Fan Favorite Fridays: Meredith Kinney on Building a Distinctive Style Across Art, Design & Pattern

Introduction

0:00Welcome to another Friday Favorites, where I reshare your favorite previous episodes, in case you missed them, or if you want to give them a re-listen. This is an episode with Meredith Kinney. You guys absolutely loved her podcast, and so I'm excited to share it with you for those of you that missed it the first time. It came out back in July, so it's been, you know, almost a year since it came out, and you guys just absolutely loved it. If you love this episode, I also recommend checking out Meredith's sub stack. It's really, really just good content. Love everything she shares over there.

0:34But in the meantime, enjoy this Friday Favorites episode.

0:39Let's get into it.

Meredith Kinney Introduction

0:41I'm Meredith Kinney. I am an artist and designer. I've always been interested in art and have been doing it since I was little. Had a great fine art program in high school. Did AP art, and then went to Auburn and majored in graphic design. With that came the fine arts core, so painting, clay, sculpture, and 2D and 3D design. After school, I went straight to Atlanta and worked for five years for a multidisciplinary firm with interiors and architecture.

1:16We did brand and signage. I did that for five years and then moved to Perkins & Will, which is a global design firm. I was there for about 13 years, and that was great. We had huge clients, lots of projects all across different disciplines from urban design to landscape to healthcare, commercial. It was just all over the place. My discipline was called branded environments, which was more about the user experience and how you feel in a space

1:48and how a client's mission, vision, values can kind of translate into experience. And then we moved, my husband and I, and kids all through that. I got married and had kids. We moved from Atlanta, slowed down the pace of our life in 2023, and moved to Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, which is right outside of Chattanooga, which is where I'm from. And so I got to kind of get back to working with my hands and working on fine art and slowing down the pace of things,

2:24but also utilizing what I learned throughout my career so far. And I still love graphic design. I love working on the computer. And so I've just been trying to blend the two of those.

Design Background

2:36Yeah, can you talk a little bit about how that background in design has kind of bled over into your artistic eye and your style, and how does it kind of influence the work you're making now? I was trying to figure out how I could harness all of the things that I learned in design and in interiors and environments, you know, how that can inform what you hang on the wall, or what patterns you may develop, or how art can make you feel.

3:09I was also trying to utilize my skills in those programs, right? So that kind of married into this graphic style that I've kind of created that's, you know, it's botanical, but it's not truly the way a flower works, right? So it's painterly, but it's graphic, and I was really just trying to utilize my skills in graphic design and in paint and mixed media and trying to combine those to make something interesting and something that I love to do.

3:41I think if people can figure out things that they love and combine those things to create something new, then that's where you can find your sweet spot.

Creative Process

3:51Can you talk a little bit about your creative process specifically? I feel like I've seen a lot of your most recent work, those kind of botanical pieces. How do you come up with, you know, concept to finish piece? What does your process look like as an artist? Yeah, so I usually start with photography or something that is kind of interesting graphically. And then I use that as a base, and then I put a silhouette of a flower on top of that, like a really strong graphic silhouette.

4:24And then I compose those two things together to create something interesting. Obviously, that's not the way a flower works, but you get the feel of a flower. Even when you're out in nature and you're walking, you're not taking in a flower exactly how it is. You're just feeling that there's flowers there and noticing that there's light and shadow and pattern and color. So once I get my composition, I can tweak that on the computer. And then typically I'll project it on the wall and trace it, basically in black and white or two colors.

4:59And then I just layer color upon texture, upon color, upon texture until I get it feeling the way I want to. And I use acrylic, I'll use pastels, I'll use Posca pens, colored pencil, soft pastels. So just kind of anything that has the right color or texture that I need, I'll pull that in. And then lately I've been using those botanicals to create repeat patterns.

5:30Do you see those repeated patterns turning into like anything specific, like wallpaper, prints, like things like that? Are things in the works or are you just kind of like letting it evolve? Yeah, no, I have been in talks with Chasing Paper. So we're going to put out a line or a collection here pretty soon, probably with, I don't know, four to six patterns and different colorways and stuff. So I think that's one way I see my patterns being used. I think eventually I will do like a line of textiles.

