Bonnie Runnels, Painterly Garden Home, Fayetteville, Arkansas

Bonnie Runnels is a painter, a collector, a gardener, a grandmother, a wife, and a mother….my mother. She was raised as a young girl in a small Hungarian neighborhood in South Bend, Indiana then spent her teen years under the warm skies of southern California. She married my father when she was barely nineteen and had three kids by the time she was twenty-one. They lived near and far while my father was in his residency- Sacramento then Denver, and Seoul, South Korea. In 1976, they finally settled in a small town in the foothills of the Ozark mountains- Fayetteville, Arkansas. (Where my story begins!)

Before moving to Arkansas, she would have never believed she would grow to love the South, its people and the landscape. She raised her family in a constantly evolving nest of styles that were always warm and inviting…I for one had a very hard time leaving. I’ve watched my mother work feverishly over the years to make our home beautiful, stylish, and most importantly- comfortable. My father used to joke with her that the walls in the hallway were becoming narrower with each new application of wallpaper. She spent countless nights sewing costumes, curtains, dream dresses into the wee hours of the morning. Only recently has she finally been able to devote her energy to her first love- painting. The home she keeps has become more streamlined and reflective of her true passions; art, travel, gardening, and family. Her classic yet down-to-earth sensibilities have influenced my siblings and my own home life. We are forever grateful for her hard work and the passion with which she taught us to live and discover a more artful way of life.

A view of the telephone desk that sits next to the informal dining table. The blue Gustavian chair was purchased at Anthropologie and the desk from Bonnie’s favorite haunt, Homestead in Fredericksburg, Texas. The telephone is reproduction from Pottery Barn. If she had to mention one designer that has been central to her style…it would have to be Ralph Lauren. She also finds inspiration in the aesthetic of Rose Tarlow and Martha Stewart.

A basket of well loved detritus including a photo of my mother’s late father, John Szoke crouched in his own garden sometime in the 50’s. Bird Plate is “vintage Katie art”.

Bonnie remodeled her kitchen about eight years ago. I find it almost monastic in its simplicity-perhaps harking back to her Catholic school days? The kitchen tile was sourced from Waterworks.
Built in cupboards house a collection of vintage McCoy pottery, Ironstone, and Transferware in her favorite shades of white, cream and brown. “I like vintage things with character and pieces that came from a favorite place I’ve been or handed down from the people I love; an apron from a favorite aunt, or my mother’s soup tureen.”

A pale and natural color palette runs throughout the Runnels’ home. The tufted sofa is from Martha Stewart’s Collection with Bernhardt. The Leonardo da Vinci book was found in Savannah at The Paris Market and Brocante. “I think nature has inspired me in the color department mostly. The blues, greens, sand colors, textures, etc. Today when I was driving to Little Rock it was almost a religious experience seeing the beautiful spring colors. I’ve never seen so many shades of green and the ominous storm clouds parted and showed the most clear blue sky and it was all the colors that I love to have in my house. I love mosses, shells, birds nests, etc. I like to see bright colors in other people’s houses but my life is so busy and hectic that I need the calming colors of nature.”

Her painting of the figs, the little girl with her feet in the pond, and the portrait of my dad are arranged salon style with those she has collected from other artists. The conte figure drawing is by Scott Burdick. The watercolor of a monastery was found in France and the watermill pen and ink drawing was purchased from an artist on the Charles Bridge in Prague. The Aspen Tree painting is by Swiss Impressionist, Guido Frick. The portrait of me was done while at SCAD by my friend, Robert MacDonald.

The lovely light streams in from an eastern facing window in the master bath. The white field bath tiles are from Waterworks. The English bamboo dresser was found at antique shop in Little Rock. McKenna Jewelry box from Pottery Barn.

My parents both love gardening. The grounds surrounding their home have been transformed from the former owner’s horse corrals into lush almost room-like gardens and orchards. My father also loves water and has dug a pond in every backyard of every home and apartment they’ve ever lived in!

Bonnie’s art studio sits adjacent to the main house connected by a vine-covered walkway. The studio was designed by local architect, Albert Skiles to reflect my mother’s love of Karen Blixen’s home in Out of Africa. The studio also serves as a guest house, including a separate bedroom area, kitchenette, and bath.

A still life of Bonnie’s art in progress…she often works in oil, watercolor, pastel and pencil. Her love of the Russian-Impressionists is evident by her gestural mark-making and vibrant plein aire painting style.

Items from her collection of found objects, mixed with fruit or flowers from the garden are most often the subjects of Bonnie’s still life paintings.

I love the look she captured in this oil portrait she painted of my niece, Maggie. We are truly blessed to have these original treasures! Her work has won ‘best in show’ for two years in a row at the Arkansas Artists Exhibition. She can occasionally be persuaded to paint commissions…. inquiries can be made here: bonnierunnels@gmail.com

My parents raise Hampshire Sheep simply to admire them with added bonus of keeping the pasture grass tended. “Looking out to the front pasture on a foggy morning with the sheep grazing is as close to heaven as I can imagine.” Being at home with you and dad…that’s my heaven!