Blue Ridge Country March/April 2020 - 49

AN
LIVING TIC
AUTHEN
LIFE

FROM

By NANCY HENDERSON

Luxury TO Furniture TO Art
Former PR professional Joanna Simeone has followed her artistic passion,
after a few other endeavors along the way.

ne night while JoEast Tennessee Children's Hosanna Simeone was
pital. Her college internship at
sitting on the back
Children's Organ Transplant
deck, working on
Association-she chose the
an art piece for a
nonprofit because her nephew
client after 2-yearhad cystic fibrosis-had preold Sophia and
pared her to advocate for sick
baby Hunter went to bed, she
kids.
looked up at the sky and sud"My heart was deeply drawn
denly knew what she wanted to
to children," she says. "I felt like
name her new business.
I knew a little bit about what
Simeone, 38, owner of Milk
parents were going through, so
Moon House studio in Louthat was a good match."
isville, Tennessee, had been
Soon after their daughter
searching for a phrase that
was born, Peter received a prowould be easy to remember.
motion and Simeone was able
It also needed to be spiritual
to stay home, where she started
without being preachy.
painting tiny abstracts for fun.
"The moon was so full, and
"I don't know if it was just
it was so big," she recalls of that
the freedom of having some
evening. "The moon in May is
space and time, or just literally
called the milk moon, and it's
birth undoing something," she
the moon of abundance, the
says. "But my creative juices
moon of plenty. It's all about
came back."
growing."
The necessity for furniture to
The youngest of three sibfill up the large house they were
lings, Simeone grew up near
building in the foothills of the
Joanna Simone: "I feel like, through my artwork, I'm able to
Chicago and often spent time
Great Smoky Mountains, along
communicate some universal truths and encourage people to take
steps toward living an authentic life."
on projects that combined art
with the budding trend of milk
and nature.
painting, prompted Simeone to
"My older sister is part genius, so I tions at Southern Illinois University, five start repurposing beat-up, outdated pieces
knew very early on that I wasn't bent that hours from her urban hometown.
with "word art"-a song lyric here, a scripway for logic," she says. "I was far more on
Simeone and her future husband, Pe- ture verse there-and inspiring images. "I
the emotional side."
ter, loved camping and hiking and felt at was great with imperfection and I kind of
She was also independent, a trait she home with the slower pace of the college's had an eye for things," she says. "I startinherited from her hippie parents, and was rural setting. So after graduation, the cou- ed doing it for myself, and then friends
voted most individualistic in high school. ple began looking for a place to live that would come over and be like, 'That's great.
But practicality set in when she realized would nurture their passion for the out- Could you do it for me?'"
how hard it would be to make a living as doors. In 2006, they moved to Knoxville,
Before long, Simeone's hobby had
an artist, so she squashed her dreams and where Peter got a job at a TV station and grown into a full-fledged business, with
majored in advertising and public rela- she accepted a public relations position at Peter in charge of custom shelving, barn

MARCH/APRIL 2020

Blue Ridge Country March/April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country March/April 2020