By Kalena Reynolds | Arts & Life Editor
Inside the doors of Kevin and Abby Tankersley’s home exists the ultimate I Spy wonderland of color, cats and creativity. Kevin, a senior lecturer in the Journalism, Public Relations and New Media department, and his wife have spent the last 20 years intentionally collecting pieces that represent their love for local artists and design.
When you walk through the doors, immediately to the left are floor-to-ceiling bookshelves spanning the entire wall, installed by the Tankersleys after they purchased the house. The shelves are filled with a large collection of books spanning from Dr. Seuss to historical books to artist biographies.
“When we moved here 20 years ago, it was just a wall,” Kevin Tankersley said. “So that was the first thing we did to the house. We had the bookcases installed because we had boxes of books in storage.”
Also on the shelves, Kevin had shoes in a shadow box from his great-uncle, Clyde, who served in Casablanca, Morocco, during World War II.
“He brought those back, and he and his wife, Esther, who never had kids, so they kind of adopted my parents and, in turn, us,” Kevin said. “So they had those put in that shadow box.”
The books are sandwiched in between family heirlooms, memorabilia from Kevin and Abby’s careers, an Elvis shrine and a Prince shrine. To the left of the bookshelf is a record player sitting on a small credenza filled with vinyls from artists including Willie Nelson, Tammy Wynette and Tyler The Creator, which Abby said was part of her son’s music collection.
Abby, who went to culinary school and runs a food column with Kevin, has a collection of cookbooks in a bookcase in the living room as well. The books prop up humbly in the corner compared to the all-encompassing bookshelf on the other side of the room. However, this doesn’t mean it doesn’t complement the variety of art on the walls.
As for the art pieces, Kevin and Abby have collected a vast array of colorful works by Texas artists Bruce Webb and Leon Collins. “Waco Cat,” an abstract painting by Bruce Webb of a yellow figure with a large cowboy hat, mustache and red bow tie, hangs along the bedroom hallway of the house. The painting is also tattooed on Kevin’s arm.
While most of the pieces around Kevin and Abby’s house were found at estate sales, flea markets and art galleries, they also said they have added musical instruments to their interior design lineup due to their son, Brazos’, love of music.
“We have so many musical instruments, and he comes home with pieces of things that he finds … so we have lots of partial musical instruments, and he’s got one drum set in his room, and he’s got one in the storage building,” Kevin and Abby said.
As for the more personal installations, the Tankersleys have two cats — Butters the Cat and Olive — who coexist carefully with every piece in the house.
Moving into more eclectic pieces, the Tankersleys have multiple heads and faces made from a variety of materials, from ceramics to clay, that add a dimensional aspect to the living room. While the pieces are all connected by the use of bright colors, a large piece sits above a vintage piano in the corner, titled “Cotton Picking Blues,” by Leon Collins, which includes a black background with large strokes of color on it.
“The guy who did that piece … ‘Cotton Picking Blues’ up there on the wall, he lived in Navasota, which is on the other side of Bryan,” Kevin said. “So I went to Navasota, and Abby told me, ‘Don’t buy anything and don’t buy any paintings,’ so I came back with three.”
The inside of the house continuously resonated with intentionality and creativity. However, the outside was no different, with a large piece of colorful graffiti plywood among the main staples on the front porch.
“We kind of got some looks from neighbors when we first put it up because it was kind of graffiti-like,” Kevin said. “But it was beside a dumpster at Baylor.”
While it’s obvious that the Tankersleys appreciate art of any kind, they emphasized the importance of supporting local artists.
“Buy the things that you love, that speak to you somehow, or something on a trip or that has some kind of memory,” Kevin and Abby said. “Don’t buy mass-produced art … and don’t be afraid to buy the weird stuff.”
