New Orleans native E. Lee Jahncke Mead of E. Lee Jahncke Fine Finishes has always been drawn to the decorative arts. As a child she often wondered how things were made. “Interiors and home have always been important to me,” Mead says, recalling asking herself — at a young age — when she’d see something particularly striking, “‘Was it painted or printed or did someone do it with their hands?’ I always remember thinking about how I could combine painting and physical objects people can use to make their home special.”
Mead ’s interest in art was encouraged and nurtured both at McGehee School and at home. Part of an artistically inclined family, Mead ’s creative mentors included her grandmother, Elizabeth Cutting Jahncke, a formally trained painter; uncle, Davis Jahncke an architect; and uncle Robert “Cutting” Jahncke, a dancer, writer and actor. She remembers attending lectures on architecture and interiors with her grandmother and being surrounded by her parents’ creative and artistic friends. Jahncke ultimately studied drawing, sculpture and arts management at the College of Charleston and later attended the North American Chapter of The City and Guilds of London Institute in conjunction with the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.
After college, Mead took a job as an event planner at the National Gallery of Art. “I learned so much in that job that I still use in a professional way,” she says. But the desire to pursue art was too strong. “I knew I needed to be painting and using my hands,” she says. Mead left the National Gallery for a stint with decorative artist Lenore Winters in D.C. There, she leaned into her love of interiors and learned how to “run a job,” a skillset Mead still uses every day.
Today, Mead ’s work ranges from detailed wall finishes to custom furniture. She recently completed a bathroom wall to resemble an Indian cotton block print, worked on a collaboration with interior designer Christine Diggs at GW Fins and painted a mural at Lions Corner, a hotel bar with an apothecary theme. Clients often seek Mead out for exotic finishes, such as her popular signature tortoise shell finish. However, her work is never monotonous. “In New Orleans, I don’t think I’ve ever done anything twice or exactly the same,” she says. “People [here] love to be different and there’s no house here that’s truly perfect, even if it’s brand new.”
Though the work can be challenging at times and her philosophy, handed down from Winters, is to create finishes so real that when she leaves, no one knows she has been there, Mead ’s chosen career remains rewarding and impactful. “I love being part of people’s traditions and their daily life,” she says “I like making their home special and enjoyable; something unique that they love and enjoy spending time in.”
