Royal Grandeur

Since the age of twelve Jonn Spradlin has been involved in the world of art on one level or another. He began as a fine art painter and then for 10 years worked as an interior and conceptual designer in the New Orleans nightclub business. In 1997, Jonn designed and operated an upscale supper club called the Red Room and then in 2005, Hurricane Katrina brought 65 inches of water, which prompted Jonn to relocate back to his childhood home of Kilgore, Texas. Since the move, Jonn established Jonn Spradlin Design and has kept himself very busy. “I have been extremely lucky with the scale and quality of homes I have had the privilege to design.” he states. “The Lake Cherokee Griffin home (or Griffin Castle as it’s lovingly referred to) may very well be the most unique property I have designed to date, and working with the adventurous Scooter and Debbie Griffin has been a pleasure. I credit my success on this enormous 15,000-square-foot home in part to my assistant Missie Pannell, who turns out to be a wonderful gold leaf applicator as well as an instructor for the less experienced painters on the crew,” he adds.

The great room of this enormous home is an astounding 32-feet wide by-52 feet long with an incredible ceiling height of 28-feet. Designing the ceiling was no simple task. Jonn submitted over a dozen sketches to the Griffins during the composition phase, none of which was exactly right. Jonn wanted to make absolutely certain that both he and his clients were completely satisfied with the design, so he contacted Joan Johnson, a classical moldings specialist. After three weeks of collaboration, they came up with a plan that was sure to please. And please it did! The Griffins viewed the new layout and responded to it with a resounding “this is it!” and so the process began.

It took carpenters three months to assemble the intricately detailed moldings and medallions and the next four months for a crew of nine production painters to begin to give it life.

Antique Pine Stain & Seal™ was first applied followed by various MetalGlow® colors mixed with SoSlow™ to enhance the detail. Some areas were tipped with Vero Gold MetalGlow® using a dry-brushing technique while Leo Gold MetalGlow® was applied to the large cove molding. The “Rinson Scroll” design located on the underside of the beams was embellished using combinations of Martini Olive, Queen Elizabeth Purple, Celery, Spruce Green and Garnet MetalGlow® colors. The final color step was a FauxCrème® glaze mixture lightly tinted with Van Dyke Brown and Earth Brown FauxCreme Color™. Certain scrolls at the beam intersections were gold leafed to lend additional depth to the effect. A custom tinted Venetian Gem® Bellissimo wine color was applied to the flat portions of the ceiling. The soft luminescent quality of the plaster contrasted beautifully with the shimmering metallic colors.

A group of fine art students from North Texas State University completed the detail work on the six 36-inch medallions and center 12-foot medallion. For four weeks Bailey and Aeyrton Chapman and Ryan Goker were suspended 25 feet in the air adding intricate details to the very large plaster pieces. The walnut burl woodwork in the great room was coated with two coats of Clear SetCoat® and then finished with three coats of C500 Urethane™ Dull.

Once the painting was complete, 2,000 linear feet of LED lighting was installed to emphasize the grand scale of the ceiling and showcase its complex detail by changing to any one of a million different colors.

DECORATIVE ART BY: JONN SPRADLIN

PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY: JONN SPRADLIN

WRITTEN BY: CAT FAUST

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