Q&A With Artist Lulie Wallace

One of my major [MAJOR] artist crushes, Lulie Wallace, is paying us a visit today.  You know, the girl behind all the mind blowing floral paintings gracing the web lately...

Last week I spent a morning with Lulie in her studio and chatted about lattes, painting, letterpress, and everything else under the sun.  To say that this girl is inspiring is just not enough.  Lulie's the kind of girl who sticks with you long after you leave her side... kind of like her art.  And like her, the longer you look at her colorful pieces the more you find to love.

I had a few questions for Lulie that she generously answered:

Look Linger Love: We're hopping a jet to Paris. Where do you want to go first?

Lulie: EXPLORE everything I can before I hop back on!! Museums, flea markets, food, shops... everything!!

LLL: What is your greatest extravagance?

Lulie: This sounds hilarious, but it's probably our dog! Abe is a chocolate Labradoodle and he was worth every last penny!! He is a total sweetheart!!

LLL: What would you have been found doing on a Friday night in high school?

Lulie: After seeing the Brookstone Cougars dominate on the football field, I would probably be hanging out in one of my best friend's basements. When we first got to high school, Sally's parents moved into a 70's ranch style house and totally remodeled the upstairs BUT left the green shag carpet on the basement floor because they had three high school kids and didn't want to remodel the downstairs until they all left for college. We thought that shag carpet was amazing and it was definitely our hang out spot!!

LLL: What is your favorite piece you've painted?

Lulie: Right now my favorite is this 36x36, Flowers for Cape. I think the reason I love it so much is because I changed it about 4 times before I stopped messing with it!! It was one I put a lot of work into, lots of layering and lots of time, but I think it turned out really nicely. I feel like I also like knowing the story of where it started and where it ended up!

LLL: From which store does most of your wardrobe come from?

Lulie: This is a pretty easy one. If you know me, you probably know my deep love for the store Anthropologie. I can't go through any major city without popping in!! My husband and I drove up the California coast last summer and we probably stopped in about four Anthropologies along the way. (My poor, sweet husband!!) I believe it is a very magical store!

LLL: We're heading out for girl's night here in Charleston. Where do we go?

Lulie: Monza for pizza and Cocktail Club for drinks!! Pizza is definitely my favorite food and I absolutely love the warm, cozy interior of Cocktail Club!

LLL: Who would you be over the moon to have buy your art?

Lulie: Zooey Deschanel! I love her style, her music and her perky little personality! I would be super pumped if she wanted one of my pieces!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lulie is a peach. And good things come to good [talented] people. Urban Outfitters just picked up this painting and will be selling the prints in stores in the very near future!

And Lulie will soon offer stationary on her website too (I'll buy the first set!)...

And of course her paintings will no doubt continue to fly off her shelves (probably helped out by some of you!).

Thanks for taking the time to show me around your studio, Lulie. You're work is just as beautiful as you are on the inside and out.

Q&A With Artist Kate Long Stevenson

Today I have the supreme pleasure of welcoming the incredibly talented artist Kate Long Stevenson.

Kate's a Charleston girl, which only makes her more charming in my book.  And by charming I mean the sweetest ever.  The first time that I met Kate I was wearing my most favorite pair of shoes (Jimmy Choo for my fellow shoe lovers)... turns out she loved them too and couldn't resist coming over to say so.  After she introduced herself I nearly keeled over for the fact that one of my most favorite artists ever was standing right in front of me.  {By the way Kate, if you ever want to trade art for say, gently used shoes, I'm in...}

See what I mean?  Kate's amazing {and maybe used shoes wouldn't be a fair trade...}.

So let's just hear from our girl, shall we?  Kate was gracious enough to sit for a little Q&A for you all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Look Linger Love: We're catching a jet to Palm Beach. What do you want to do first?

Kate Long Stevenson: Change into warm weather attire and head straight to Bice for a delicious lunch of tuna tartar and chicken paillard, followed by shopping and a bike ride along the Lake Trail to get smoothies.  

LLL: What is your greatest extravagance?

Kate: A babysitter and dinner date with my husband. That and a gorgeous pair of heels.

{The Brian Atwood heels Kate wore for her wedding.}

LLL: When collecting art for your home, where do you look? Your own stuff?

Kate: My taste runs the gamut from representational to contemporary. In our dining room, we have a large work-on-paper by my dear friend, Sally Benedict Read, beside a more traditional nude by Dan Cooper. After years of having very little of my art in our home, I've learned to hold onto a few paintings, but they get rotated often. I'd love to own an Otto Neumman monotype from Ann Long Fine Art.

