Mère Bulles Art Nouveau Poster Design

This week we added an interesting new illustrative style to our Spirit of Nashville Collection. Mère Bulles (pardon our French) translates to Mother Bubbles—it’s the name of a popular restaurant in Brentwood Tennessee.  

So why all the French? Mère Bulles history begins with its muse, Mother Bubbles, who was the granddaughter of the original owner. Born Michele Bouvier around 1840 in Deauville, France, she eventually grew to become the belle of New York and later opened a popular restaurant in Charleston, S.C. One thing that Michele loved was champaign, earning her the nickname "Mother Bubbles," which in French translates to Mère Bulles. 

In 1985 Mère Bulles opened on Second Avenue in Nashville, which was once the old Maxwell House Coffee Warehouse. The atmosphere of the restaurant was inspired by Mother Bubble herself: lively, welcoming, and entertaining. The original Mère Bulles was instrumental in the revitalization of of the now vibrant Second Avenue and Broadway district of Nashville.  

In 2000, Mère Bulles moved to Maryland Manor, a historic plantation-style farmhouse and former horse-breeding estate in Brentwood where it now plays host to dinners, meetings, and events. Mère Bulles is a place of comfortable elegance; a casually elegant restaurant without the hour-long wait for a table. The cool combination of history and swankiness makes it a perfect candidate for our Nashville collection. 

For this poster we wanted to work in the style of Art Nouveau, particularly the work of Alphonse Mucha. The style gave is the the perfect vintage look to show the historic side, and to play up the influence of Mother Bubbles. Starting off with rough concept sketches, illustrator Aaron Johnson sought to find a focus between Mother Bubbles and the restaurant itself. 

We eventually settled on Mother Bubbles as the main focus, with the building below. Aaron then set out to make a more detailed rendering based on that composition. 

Ever resourceful and not one to skimp on the details, Aaron went as far as to make a paper champaign glass and do sexy poses in the mirror to get the hand pose right.

With the composition in place and the wording set, Aaron set out meticulously rendering the details in a way that would look true to the Mucha style.

Once all was said and done we had a new poster that will add some of that lively Nouveau style to our collection and spice up the already hip atmosphere of the Mère Bulles restaurant. 

Prints are available for purchase at the restaurant or on our Spirit of Nashville site.

Just visit this link and click PRINTS to see the art and framing options!