When thinking up a name for my personal studio practice, I knew I wanted to somehow reference my greatest influences- the two places my heart calls home: the Appalachian mountains and Savannah, GA. Drawing from Southern folklore, I considered what ties these regions together, and the widespread use of a color called haint blue immediately came to mind.

I first learned of haint blue on a childhood trip to Savannah, and the fascination with it has stuck with me. A soft blue-green with distinctive regional variances, haint blue was used commonly in the South on porch ceilings and shutters to keep out evil spirits, otherwise known as “haints.” It was thought this specific color mimicked water, which haints supposedly cannot cross. On a more practical level, the color is authentically proven to repel mosquitos, so perhaps there is more than superstition to this bit of Southern legend.

To me, haint blue is the color of Blue Ridge valleys laced with mist, of cloudless skies above the rolling hills, and of moonlit porches in my favorite Southern city.