6:01And I think, you know, the most important thing with that is just figuring out scale and color temperature and contrast. A lot of my botanicals have a lot of contrast, right? And so you may not necessarily want that on your wall. So it's kind of stepping that contrast back and letting it just be more of a texture. So it's kind of working through those things. Yeah, that's exciting.

Marketing Strategy

6:25Well, I'd love to kind of ask you about how you have marketed these different works. So how are you thinking about kind of the business side of things, the expansion into wallpaper, the marketing? Like how is your brain kind of thinking about all those things right now? I'm just kind of figuring it out. I am not a salesy person. It just is not part of me to throw my work out there. It doesn't come naturally to me, but I have been doing that. Did a release of 20 something pieces when I first moved here a couple of years ago.

6:59So, and that was great. So then I built upon that and did another one, right? That was maybe another 20 or so pieces. And then I just launched again, again, another 20 or so pieces. And I've just been building upon that using Instagram. I have a website and I put my pieces up there. I have a small email list that I send updates to. So that's been about it. I have a great friend in Atlanta who is an art consultant, Julie Wynn Jones.

7:32And she put me in touch with a lot of great clients, some corporate clients and some residential clients. And I've done commissions with her. So that's been good too. Yeah. Are you enjoying, like, do you enjoy the commission route or do you like kind of being able to create more for yourself and then having pieces sell? Like what does that balance look like with your business? Yeah, I feel like I did so much client work in the corporate world, leasing other clients and making them what they wanted to see and view.

8:04And so I'm really loving just making stuff that I want to make and not so much commission work. But it's funny, a lot of the commissions have been requesting works that I did in the past. So they're like, oh, we like this colorway and this flower, do this again. And no two pieces are alike. So it's never going to be exactly the same, but just kind of like repeating that motif and then layering the color on top to match what I did before. But I definitely like doing new stuff for myself and not so much, you know, being art

8:41directed by others. Because you've done that enough times in the past. But yeah, I always think it's an interesting balance because obviously like the commission is a project guaranteed income versus like the exploratory stuff. But it is, I feel like harder, always meeting other people's needs. So it's nice that they're kind of requesting stuff you've already done. Yeah, no, that's that's definitely been a good thing for sure. How has it been marketing in a new city? I mean, it sounds like you still have, you know, contacts back in Atlanta and you're originally from the Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga area. But what did that transition look like and did it have any, you know, effects on just

9:15growing a new business? Yeah, I mean, I think Instagram has been kind of the universal platform, which has been great because it has allowed me to still show my work, you know, in Atlanta and beyond, mostly in the Southeast, I think. And up here, friends have seen my work and had it, you know, have asked me to make a piece for them. And I think that's been great. But, you know, I think really it's more about using the email list and Instagram and hopefully

9:47with larger releases, I can push stuff out there beyond the Southeast. So yeah, I want to get really kind of like tactical with this. But how are you currently and maybe how are you thinking about using specifically Instagram and email? Like, what is your strategy there, you know, around either collection launches or just in general? Like, how are you kind of day to day using those platforms?

10:10Yeah, so I'm figuring out, figuring it out as I go. But I have been trying to put my work in spaces that I want my work to be in, right? I will Photoshop my work into a space that I think it would work in. And, you know, so it's reposting other people's interior spaces. I try to give them credit. I try to give the interior designer credit, the photographer credit. But it's an aspirational image that I think helps people imagine where my art could be.

10:49And maybe they want their space to look like that or feel like that. So I think it's just, I think that's one thing I've been doing that's been helpful. And then another thing lately, I've just been doing some reels of process, which I think is good to connect. And then I think another aspect of Instagram I'm going to utilize is the carousel of questions or education, engagement, you know, something about my work.

11:19Again, being salesy is like not in my repertoire. It does not come naturally to me. And I feel like a lot with Instagram, you kind of have to have the hook or like the grab or like your reel has to really grab people in. And that's what the algorithm wants. But I think I'm just trying to stay authentic to who I am and let it build organically. It may not be as fast as other people, but I'm trying to post as much as I can.

