From The Editor

Tessa Tilden-Smith makes waves for a living. She’s also a therapist, model, conceptualist, caterer, diplomat, pest control specialist, makeup artist and mixologist. In short, she’s Gulfshore Life’s creative director—and a classy, elegant one at that.

People often comment to me about how beautiful the magazine looks, and it’s our multi-tasking Tessa who deserves most credit for that. Originally from Brighton, England, she warmed up for Naples with a Communications Design degree from London’s Hornsey College of Art and art directorships at magazines like Washingtonian and Louisiana Life. Since this is our Feel Good issue, I’d like to take you behind the scenes and introduce you to the woman who delights us every day with her smarts, humor and creativity.

“You may think creative director is a glamour job,” says Tessa, “and, yes, at times, it is. But it’s also a lot of hard and sometimes dirty work.” Who wouldn’t love a post that puts you aboard a yacht off Port Royal, takes you into homes with original Renoirs and Magrittes, allows you to get up close and personal with Judge Judy, whisks you by boat to Keewaydin Island—all for photo shoots? And this isn’t cold, wet, claustrophobic London, Tessa points out. “I just love being outdoors here—enjoying the beaches, the green spaces, the natural environment,” she says. Meanwhile, back in the office, she treasures the creative collaboration with her colleagues that generates the feel and look we want for Gulfshore Life. She says she relishes the challenge to make our magazine as beautiful and as sophisticated as national magazines while operating on local-sized budgets.

Now for the hard and dirty work. Never mind the snakes, raccoons, red ants and alligators that threaten to intrude on location photo sessions. Or the sweat she keeps mopping from the brows, etc. of our models. She did, indeed, have to thrash up some waves in a swimming pool to add verve to one photo. She had to sweet-talk a beautiful woman in town who didn’t think she would ever look beautiful in her photographs. (They were smashing photos.) She’s had to powder models’ shines away and slip on some white gloves to hold a silver tray for a cover. She had to talk some jewelers back on the set when they smelled alcohol—it was actually hairspray—and stomped off in a huff. Naturally, Tessa brings in food for the location troops and has been known to create cocktails that’ll photograph well for covers.

Unlike many visual people, Tessa has a reverence and feel for words. Both she and I have gotten a kick out of the occasional headline or coverline that she has come up with for the cause. What Editorial Director Pam Daniel calls Tessa’s “natural elegance” informs her layouts, and she admits to no finer moment than when she’s got all the pieces for a complex six-page story and must transform them into a sophisticated, pleasing whole. I marvel at her touch and tease her about her signature flowers she often drops into the pages to get a splash of color.

On a personal level, she’s impeccably well-mannered and reaches out to engage people of all backgrounds. She’s passionate about music—especially New Orleans, blues and African—and about her tennis. She’s got a nice game—featuring a wicked crosscourt backhand. When I first hit with her, I’d take off and be there waiting for that shot. “Tessa,” I said, “you’ve got to hit down the line as well.” Well, guess what? She’s got that shot, too, now and is more formidable for the addition. There’s no keeping our designing woman from artful solutions.