{Otto Neumman and Dan Cooper}

LLL: From where do you draw your inspiration for your work?

Kate: Music. Each of my abstract pieces are "built" while listening to compositions--usually classical--which inspire both the gestural brushstrokes and color. I have several favorite artists, but Willem de Kooning's use of color and mastery of action painting has been the biggest influence. His retrospective at the MOMA is insane!!

{The MOMA}

LLL: What is your most memorable life moment?

Kate: Without a doubt, the birth of our son, Henry. Nothing could have prepared me for the overwhelming love I felt when looking into his eyes for the first time...or every day, for that matter.

LLL: What would you have been found doing on a Friday night in high school?

Kate: Probably going to Blockbuster to get a VHS tape en route to an evening of babysitting... :)

LLL: From which stores/designers does most of your wardrobe come from?

Kate: Pearl in Mt. Pleasant, Vermillion in Raleigh, NC and Beanie and Cecil in Wilmington, NC are favorite Southern boutiques with clothing that's fashionable without being trendy. Designer-wise, I love J Brand, Tucker, A.L.C, Yigal Azrouel...Lanvin makes fabulous accessories and I am weak in the knees for Brian Atwood.

{Yigel Azrouel}

LLL: We're heading out for a girls night here in Charleston. Where do we go?

Kate: Martinis at Cypress, then catch a rickshaw to FIG, followed by ice cream on the Market and wing it from there.

{FIG located downtown Charleston}

LLL: Have a bucket list? What's on it?

Kate: Have more children, travel and explore more of Europe, be represented in galleries in New York and the West Coast...

LLL: Who would you be over the moon about to have buy your art?

Kate: Rodrigo Canete



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think we have another girl crush, yes?  Kate didn't send a photo of herself but just trust me, she's crushable.   And for those of you in the Greensboro, NC area, Tyler White Gallery is hosting a show for Kate on October 13th (tomorrow) titled Movement and it will include 13 of her new abstract pieces.  You should definitely plan to stop by.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, Kate.  I have no doubt that you'll soon be represented in galleries all over the country. 

Caitlin Wilson Interview

You know how there are women out there who seem to constantly inspire and amaze you?  It's a rare kind.  And that's why they're special.  I often refer to them as my girl crushes.  And today I get to introduce you to one of mine.  You may already know her, but I'm betting you'll learn something new about her here today.



Caitlin Wilson is a triple threat kind of gal.  Once you get past the effortless good looks, you find that she's an insanely talented interior designer, inspiring mother, and expert of living life beautifully.  I've been following her blog for quite a long time now (and have learned a lot!).  So I knew I needed to share a little "Caitlin charm" here on my blog for you too.  Of course, to have the chance to ask her any question that I wanted was a bonus too :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LLL: Let's pretend we're going on a trip to Paris... What do you want to do first?
Caitlin: I'd go get a warm pain au chocolat and and then hit the flea market! {I spent a spring term in college in Paris and I ate a croissant for breakfast and a crepe every afternoon- let's just say it's a good thing I don't live in Paris!}

via Oh Happy Day

LLL: Do you collect anything? If so, what?
Caitlin: Shoes, handbags, sunglasses...but I intentionally collect cake stands.

LLL: What is your greatest extravagance?
Caitlin: A painting that my husband surprised me with for my daughter Olivia's room.

LLL: Willing to divulge any favorite shopping resources when decorating?
Caitlin: If you're looking for cute books for your bookshelves- there's an old readers digest collection with darling patterned covers that can often be found at thrift stores.

LLL: We're out to dinner. What do you order?
Caitlin: Something sinful...I try to eat healthy at home so when we go out, I splurge! A burger or steak and I always indulge in dessert! Chocolate anything will do!

LLL: You have a new fabric line in the works! What can you share?
Caitlin: My new fabric line is inspired by the places that we've lived in the last 2 years- the Middle East and Asia. Many of the patterns are classic geometrics that we all love- trellis, fretwork, chevron- but I've added a new twist. One of my main reasons for wanting to create my own fabric line was to offer color ways that I love and feel are missing from the market. You'll see corals, aquas, berry pinks, greys, and gold. The crowning pattern is my hand drawn floral reminiscent of Chinese flowers and foliage. I designed the collection so all of the fabrics can work together. You choose your favorite- and I'll show you 2 other pillows to put with it to create a perfect combination. I will be selling readymade pillow covers in a variety of sizes as well as fabric by the yard. This has been such an exciting venture, I can't tell you how excited I am for the launch on September 1st!