11:50So yeah. And I love what you said about photoshopping kind of like aspirational images, because I think that elevates your brand to a certain level. But I think it also connects the dots for clients, because I know not everyone has the visual eye of like, oh, this is how this painting will look in my home. Like, I think people are like, oh, it's pretty. But like, how am I going to translate something more colorful into my traditional home? I love that you have that design background as well. You can connect those dots and show people if you bought this, you would be moving in

12:21this direction of a style of home. Right. And I think it like allows people to just not make art so precious and feel like it's approachable. And yes, I can do this. Yes, I have a wallpapered wall and I can hang a botanical on it. Or, you know, I have a huge white wall and I can hang a small piece on it and it'd be okay. So I just think it's like familiarizing people with what they can do with my work. Yeah. And I think you're not overly salesy, but I think that's like selling to people in a

12:55way that doesn't feel like sales. It's like you're kind of like doing it through education almost.

Email Marketing

12:59Okay, good. Good. And then email, how have you used it? I know you said you have like a smaller list right now, but how are you even getting people on the list in the first place? I had a block of text on my website initially. So when people from Instagram would go to my website, they would automatically be directed to put in their email and their first name. And so from that, I've been kind of telling them, I started about once a week and I think

13:31that cadence is a little too much. I think maybe once a month would be better. I just don't think I have enough interesting things. People are getting bombarded with emails all the time and to compete against all the great content that's out there is just challenging. So I would talk about things that were inspiring me. I love the number three, so if I can chunk up information in threes, I think that's wonderful. So something inspirational, something currently that's going on, and then future, like a release

14:04that's happening. So that's kind of how I was trying to structure my emails, and they're not very long. They're more image heavy, maybe a few links to get them to interesting places, but that was it. It's kind of like the email I want to read. It's brief, it gets me, you know, inspired or gets me something I didn't know, and then that's it. So yeah. Well, and I think that's better too. I think people worry about like, oh, I need to fill this whole page with tons of text. The emails I like to read are almost bullet points. Like I can just skim it, get what I need, but it's still valuable.

14:37Honestly, I think as artists, the pictures are, you know, that's such a great part of it. So it's like, it can be really picture heavy versus text heavy and kind of get the message across. Totally. And the picture can say a thousand words, like, you know, the saying goes. So just be, yeah. Use that to your advantage. Yeah. Well, switching gears a little bit, what have been maybe some challenges that you faced in growing this business and kind of balancing like the creativity with the entrepreneurship business type side of things? Yeah.

15:08I mean, I think you have to be vigilant and, you know, wake up every day with the intent to do something to move the dial. You can't always be creative every day. And I think that's okay. So do something that you can do that day. Like whether it's some computer work or creating the next mood board for the pieces you want to do. You can't always paint every day or do your hands-on piece.

15:40I think that's what I've come to realize. And that's okay. I think give yourself grace. You are going to create a lot of ugly things and that's okay. You have to do that. You have to go through those things to get to the pretty things or to get to the things that you want to put out into the world. So give yourself grace to do that and don't beat yourself up if you're not getting to where you want to be. I think every piece that you do gets you there. When I first came, when we first left Atlanta, I was just producing stuff just because I hadn't

16:17in so long because I was working. And so I just let myself do that, you know, and it, so that was 2022 and now here it is 2025 and I'm just hitting my stride of creating a style that I can kind of riff off of and explore and repeat and do those things. So I think it takes time to just let yourself go through the ebbs and flows of design work and creative work. It's just a natural process to then narrow it down as time goes on.

