New venture! You'll want to read this.

Pastel Peonies in light blue

Here is the reason why this started... I've had a health condition that left me feeling awful and very scared every day. I slept a lot, among other side effects that are annoying and disgusting. I couldn't stand or walk very far. So, you can imagine that my art career and painting at an easel went right down the drain,

Then I rediscovered watercolor paints. They are very different from the oils I usually work with and not at all forgiving. So I painted and painted and took a course on painting all to get here.

I found that I could sit and paint and then edit my work on the computer to make beautiful products.

Tea Caddy Chaos in dark blue/pink

 

A pillow in Bamboo Bunches that actually has a smaller pattern and piping

Wallpaper in Pastel Peonies-light blue

Trellis Hydrangea--coming soon

I've made lots of fabric that I haven't shown yet, along with wallpaper. Candles scented with essential oils in woodsy, citrus notes are coming next week. 

Pastel Peonies in light green 2

Bonny Blossoms in pink

Right now I'm selling a few pillows, wallpaper, candles and cards. You can order bedding in any fabric with a 3-4 week lead-time. I plan to sell a few placemats, wine bags and anything else you can think of. Here are some designs that are not yet available, but just send me an email and I'll get it going.

Tea Caddy Chaos in dark green/pink

Mademoiselle stripe

Trellis Hydrangea in light blue

Clever Caddy in Dark blue

Pillows are 18 x 18 and 26 x 26 in heavy sateen 100% cotton. All pillows are piped with a hidden zipper, and the fabric is centered. I'll add photos this week.

All fabrics used are high quality 100% cotton with a smooth weave.

Lately

                               Today is the 7th of September and there are a few new things going on.

                                                                    I am still painting.

La Lumiere

This is part of a series that I am still working on but it's almost done. I really have to get a better photo of the painting because it is actually a pink background. I have blues and greens in the works also.

I also have a new job in a cute furniture store here in Mount Pleasant which is a suburb of Charleston SC.

Distant Drizzle

We went to Atalanta for my daughter's birthday and took her to the aquarium.

There were so many wonderful exhibits and huge tanks and an underwater tunnel. It was just amazing. So if you have never been, start thinking about your trip to Atlanta.

If you don't have to stay downtown near the aquarium, DON'T!

It was so freaking loud at night and our room was sound proofed, but not from people playing car radios so loud that they had to have hearing damage. It's also a bit scary as a woman and a 12 year old to walk around outside by yourself. We walked to dinner both nights and the first night we were terrified.

Well, that's my life. What have you been up to?

Still at home update

I'm still at home much like you probably are unless you are an essential worker. It's pretty boring most of the time. Can we talk about the dishes? Holy crap! I must have forgotten about the dishes I did when my kids were little and at home.

The good news is that I have been painting and actually sold three paintings in the past two weeks. They are all 50% off too. If you want one you can go to shop.kerrysteele.com and get one on sale with the code SALE 50.

SOLD

I cannot believe how my artwork sells when the economy is bad. You'd think it would be the opposite.
So tell me your good noise during this pandemic.

What the hell happened?

The answer is Covid-19. Well and all of our answers to it. In South Carolina ( as of March 24) we are just told to practice social distancing and stay home if possible But in other places the citizens are told to shelter in place.

My work, a high-end furniture store, is still open and people are still coming in! I told my boss that I could no longer come in due to an autoimmune disorder that I have, but I sent in the sales people. I'm not sure if that is a good idea or not. I want the hourly workers to get paid and stick around but not too sure about the risk to them and their families.

At first I did not understand how people could not know what day it was or experience anxiety by being at home. Now I'm starting to get it. No one knows the future and that's scary.

Am I painting? No, not really. I don't know why. I did start to clean up my house. And eat too much.

Not apples though.
My husband has been working from home for over a week and my daughter has been homeschooled by her teachers for about 15 minutes a day for over a week. I'm not sure how she gets the work done so quickly and why there is so little of it.
Life is crazy and boring and unsure.

So tell me... what are you doing during this pandemic? Anything fun? Tell me where you live and what the "rules" are right now.

A new series

Don't Ask

 I have had my shop on my website the same for years. I have decided to put out collections of paintings instead of just listing them all together in a random order.

Many of the paintings will be no more. 

This month I'm doing neutrals.

Here are a few of them.

Salient wave

Wrecked

Entropy

These are just a few of what's available in my shop.

Let me know when you stop by and tell me what you think.

A dreamy powder room

How do I get the power room I want? I ask myself this almost daily.