{She thinks she's excited??!  I cannot wait to see what all is up her sleeve!}



LLL: Is there a design trend that you are sick of seeing?
Caitlin: I appreciate all different styles so I try not to hate on anything...but I guess if I have to I'd say I'm a bit over the suzani look. I love authentic, antique suzanis- like I used in a project in Dubai...but I think the fabrics have been overdone.

LLL: On your blog you've shared that you've had clothing custom made. Could you tell us a little about the process?
Caitlin: In Dubai, it was so incredibly cheap to have clothes made...it's a common thing to do but I guess you could say I got carried away with it. The great thing about custom made clothes is that you can accentuate the good things about your figure and hide the bad. So under all those high waisted skirts and trousers with bows- I'm hiding my mummy tummy! I think that's probably the things about living abroad that I will miss the most...an affordable luxury!

{For the record, I see no tummy - just one hot momma with an adorable little girl!}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you so much for stopping by, Caitlin.  As we say here in the south, you're quite the gem!  And I hope you all go visit Caitlin's wonderful blog, Style Files.  She's one to watch.

Q&A With Artist Sally Benedict

One of my most favorite artists is visiting us today, Sally King Benedict.  Yippiiiieeeee!



I orginally discovered some of Sally's paintings while browsing Angie Hranowsky's blog, and I was instantly smitten.  She and I exchanged some emails, mainly me gushing over her and embarrassing myself.  And I've shared her work here on the blog a couple of times. 

Isn't she insanely talented?  I could cover every wall in my house with her work.



Then randomly we met while at a party here in Charleston.  And I gushed some more about her greatness. 

{Photo taken at Charleston Fashion Week}

Oh, I forgot to mention that she's GORGEOUS, sweet, and insanely stylish... more on that in a little bit.  But I thought it would be fun to do a little Q&A.  Sally happily obliged.

LLL: We're catching a jet to Barcelona.  What do you want to do first?
Sally: Throw our bags at the hotel and stroll through Barri Gotic....the most beautiful area in the city, stop in a sidewalk cafe for a long, late lunch, then off to the Museu Picasso.

LLL: What is your greatest extravagance?
Sally: a wash and blow-out

LLL: What type of art do you collect for your  home?  Your own?
Sally: We do have a large collection of my own art, but its constantly changing and being moved around. I love finding modern, colorful pieces from the 50's/60's. We have a white house with white walls for the most part...so all the color lies in the art. I would sell everything in our house for 1 Helen Frankenthaler. At the moment, we are hunting for a large-scale photograph…dying for a sam kweskin or neil krug.

{Sally's downtown Charleston home.  In her words, "It's like living on the beach downtown".}

{Top image is a piece by Sally titled "Hot Pink", bottow left by Helen Frankenthaler titled "Flirt", and bottom right by Sam Kweskin, {Jour de Plage".}


LLL: From where do you draw your inspiration for your pieces?
Sally: Currently, anything that involves soaking up the sun.

{Photography by Slim Aarons}

LLL: What is your most memorable life moment?
Sally: My wedding of course! It was the most beautiful, wonderful, happy, loving day. I am reminded every morning when I see my sweet husband.



LLL: You clearly have a flair for fashion?  Do you have a style muse?
Sally: I definitely have a few style icons! My grandmother is no.1-she is always dressed impeccably. Brigitte Bardot, India Hicks, Erin Wasson, and my one and only man, Yves Saint Laurent.

LLL: From which stores/designers does most of your wardrobe come from?

Sally: Opening Ceremony, Barneys, Ann Mashburn, Hampden, J.Crew, Pearl, Capitol, Thrift and Vintage.

{Jil Sander Spring via Fash Eccentric}

LLL: Have a bucket list? What's on it?
Sally: Spend time in the south of france, work on a dude ranch, go to africa, publish a book.

LLL: Who would you most like to have purchase your art for their home?
Sally: Simon de Pury.


Thanks so much to Sally for visiting today.  The pieces that I've shared here today don't even begin to scratch the surface of her work.  So go check out her website.  And for those of you in the Charleston area, Sally is having an art show on Thursday, May 19th at Stems (fabulous local floral shop) downtown.  I'll be there, would *love* to see some of you there. 

I'll leave you with one of my favorite pieces by Sally, titled "Face It".  Appropriately titled because it rocks my face off.