Depth of Field: Londubh Studio
Lisa Donohoe and Brynn Gelbard of Londubh Studio.
Lisa Donohoe and Brynn Gelbard of Londubh Studio dish about marriage, manifesting, and Snoop Dogg.
Though Lisa Donohoe and Brynn Gelbard of Londubh Studio (pronounced “Lon-dove” which means blackbird in the Gaelic) describe themselves as licensed special painting contractors, that mundane description barely begins to describe the buoyant beauty of the custom surfaces they create for high-end residential and commercial spaces. Melding Dublin-born Donohue’s professional talents with New Jersey native Gelbard’s empathetic, punk-rock instincts, the dynamic duo has transformed the surfaces of folding screens, bathtubs, diving boards, decks and pool surrounds, not to mention walls and floors. The elevator they decorated for the 2019 Golden Globes became a viral sensation due to the smokey adventures of one Snoop Dogg.
This Nicole Hollis-designed, Londubh Studio-painted In Style elevator at the Golden Globes in 2020 went viral, thanks partly to Martha and Snoop Dogg.
So tell us about Londubh Studios?
We work with top architects and designers, including interior designer Nicole Hollis and Form-Design Studio, to develop custom surfaces.
How did you start working together?
Lisa: So we’d been together for like ten years, by then, I think and I had been working for a decorative painting and finishing studio in San Francisco. But of course when we moved to LA, I thought I’d do the Hollywood thing and work in film which I did. I maybe lasted three months. I just found working in an art department so disheartening and so uncreative. So I started the UCLA Interior Design Program and, at the same time founded Londubh Studios. Brynn had kind of come to the end of a couple of writing projects and she needed a change So I asked her if she wanted to jump in and help me. I was doing these panels for a window for David Yurman. So we did some silver leafing and it just kind of grew from there organically. That was ten years ago.
That’s a big leap of faith. Was there any worry that it wouldn’t work?
Lisa: We had made some short films together and so I knew that we worked really well together creatively. It was very clear from the get go that it was a good balance. You have my traditional training and background as an artist and experience, coupled with Brynn's punk rock attitude of “Well, what would happen if we just threw fuschia pink in there?” attitude and I’d be like, “Ok, that sounds like a good idea.” That dynamic propelled us forward. I don't even think we had the conversation of, “Hey, is this working?” From the first second, we were both just like “Ok, let's go!”
What about you Brynn, what was your thought when you two first started working together?
Brynn: So I had done the UCLA Professional Screenwriting Program, their certificate program, and I had a really amazing professor and he had said, “You should go to New York or LA.” We ended up choosing LA because of a healing session we had. I was working on this project called “The Devote Campaign,” video portraits of people from all walks of life who'd become involved in the LGBTQIA Rights movement. The last year of the project was leading up to The Supreme Court case on both Prop 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act. Before the Defense of Marriage Act was struck down, it didn't matter if marriage was legal in your state, you couldn't have immigration rights. It felt like a karma project because you know, Lisa and I are a binational couple; Lisa’s in the US because she won a Green Card in the lottery. When the project was done, my writing partner at the time was given a green light on his first script. So I had this time to do something else. I was beat and I just kind of wanted to do something different. So that was when Lisa asked me for help. For me it was just going to be doing outreach, writing letters, things like that. And from that first time I helped her silver leaf those panels — I mean I was good at it because that’s who I am. If someone tells me to do something a certain way I'm going to do it that way — it was fun. And it was fun to be able to do something with my wife — to start it and finish it. That was a novelty because I’d just come off these film and writing projects that took so much effort, so many people. And it was also really cool to be able to build Lisa's business. I saw her skill and her confidence to get the job done but not necessarily to do outreach. But that part was easy for me, the outreach and the social media and connecting with people and generating opportunities. And, of course, it’s so much easier to build someone else up than to build yourself up. Especially if you're a woman and especially if you're queer.
Can you talk a little bit more about the dynamic?
Lisa: I think for a successful partnership you need to have two people doing different things together and they continue doing those different things that they're better at and stronger at. Londubh didn't need a second me. Brynn trained and she learned how to do good stuff but she always had her own take on it and it always looked and felt great. It's funny how we work together: Brynn comes up with concept and the ideas. She says she doesn't draw very well but she's pretty good actually. And then I kind of interpret it and it comes out as a drawing or a design. And then Brynn weighs in on that. So it's a very organic back and forth. So she doesn't need to be able to sit down and draw though she's really good with a paintbrush now. She just brings her own magic to it.
Are you guys doing it all yourself or do you have a team?
Brynn: We have other people working with us. But sometimes, like for this project that we’re working on for Nicole Hollis, we’re on-site every day. There's certain stuff that Lisa has the technical knowledge for, but at this point I can match her installation skills and, if anything, I'm going to be even more fanatical about being perfect when she’s not here.
So what's your typical work day like then when you’re working on a project? Like now, during this install?