I need gloss black paint and a marble sink  with brass hardware and a modern toilet. The toilet is important. It must not have any sides that I'd have to lean over in about three inches of space to clean.

I'd top it off with a tiny chandelier like this one.

Then I'd add a painting with feeling like this one called Black Palm.

It's pretty moody but in a tiny little powder room I think it works.

Working with designers

As an artist, I feel lucky to have worked with many designers on showhouses or just really awesome houses.

This is the Junior League of High Point Showhouse and a room decorated by Lisa Mende. She did the kitchen and the dining room and even the mudroom!

That is my painting behind the lamps.

I also worked Lisa Mende and Traci Zeller on their study for the Ronald McDonald House.

My Painting is titled "Cocoon". I love this space and you should have seen the before shot!

I helped Traci with the artwork for this house in Charlotte NC.

I also helped her with artwork for Homearama.

I did four nudes for Lisa Mende's bath in a showhouse in San Francisco.

They are small but you can see them in this photo.

Working with designers is a lot of fun for me. They know what they want and how to tell me what they want. The special part is that they will then have the space photographed and I get to see my artwork in a stunning interior.

A lot can change

In one month, this month, a lot has changed in my art career.

I left Perigold and started to inquire about Chairish. Cherish is a website that sells new and vintage pieces of furniture and artwork to the public and designers. Next I had a phone call with Chairish. They were fantastic!

They took me on right away and now are working on adding me to their featured artists list.

Next Mitchell Hill and I parted ways. I still think everyone there is sweet and professional but it was just not working. I immediately submitted to the gallery, Trager Contemporary in Charleston, and was surprised to get a reply the next day. We set up a meeting and I went downtown with a few paintings and Voila! a new gallery space for me.

I have also been working on a commission for a designer in the Boston area.

So to say a lot can change in very little time is an understatement for me!

Beauty in lighting

I seriously have to change the lighting in my house. It's ugly. I've been looking at lighting from Circa  and here are my picks.

I love this flush mount for hallways. Doesn't everyone need to with out they're lighting "boobs" with something prettier?

I also need something for the eat-in area of my kitchen. The lights when we moved in were nickel finish with a shade and, get this, a nickel finish CAGE over them. They were ridiculous. My husband removed the cages and now we have just shades  but I think the sizes are wrong for the space.

They look like this but they are tiny. I might like a large one like this,

or may be this.

My husband hates to see the bulb so I have to be careful what I choose.

I would love this flush mount for a bathroom or even my bedroom.

We also have a wall sconce on the stairway that is hideous. I'd be happy to replace it with a simple sconce like this.

But in truth I would like something with a little whimsy.

This sconce would work on the stairs nicely.

Do you spend time thinking about lighting like I do?

My New Years Resolutions

I normally am against New Years anything, especially resolutions. Why do we wait all year to come up with a list of things that we won't succeed at?

I've come up with a doable list.

First, I want to paint more. I have not been in my studio with a lot of guts, like I did in Virginia. I am finding those longings to paint are coming back to me.

A cool looking studio

I do plan to get my house looking better. That's not really a resolution for just me, it's for me and my husband. While he lets me paint on canvas, I am not allowed to paint the walls. Haha! He is very particular and I'd rather he did it.

We have decided to paint our ceiling this color, Faint Coral.

There is also a resolution that I don't like but I must clean more.

A picture of my old house

My new house is unusually dusty and we got a puppy. There is dust and dog hair everywhere. It's not just once in a while, it's all the time! So I need to find a way to easily clean it up. So far I'm struggling.

What are your New Years resolutions or do you just never do them?

A vintage Christmas tree

I decorated my Christmas tree with my 9 year-old daughter this year but I did it like I always decorate it using vintage ornaments. The ornaments are from my grandmother and my childhood. There are real eggs that my grandmother made into ornaments, little dolls, and weird mushrooms in the collection.

There is this little flying thing that must be quite old.

I remember this little Santa from when I was very small.

I believe my grandmother made this egg. 

There is a mushroom with a Christmas elf inside and another egg with an angel in it. I'm not sure what mushrooms have to do with Christmas but there are a few ornaments with mushrooms in them.

This little doll looks a bit rough and she's gotten rougher over the years but it cracks me up that a little angel is so bad looking. I used to tell my children that she was a naughty angel and that is why she looks the way she does.

There are also a few fun shaped ornaments that don't really look so great but I still hang them each year.

My tree full of vintage ornaments is so pleasing to me.