Seen
A few photos from the Modern Pastels opening party at Balance Design in Candler Park this past May. It was an amazing night filled with even more amazing people! The show is up until November, so if you’re in Atlanta swing by and take a look.
I cannot say enough wonderful things about the women of Balance Design. They are such warm hearted, funny, and energetic people and it’s been such an honor to know (and work) with them!
There are somethings that I am really good at doing. And then there is blogging. Or journaling if you want to sound cooler or more hip. (I just realized this tab is in fact titled “journal” which now makes me laugh. Mostly because the word “journaling” makes me think of people writing poetry, dressed in large comfy neutral sweaters, drinking tea and talking about life’s bigger meaning or something. Which seeing that I am in fact in a large, cream knit sweater, drinking tea, and just listened to a podcast about minimalism while drawing, actually seems pretty spot on. So yea, scratch any judgement away about “journaling” because I totally just described myself.)
Back to the point though. Blogging/journaling/writing words for others to see, I’m not really great at staying on top of that. But I’m trying to get better at that which brings me to today’s news!
In case you’ve missed my Instagram stories/posts, or my Facebook ones, or even my newsletter (which you can sign up for to the right) I have paintings for sale at this weeks Spotlight on Art! It opened last night and will run through this Saturday at Trinity School of Atlanta. I have some newer/more abstracted canvas pieces, plus a few more traditional framed floral works all ready and waiting to come live with you :)
So if you’re in Atlanta, head over there and take a look! There’s something like 350 artists represented. It’s crazy and awesome.
A few days ago I had the amazing opportunity to show my work along side three other incredibly talented local artists at the west elm at Ponce City Market. Celebrating their first ever "Meet the Artists" First Friday exhibit, the weekend long show began with an opening Friday night- complete with colorful sodas, jars of cookies, and even organic cotton candy from the ever amazing Cult Carts.
Not only was I blown away by the turn out (seriously, you guys rock and we all appreciate the support) but I couldn't get over just how great the other artists were (personality-wise- I already knew their work was great!) Aside from a few planning emails, I don't believe any of us had ever spoken before the show, but within minutes of arriving, we all just meshed together. Maybe it was because the show took place at west elm- and therefore we were surrounded by comfy couches and beautifully styled vignettes, but the whole opening kind of just felt like a really laid back party at a friends house. A friend with a killer art collection of course. We all just kind of lounged around- laughing, drinking, and eating cotton candy. I almost forgot it was "work."
The featured artists
(Emily of Ink and Indigo, Michelle of Michelle Armas, Brynn of Brynn Casey Art, and myself)
Mandy (the owner of Cult Carts) doing her thing.
I met her at an event a few months before, but didn't get to really talk to each other until the opening. So happy we finally got the chance because she is an absolute blast! If you want your party to be amazing, hire her. (And if you're weird and don't like cotton candy, she has other carts like a champagne one and a waffle one.)
west elm hooking everyone up with snacks
Speaking of west elm, every single person I met was spectacular and went above and beyond to help make the show a success. Such fantastic hosts! (A very special thanks to Ashley and Adriana for making this whole thing a reality.)
Shots from the show
me and the hubs celebrating with Cuban food after the show.
He isn't a huge photo person so I may have been trying to be sly about this one by taking a photo of our reflection in the window. As you can tell, he caught on. Now to be fair- and for the sake of full disclosure- I may or may not be "that person" when it comes to photos. When I get in the "capture the moment" mood it's hard to get me to stop. So it's probably not that he's opposed to taking photos as much as he's not into taking a bajillion photos. (Tomato tahmato.)
So there you have it! If you couldn't make it, I'm bummed we didn't get to meet (but there is always next time.) If you did make it though, thanks so much for spending your Friday night with us. I hope you had a great time!
View of the table setting with my custom watercolor wedding menu card | courtney khail watercolors | photo by Elle Golden
Oh the extras. A lot of people forget about these, but it's these pieces that can really tie everything together design wise. You also a little more freedom to play around with pieces like menus or table numbers since there are-usually- less of them and therefore not as visually overwhelming or expensive. Since I've already shared the watercolor wedding invitations I created for the Weddings Unveiled shoot, I thought today would be a great day to share more of the "day of" elements.
For the menus and table numbers, I utilized the same basic designs and artwork as the invitations, but I played with the shapes to give them more visual interest. (If you missed the post on how I created the artwork, you can find that here.) My circular menus fit perfectly inside the (absolutely beautiful) gradient blue plates Raquel chose from Ponce City Market's West Elm, which in turn acted as "frames" for the menu artwork. (Full disclosure, this was actually just a happy accident. I thought circles would be more fun than common rectangle or square menus, not to mention that the artwork really lent itself to the shape so I just went for it and hoped for the best. I had no clue if it would work with the design, but luckily, it worked perfectly.)
my original sketch for the menu cards | via courtney khail watercolors
The table number was also a spontaneous decision. Originally a square, I thought it needed something so the night before the shoot I started cutting away at the white space. In the end, the cut out mimics the border of the painted "bouquet" and ended up blending in seamlessly to the center pieces. Which was pretty awesome if I do say so myself.
