Blog

As a design-loving painter, I love getting to work with talented designers every day. Creating a beautiful space for people to enjoy is an art form that I admire. 

Sarah has been an extremely dear friend for many years, since before she was designing and before I was painting full time. Sarah and the rooms she creates are beautiful, creative, unique, thoughtful, and elegant.

I was so excited to recently be featured on India Armory’s blog The Block Print. It has been cold and rainy in Nashville so I thought it would be fun to set the table as a reminder that Spring will be here soon.

I was so excited when I heard that two of my favorite people (Jen Potter and Audrey Margarite) were leaving their day jobs to start their very own company called Fete Home. 

We added our kitchen/family onto our 1930’s home 20 years ago. It’s the room we spend most of our time in.

Garden stools, in particular blue & white garden stools, are one of my favorite things. I feel like every room in the house could use a pretty pair of garden stools. I love them next to a chair as the perfect spot to lay your drink without needing a coaster.

I love a blank wall only as an invitation to create or find something beautiful to fill it. One of my favorite ways to fill it is by creating a gallery wall.   The image above is from the Kips Bay Show House designed by the talented Philip Mitchell shows how elegant a gallery wall can be in a living room and I love how he used my small modern painting next to more traditional antiques. Woody House Long Island — Photography by Tria Giovan Woody House on Long Island contains  another of my favorite gallery walls. The realistic watercolors, large abstract painting, and big antlers all feel very different but look so perfect together. Design by Reed Krakoff — Photography by Ivan Terestchenko Some gallery walls are exciting because of their variety - big mixed with small, or modern with antiques. But other gallery walls are effective because the collection’s similarities. I particularly love this one by designer Reed Krakoff who I actually had the pleasure of working with many many years ago when we both worked for Ralph Lauren. Bathroom at Milton Hall — From the book The English Country HousePhoto by James Fennell Gallery walls are not limited to living rooms. I’m in love with this gorgeous gallery wall in a bathroom in Milton Hall. Design by Mark D. Sikes — Photography by Linda Holt Even a dormered desk nook can be the perfect place for a small gallery wall. This one created by Mark Sikes for the Coastal Living Show House in Newport happens to include 4 of my smaller pieces. Designer Patrick Wade — Photography by Roger Davies And last but not least, I love the creative mix of this gallery wall by Patrick Wade in the pool room of his 1930’s Spanish bungalow featured in House Beautiful. Finding the perfect frame for a painting is an art form in itself. I love using a local custom framer so that I can play around with different options. Sometimes retailers have the perfect frame you’re looking for. Here are 4 of my favorites.  

I thought I would share how we made the big flag (5 feet by 37inches) over the mantel.