The Story Behind Happy Place Portraits
When I was about eight years old, my mom asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up. I didn’t know at the time, but I did know I loved houses and the stories they tell. So, I told her plain and simple, “I like to look at houses,” with no idea what that could mean for a future career or calling.
As the daughter of an architect, I grew up exploring the newly finished houses my father had designed. I remember visiting one on Martha’s Vineyard island - one of those big gingerbread houses with nooks and crannies and a winding staircase that took you all the way up to a circular room at the top of the world, filled with cushions and a telescope and views of the ocean out the window. I could have explored that house all day. I remember feeling that sense of enchantment looking at my dad’s other projects, and even visiting a friend’s house for the first time. Plain and simple, I loved looking at houses.
When one says this, you might think “real estate agent” or “interior designer,” but what I was drawn to about houses had nothing to do with all that serious stuff that the adults downstairs were talking about, with their big words and important contracts. What I was drawn to was the sense of whimsy I felt in exploring a house, peering around its corners, slowly uncovering the stories it told of the people who lived there. I loved opening the cabinets, tiptoeing down the hall and hearing the floorboards creak, and noticing all the little details that made up a home, a life.
Having spent summers on the island of Nantucket - whose houses literally have names - I always connected to the personality and life of a home, underneath its architectural renderings. Our family’s home out there was full of tchotchkes and trinkets that my grandfather had collected, portraits of family members, and at least ten portraits of the house itself. I grew up with a deep connection to houses - as if they are family members, too.
And so, it’s no wonder why I started painting portraits of homes and happy places. I want to help people tell their stories, and to reconnect with that same childlike whimsy that so many of us feel when walking through a special place. I want to capture a home’s feeling, its essence, so that it can be remembered forever. My style is playful and not-quite-to-scale for that reason - to connect you with the whimsy within you. Perfectly straight lines and proportions? We’ll leave that to the adults downstairs.