16:53Yeah. And I think that's important to hear too, because I think a lot of people think it just clicks right away. And a lot of the times you just have to devote a certain amount of time to the doing like the ugly stuff, the like producing and producing and producing until you find the thing that feels like you and is working and you can expand off of it. And it speaks to other people too. Yeah, I was like, okay, I love graphic design. I love the, the preciseness and the graphic quality. So I started creating these small illustrations with gouache that were very tight and used

17:27light and shadow and they were beautiful. But I was like, oh my God, I hate doing this. Like I don't like, I can't do this forever. Like I just can't, it's not fun to me. Like it's not enough looseness. And so just going through those types of little mini studies can help you define in your brain, what you like, what you don't like, what you can continue to grow upon. And so, yeah, give yourself the time and space to do that. Yeah. How many kind of iterations of different things did you have in that period before you landed

17:59where you are now? If you, you know, estimate. Yeah, I did like, so I did that one that was straight gouache. I did kind of a cut paper collage that I did with, you know, I would do like layers and layers of paint and then I would cut those up and do botanicals with that. For me, they just weren't like interesting enough, you know, like there was just something missing, but I did, there was something about that that was, you know, interesting. Then I did some like mixed media botanicals that were more drawing and painting.

18:32So no collaging and, and that was great. Again, it just wasn't, didn't have as much depth as these paintings are having now. So, yeah, I mean, and then I did a lot of geometric work because again, I love graphic design. So I was doing like color blocking and layering paint and paper. And I loved those two. So yeah, I mean, four or five, just in the past three years of like really kind of getting into something and studying it and seeing how I felt about them.

19:05And then this last kind of run, I've been working on this for like a year, just the longest. And I think I can continue to riff upon this one. And were you sharing those? So the cut paper collages I did release as a launch, and I think most of them sold, you know, I didn't have a ton and they weren't that expensive, you know, and I was just kind of testing the market. Right. And then I sold the kind of the watercolor ones, the drawing ones to the gouache ones.

19:37I didn't some of the geometric ones. I didn't. And yeah, I think like the test I always say is like, if I would hang this on my wall in my home now, if I would do that, then hopefully somebody else would. But if I produce something and I'm like, I don't think I'd hang it on my wall, then I'm not going to. Well, I think that sounds obvious, but I think that's such a good test that not enough people do because I know I talked to so many artists who produce what they think people want versus what they actually want in their own home.

20:07If you wouldn't hang it on your own wall, it's going to be really hard to convince someone else to buy it. Marketing something is so much easier. It's really easy to authentically market something that you yourself actually like and would have in your own home. Exactly. Yeah. And it comes across genuine and it's through the filter of your eye. Right. You can get behind it than others can too. Yeah. Have there been any moments in your career, maybe since 2023 to now that have felt like a turning point and that could be like, you know, coming up with this collection or getting a really

20:41big commission or working with someone in particular, expanding into, you know, different products, like anything that's kind of felt and it can be more than one, just kind of like a turning point in your career. Yeah. I mean, I think there was one piece that I did that was pink and blue and it was one of the ones that I did with the latest iteration of my work with the graphic kind of botanical and I posted it and I got a lot of great feedback from it. And I felt like I loved it too. There was just something about it that clicked for me and it clicked for others.

21:14And so I started doing more of those. And I think, you know, I'm learning, right? Like color schemes that work. I've started doing different botanical motifs. So I think some motifs are more popular than others or get a better feedback. But yeah, I think that first one that I posted really got me energized about the botanical work that I was starting to tap into. Now that you're in this groove, let's say you have more of a style that you're going with.

21:48How are you organizing your weeks or day to day to balance, you know, obviously the creation and like you need to be producing the artwork, but also, you know, marketing and business stuff and emails and all the other stuff that comes with actually like running and maintaining a business. Yeah. I mean, I think if I've got, I've also got two children and do, do work with my husband. And so it's like really busy and it's hard to get a good chunk of time to work.

22:19But if I do have like a couple of two, three hours, I know that's going to be in my schedule, then that's maybe when I'm going to do the creative work. But if I just have like an hour in the morning or a couple hours in the afternoon, maybe I'll, you know, create some patterns on the computer or I will work on the next content for my newsletter. But I think, you know, mornings are best for me.