Brynn: I normally wake up first, I make the coffee, put together the lunches, make the dogs’ breakfast, fill our water bottles, fill our site coffees. And Lisa takes the dogs out and gets together the materials and brushes or whatever we might need. And then we go off to the site. We really try to have fun doing what we're doing. We were both big party animals when we were young and now we've grown up and this is how we get high now. We play good music. We do little photo shoots, we play songs for each other. It’s a very celebratory atmosphere. When we say #loveisinthework, we’re not kidding.
So how do you balance being in a romantic partnership with working together?
Lisa: We love what we do so while we're on an install, we’re playing our favorite music and sharing a power bar and having lunch together it's almost feels like a date in a weird way. The other side is that when we come home that we usually have like a bunch of the other stuff to do that necessary to running a business like invoices and estimates and replying to e-mails. I usually have one eye on what the next installation is. I need to work on samples or prepping for that. And Brynn's got an eye on what's the next project we're doing once this job is finished. She's always stirring up the pot for future stuff. So we normally work until 7pm. A 12-hour day is pretty average though we're trying to cut back on that so we can have more date nights and more life outside of work. Because of COVID, we had to do some painting work from the house so it really kind of gave us the feeling that we want to do more work from our studio rather than always being on site and the stuff that goes along with that — like port-a-potties, and dealing with contractors and electricians and plumbers. Plus we're not throwing our necks out looking up at a ceiling — which can be pretty painful. We're trying to manifest more of that kind of work
How do you know when the workday ends? I can imagine that when you live and work together that separation must be challenging!
Lisa: Well it does sometimes happen that we’ll get into the jacuzzi and I'll be like, “So, what are we going to do for that ceiling?” And then we'll catch ourselves and be like, “Okay, we can talk about this for five minutes and then we're stopping.” So we do make a concerted effort have our time and revisit work stuff when we're not having quiet time.
What happens when there's work politics between you or you disagree — or don't you?
Lisa: We both give each other the opportunity to say their piece and, if we can, we try both ways. But also if one person feels really, really strongly, we're like, “Okay, I'm not feeling that but let's give it a try.” Usually, when you try both ways it's pretty obvious which is the best way to go. We work very intuitively. So we'll both be like, “Okay, you were right, that's the best way to go.”
Brynn: And we have no problem admitting, “You were right.”
Lisa: We’re always driven by what's the best thing for the client and the space and for the outcome so it kind of releases the ego. We’re really facilitating the final product which is often the sum of many parts and it's not just our vision, it’s ours mixed with the client’s, mixed with the designer’s, mixed with what's right for the space architecturally and historically and all those different things and then we filter all that information through our creative process and our creative voice. And what comes out at the end is really a collaboration. We're always like, “Does that feel right for the space?” That's always our determining factor about what's right.
Brynn: Sometimes if we have different opinions, if we can’t figure it out, if we have the idea that both ways could work equally well, we’ll call the designer or the architect or whoever we’re working with and ask what’s the way they want or what the client wants. Obviously both ideas are good and both ideas could work so let's have someone else help us make the decision.
Lisa: So it's a win-win either way.
What advice do you have for people who would consider working with their partner?
Brynn: It's interesting. Because we work together, we meet a lot of people who work with their partners but then we also meet a lot of people who are like, I could never work with my partner. So I would say, my best advice is to be honest about whether it suits your relationship. Some people have a really hot sexy relationship because of the time they spend apart. Know what's good for your relationship and do that.
Are there any apps or products that you guys can't live without?
Brynn: We're big fans of Insight Timer.
Lisa: It’s hard to wind down so it’s really good for going to sleep and tuning out. We’re also big fans of jacuzzis, meditation and sound baths. We love going to the Integratron out in Joshua Tree. My best friend in Ireland since I was four started doing some so we’ve been listening to her.
Brynn: And exercise! And Paul Stamet’s Host Defense Mushrooms and HempBest. We love to just chill out!
What are you working on next?
Lisa: World domination! We have a line of wall coverings with Circa. In addition to the mushrooms (aka Enlightenment) and the weed (High Style) that dropped on 4/20, there are four more designs that will be coming out this fall.
Enlightenment designed by Londubh Studio for Circa.
Brynn: We're doing a national collaboration with a vape company so we’ll do all their designs and products. And then we're doing an artist-in-residency with a Superworld. We’re collaborating with a young artist from India to create digital works for sale to benefit The Flint Water Festival. We’re working with Wendy Posner of Posner Fine Arts. We love doing installations but after doing this installation for the fierce Nicole Hollis, it's just set the bar so high, and given us such an incredible amount of exhilaration and has got us thinking about the future not only in terms of installations but product and technology and finding more ways in which we can use our work to connect with people and make the world a better place
Lisa: And have fun doing it!
Brynn: Yeah and have fun doing it. For us the joy comes from the community, the friendships, the relationships and sharing it, creating opportunities for other people. It’s the thing about rap and hip-hop that really inspires us. When someone becomes successful, they mentor other people. It’s a sense of, I’ve lucked into this fortune, now who else can I help?