy, they brought with them a cutting from family grapevines, planting them at their New World home. Through the gen- erations, family members took cuttings from that original vine and nur tured them. "The tradition was lost somehow, and I chose to create sculptures to honor that." "I focus on creating something unique," Thull says. "I'm hoping that the pieces I design will be in a muse- um someday. I'm creating the collectible pieces of tomorrow today." Anne Thull Designs' showroom is in Hampton Court, at San Carlos and 7th, Carmel. For more information on her work, visit www.annethullfineart- designs.com or call 831/293-8190. --Michael Chatfield Although focusing on bespoke designs, Anne Thull has created several pieces that give potential clients a sense of her work. One example: the Dancing Stones Table, a limited edition of 350 designed around a slab of Caesarstone Concetto Grey Agate. Photo: Kelli Uldall