Fifty miles from Mexico City is Cuernavaca, a city known for its lush vegetation and pleasant climate. Cuernavaca is home to the Robert Brady Museo, a museum that was once the home of Iowa-born designer, artist and collector Robert Brady (1928-1986). Brady studied art at a handful of notable institutions in the U.S. before moving to Europe. He lived in Venice, Italy for several years and then moved to Cuernavaca in 1962 where he bought a portion of the 16th century monastery Casa de la Torre. He filled the home with a vibrant collection of art, including pieces by Frida Kahlo, Rufino Tamayo, Maria Izquierdo, Maurice Prendergast, Marsden Hartley, Graham Sutherland as well as his own art pieces.
Both the architecture of the home and the interior decor speak to me — all of the arches and nichos, the bold color choices, and of course the mix of modern and folk art pieces from around the globe. The museum houses 14 rooms that are open to the public, and together they exhibit more than 1300 objects. I’m quite smitten with the wall hanging on display here as well as the fun mix of cushions on the built-in sofa bench. It reminds me of The Parker Palm Springs meets a cafe in Marrakech.
Love how Hot! Hot! Hot! the bedroom is, huh? Could you deal with this much color in your bedroom? I find it soothing!
Looking through the images of the museum, it’s fun to see pieces that remind me of pieces from my own collections, like the Toliman pottery figures pictured on the left — I have one that I found at the Rose Bowl flea market about a decade ago. I would love to visit in person someday soon and take in all this inspiration! It’s one of my favorite things to visit the homes of artists and see how they live/d. Have you been? Is it on your bucket list?
Hello.
I’m a bit sad, disenfranchised, even.
I used to so look forward to coming online and checking in at The Jungalow, FIRST. Now, I actually hesitate to click on here, because there are so few posts. I’m finding myself clicking somewhere else first and, maybe checking in here a couple of times a week, but even then, sometimes there’s nothing new.
What’s happened??
Has The Jungalow become just a shopping experience? (Even then, my emailed question regarding a product never got a response.)
The headings are not easy to read due to the lack of color contrast-remember, some people only access via smart phones, so this is not good. I use larger devices and a PC, but the lack of color contrast is a biggie for a site “devoted” to color and design.
So … that’s why I’m sad. I fear that the site I’ve exuberantly shared with so many friends just isn’t the vibe it was. It feels watered-down and faded. Jaded, even?
I’ve taken the time to share my concern, because you were so, so invigorating, different and inspiring!
To use your own cliche, “Bring it back!”, pleeease?!
Rusty :(
Hi Rusty, Thanks for your note. I know we haven’t been posting as frequently as we used to — that has been a conscious decision on my part for a number of reasons. First of all, so much of the content that used to go onto our blog now go onto Instagram and Instagram Stories — divided among our three channels over there: @Justinablakeney for more personal stuff and overall inspiration, @Justinablakeneyhome for BTS or designing our products and sharing how our customers and audience are using our designs, and of course @TheJungalow for plantastic inspiration and home decor inspiration, as well as dispatches from our shop. I have decided to post to the blog, only when I feel that a longer format is necessary, or when I feel inspired/moved to. I don’t want to force myself to write blog posts just for the sake of writing them. I want to share them when I’m really excited about something and I feel I need multiple photos and paragraphs of writing to properly tell that story. I have a practice of indulging in moments of inspiration–that means letting myself explore creatively whatever strikes me as exciting in that moment– over the last year or so I have been excited about painting and drawing and that is where much of my creative energy has gone. I don’t have a ‘content calendar’; like many bloggers do — this place for me needs to be a place that I share when I’m moved to.
And yes, we have also turned into a shopping experience. The shop has become a huge part of my personal creative outlet — curating and designing products for the shop is very fun and exciting, not to mention it’s become a central part of how I support my family financially as well as my staff. I’m sorry that you never received an answer to the product question you had. Kristina, our e-commerce manager, is crazy attentive to all of our customers and I’m surprised your question slipped through the cracks. Her email is Kristina (at) Jungalow (dot) com if you’d like to try again.
Thanks for the feedback about the link color. I know you’ve mentioned that in the past. We’re going to be doing a site redesign this year and I’ll keep that in mind.
Thanks again for reading and for letting us know how you feel. This year marks our 10 year anniversary as a blog and business and it certainly has changed and shifted and grown over the years and I hope it continues to do so because that means that I’m still experimenting and having fun — and I hope that never goes away.
xxx
Justina
Hey, Justina :)
Thanks for your feedback!
I don’t really have ‘space’ to ‘do’ instagram, etc (I think it would have me addicted and effectively eat my day away, ha!), so your blog has been my look-forward-to-daily-fix for so long.
I totally get that you’re driven to do your jam and share more detail about what really “moves” you.
I’m probably a bit selfish in my desire to have a more regular ‘fix’ of jungalicious inspiration! So I’m secretly hoping you’ll be crazy-inspired and beed to share loads more, so it lands on the blog platform! :)
We’re about to be brave enough to buy an ‘out there’ turquoise chaise sofa very soon…because of you! Your unapologetic vivacious style encouraged me to re-do my home (a craftsman bungalow in Australia-bit different to those in the USA) as ME, instead of the watered down version of me I was passing off; instead of bring true to my love of color and all those years at uni, studying art and design. So…THANK YOU! ;)
I’ve shared your blog with so many people, because it’s been so good!
I’ll still check in, for sure!
Big hugz, Rusty x
This has just the happiest ending. How gratifying to see two people speaking up and also listening to each other. It reminded me to be more patient and understanding when I’m upset by some situation. Take care!!!
Do you ever go to deceased estate sales? That might be a way to get great deals and let the goodies ‘live’ on?
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The best possible outcome takes place here. How gratifying it is to see two people speaking their minds while also making an effort to listen to one another.
It’s an amazing blog post, and it is really helpful as well.