22:49You know, I think you're, you're fresher, you're better. So if any creative work that's going to be done is then. I also think Sundays are a great day to like prep and do all the things maybe you don't want to do like there's parts of my work, like tracing the motifs or just getting the first couple layers on the paper. It's like, I have to do to get the ball rolling on those pieces. Maybe do those on a freebie day, like Sunday afternoon, or, you know, maybe a day you're

23:20not feeling super creative, but it's like that kind of work that has to be done. Do that on those days, but yeah, no day is a like, I cannot perfectly block my calendar because it always gets messed up or interrupted and that's just how it goes. But I think small things can turn into big things. And even if you get 15 minutes to do something productive, like send an email, reach out to somebody that is moving the dial in the right direction.

23:51And so I think that's great. That's acceptable. So yeah, and I think that's a loose plan that a lot of artists can relate to, because I know a lot of people that listen, you know, have kids, have another job, have this, have that. Like we all are so busy with different reasons, but I love just even the basics of like, if you have two or more hours, like go paint something. If you have less than that, find something else to fill your time with basically, because I do think it, at least for me, and it sounds like you're the same way, like you need a certain amount of time to like get in the zone of the creative process. And it's, it, it's definitely for me, not every day, but if I can have like for Fridays

24:25for me, usually like, I don't have a lot of calls. I don't have a lot going on. I'm like, if I can preserve like a Friday afternoon to knock some stuff out, that's great. But then, you know, those little 15 minutes I had between the call before this and this call, it's like, great. Well, I can send like two emails and that feels like I did something. Right. But it's not, you know, we're not doing anything crazy, but those little things really do move the needle. Yeah, no, totally. And I think just don't beat yourself up about it either. Like it's okay. You know, it's just the rhythm of, of this season of life and that's okay.

24:56Keep going, keep showing up and things will, doors will start to open. Yeah, exactly.

Future Plans

25:02Do you have any kind of dream projects, dream collaborations, like anything you would really be interested in pursuing next or thinking about moving forward with this business? Yeah, I mean, I would love to create enough of a recognizable aesthetic that I could collaborate with other brands and companies that need art, that need surface pattern, would utilize my work and make it even better because of how they use it with their product.

25:36I adore Ula Johnson. Like she's such an inspiration to me. Her flowers are like amazing. They're very out of this world, which is kind of inspiring to me in terms of like the botanicals that I create. They're not in this world per se. Of course, I would love to do something that, you know, was with her, but yeah, no, I mean, I think there's just a lot of interior designers that I love. My husband's an architect. And so we're going to use, I think some of my wallpapers and a project I'm doing with

26:06him. So yeah, I just think it's like putting my work out there so it can be used in environments and spaces and becomes recognizable. Yeah. And I think you're already developing that. I was talking to an artist earlier and we were talking about how like your style, like you reach a certain success level when your style like goes beyond the canvas. Like I think your most recent botanicals are doing that, like the way you've already, because I know you posted recently, like which colorway do you like? And it was a real of like a pattern, I guess.

26:38But like I could totally see that. I love Bula Johnson as well. Like I could see that turning into like a fabric some way, like the colors you're using. I'm like, I could see that as a top and I would buy it, but I could also see it as like really chic wallpaper, you know, just slightly edited for these different applications. But I love that you've kind of defined enough of a style for yourself that it's not just having to be on the canvas, having to be this one subject to feel like you. It's even like it doesn't even have to be one specific colorway to feel like you. You're starting to really expand the overall vibe, I guess I would say.

27:10And that's it's working really well. Good. Well, good. That's what I'm trying to do. I'm glad you have noticed that. But yeah, I think that's the goal. I think will serve anybody if you can kind of get in that groove of your signature aesthetic or style that you can kind of riff off, then the possibilities are endless, right? If you can be in it and continue to iterate, I think then you can go anywhere with it. And I don't know if you've thought about this, but would you like long term want to

27:42be thought of more as like the artist who also does these things or more like almost like a brand or like an aesthetic or does that make sense? Like, have you thought about how that expands, like how you want to think about that or how you want to be thought of from like a marketing perspective? Yeah, I think more of a brand. I think I just think there's like more possibility and I don't want to be, you know, just producing pieces on canvas or pieces on paper. I do want them to expand into other things.

