The Lorelei Restaurant and Cabana Bar opened in 1952. The Lorelei features a large blonde mermaid done in a roadside attraction sort of way.
The Lorelei mermaid, like a true siren calling sailors, calls tourists to stop in.
The Lorelei mermaid witnesses the goings on in Islamorada much like the Eyes of TJ Eckleburg in the Great Gatsby. Over time, the Lorelei mermaid has become an icon of Islamorada. Every few years she is lovingly repainted by different artists. This time she was painted by homegrown artist Jul Jankowski. In front of a large crowd on March 9, Jankowski unveiled her version of the iconic mermaid.
“The Lindback family was looking for someone to touch up some of the parts that had been a bit weathered. Paint had begun peeling badly and sections of plywood were exposed from daily sun exposure,” Jankowski said. “I wanted to make sure whatever I did had a fighting chance to last a few years, so that required fresh wood, all primed and primed again, and painted along with some changes to Lorelei’s proportions.
“I was so thrilled by the possibility of this project that by the end of the first day I heard about it I had a sketch ready — one that is surprisingly accurate to what became of her months later,” Jankowski said.
The work that goes into making a successful mural is almost a balancing act, truly a science in art. Jankowski took up the challenge headstrong and ready with her vision. She created a new vision of the Lorelei mermaid. She spent countless hours creating her. She would post her progress to the world on social media. It felt like Islamorada was watching her at the same time. It is not easy to paint an icon. In her journey, Jankowski had the support of her family and friends. One of the best parts of going to the unveiling of Jankowski’s Lorelei mermaid was seeing all the locals showing up and supporting her.
Jankowski is an amazing artist who is brilliant with a paintbrush. Her paintings are complicated and have a lot of thought, but look so effortless.
“I was very inspired by (Alberto) Vargas pin-up illustrations and considered how striking that might look from the distance; most people would be viewing it while driving by. I wanted her to be warm, inviting, and joyful — while also alluring, drawing back to the legend of Lorelei whose beauty caused sailors to hit the rocks and wreck their ships,” Jankowski said.
The style is clean and easy on the eyes, but what most people don’t realize is the technical expertise that it takes to make her. This classic pin-up style is fitting and feels like an old Florida postcard.
“Nothing beats working hours and hours outside while remaining in that exhilarating and focused flow,” Jankowski said. “It’s almost a kind of mania when things are just working. You try to keep it that way for as long as you can and then all of a sudden you have a 12-hour work day that passes like nothing. Whether that was the preparation work (priming, cutting, sanding) or actually painting, seeing the project come alive after each step only gave me more energy to reach the next one.
Jankowski said she remembers feeling this way when working on the shimmering tail as it was the most painterly and free. Other sections, like her face and expression, were satisfying but had far higher pressure on accuracy and subtleties.
“I just loved how physical the whole project was. By the end of the day, which was usually 12 (a.m.) or 1 a.m., my body and mind were equally tired as they were wired, that it’d take me about an hour or two to finally get to sleep,” Jankowski said.
Jankowski added that she never saw the mermaid fully assembled until the day it was revealed.
“The sheer size of the work (20-feet-tall by 27-feet-wide) made it impossible to completely assemble at home,” she said. “Out of everything, this was the source of the most anxiety and a lot of reworking/blending had to be done when sections were joined. It was also hard to gauge crucial qualities like balance and harmony — things you see artists considering when they step back from a work and judge it in its entirety. The physical labor was pretty intense, too. Those 3/4-inch, 4-by-8-feet MDO sheets weigh about 75 pounds and are awkward to maneuver.”
Jankowsi is a descendant of the Pinder and Cothron families; these are the first families to settle in Islamorada. It feels like the story has come full circle with a descendant of the first families to paint an Islamorada icon. The local community may have come out to support one of their own, but we are truly the lucky ones to have Jul’s creation for us all to enjoy.