28:14I have an 11 year old daughter and she's all about the collabs, you know, that brands do with other brands like Love Shack Fancy and Roller Rabbit, just like endless things. I think there is something to be said for that. Like, I'm not going to be that. But I think that that's an interesting avenue for artists now is to create a look and a feel that can be mashed up with other brands. And that makes an interesting product and it's bespoke and it's made by humans and not

28:48AI. And I just think that there's some value in that. But I would like to retain the brand equity of my name. And I think that's what this whole new market is allowing you to do because they're, you know, brands are not just taking your pattern and using their brand. They're allowing you to have yours locked up with theirs, which is good.

29:14Yeah, exactly. And I think I know I think everyone really likes supporting things like that. But I personally love buying those kind of collabs or supporting them or whatever, because I think the story is so much more interesting. Like, it's so much more interesting when an artist comes in and like, you know, does a wallpaper line or like their design ends up on like a, you know, a piece of clothing or sometimes they even take it really far. And it's like, they make a lamp out of like a shape that was inspired by an artist. Like, I just love those iterations because I think the story there is so much more interesting.

29:48Like, let's say the lamp example. Like, if I have that in my home and people are like, well, it's such like a funky lamp. I'm like, yeah. Like, listen to the context, you know, and same with clothes. Like, there's so much more to it. Right. Totally. And it feels more valuable. And exactly. There's story to it. And that's a lot storytelling. I mean, that's huge in the things that we produce and the market we're in. So, yeah. Well, I'm excited to see how that plays out for you. I feel like there's a lot of directions this could go. But I think that like bespoke, fine feel and like finding other brands that kind of match

30:19that level and like feel really. Yeah. Same. Yeah. Well, I think this has been so interesting. I'd love to kind of close with just like a practical takeaway, something that, you know, a piece of advice that you'd give to artists or creatives that are kind of looking to grow their business, you know, looking to grow their business more sustainably, like not burn out, or it can be like a book, an app, just anything that's really helped you to kind of grow to the point where you are now. Yeah. I mean, I think for me personally, not so much about growth, but like for inspiration for

30:52me, I sometimes just need to take the guardrails off of what I'm supposed to be doing and what I'm, you know, supposed to be producing. And I'll do like a visual, like stream of consciousness through, I love this website called design inspiration. You can search by color, you can search by, you know, a word and it's just, it's more of a curated version of Pinterest and there's not a lot of ads.

31:23That is a good way to create, you know, like a mood board. Right. And I think that has like helped me to kind of create a roadmap or like a, a point where I'm trying to get with my work. And so I think sometimes we just get so caught up in our own stuff that we don't like look up and look at other markets under other industries, you know, look at interiors, look at fashion, look at, you know, landscape, look at all these different things to produce inspiration within

32:01us. I've always needed to stop what I'm doing, go get inspired by just kind of a stream of consciousness of images. And I think that really helps. Yeah, no, I think that's great. I wrote that down. I was like, I'm definitely going to go on that for myself. Cause I even love just like the Pinterest, like doing that kind of work, but this sounds a lot more streamlined. So I'm excited to check it out. But this has been so great. I love your work. I'm excited to see how it grows and evolves and like collabs in your future. If your daughter has any hand in it, it sounds like there'll be some, but can you share how

32:35the audience can learn more about you, buy from you? What are your different, you know, your website, your Instagram, your different channels? Yeah. So it's Meredith Kinney underscore studio is my Instagram handle. And then I'm Meredith Kinney.com is my website. And I have pieces up there occasionally for sale. And then I've got a few pieces at a maker's post on Sullivan's Island and just, yeah, like, you know, look for me at chasing paper. Cause we're going to do a collection together.

33:06And then, yeah, I think that's about it. That's all I've got. Well, thank you so much for your time today and sharing all of this. And I just really appreciate it. Yeah. I hope you enjoyed today's conversation with Meredith as much as I did. If you enjoyed this, please consider leaving a rating and review.