Custom watercolor table number by courtney khail | photo by Elle Golden
As for the escort cards, Raquel told me the idea she had for displaying them, so I knew they couldn't be too busy. By removing the line work, the names (handwritten to mimic the invitation) pop from the paper, while the lighter artwork forms a floating garden when all of the names are arranged together.
View of Table | Custom watercolor wedding extras by courtney khail | photo by Elle Golden
Custom watercolor escort card detail | created by courtney khail | photo by Elle Golden
Custom Fine Art Watercolor Wedding Invitation Suite by Courtney Khail | photo by ellegolden
I absolutely love when I'm given free reign with designing. Which aside from sending over inspiration boards to give me an idea for the overall look and colors, is pretty much exactly what Raquel did. She trusted my expertise and ability and just let me create- and in the end she got amazing pieces. (I stress this point to anyone looking to work with an artist- whether it's for commissioned art for custom wedding invitations or for your home. Choose someone whose work and style you love, give them enough information- favorite colors, overall mood, etc- so they know what you want, and then trust them to provide that. By giving people the freedom to really create, more often than not you will be rewarded with exceptional art far exceeding anything you could have imagined!)
The color palette board I made to show the original inspiration (photo by Elle Golden)
But back to this suite. Raquel wanted a natural palette- lots of greens, blues, and whites- that evoked spring. After seeing her inspiration, I immediately envisioned a garden after a spring rain (Wow. Feels like I'm writing copy for the J. Peterman catalog with that one.) Subdued, yet still vibrant colors, with enough contrast for interest, but not so much that anything is jarring. Have you ever looked into a clear, blue lake? How close to the surface the water is barely blue at all- more crystal clear- but as your eyes look deeper, the water gradually darkens until it's almost navy or midnight? (If not, I suggest you go explore the outdoors more because the world is beautiful and you'll get to see things like what I just described.) I wanted my pieces to appear delicate, but strong enough to stand on their own, with subtle color variations like those that occur in nature.
Invitation by Courtney Khail Watercolors (photo by Elle Golden)
Like all of my work, I incorporated handwritten elements as well. With this particular one though, I kept the lines very thin. (The style was inspired by the handwritten notes my grandmothers used to send. Cursive, airy, and always consistent in the width- probably because they were written with a ball point pen. There was always something so feminine about their handwriting and I want to capture that in this suite.)
The design itself was directly inspired by spring time in the South. I'm originally from Augusta, Georgia and for Augustans the beginning of spring is marked by one thing- The Masters golf tournament. Always the first full week of April, the city is full of bright azalea blooms, dogwood blooms so bright they appear to be glowing, and tons of green- in everything from manicured lawns to the famed green jacket. I dialed back on the colors some, but still strived to capture the overall feeling of spring's "fresh start" with the artwork itself.
Watercolor RSVP by Courtney Khail Watercolors (Photo by Elle Golden)
And there you have it- the back story and inspiration of the invitation suite. Does it remind you of spring as well?
Good design always starts with a good plan. For the Weddings unveiled wedding inspiration shoot, Michelle and Raquel of Lemiga Events wanted me to create a watercolor "mock up" of the table and place settings to show Raquel's vision throughly before any actual styling began. It was so much fun to do and I absolutely loved how these turned out! (Fun fact- this service is also available for Lemiga clients so they can see what the overall design will resemble before their big day!)
Last Thursday, I drove over to StudioWed's studio for the launch party for Wedding Unveiled's Spring/ Summer issue. While I most likely would have gone anyway because I'm a big fan of the women behind both StudioWed and Weddings Unveiled, this launch was especially exciting because this particular issue featured a four page spread of a shoot I'd collaborated on!
Seeing my work never fails to get me all excited, and despite trying to act like a professional, much less a normal functioning human being, I'm pretty sure I just transformed into a five year old who was just found out they were going to Disneyworld. (Maybe a bad example since I can't even look at a roller coaster without getting sick. Okay how about a five year old being told they were getting a puppy? Yep that works. Because if you don't get excited about puppies, something might be wrong with you.) So yes, imagine me first walking in as "Courtney Khail, professional artist" and then moments after being handed the magazine turning into "Courtney Khail, five year old that just found herself surrounded by lab puppies." (Because labs are my favorite.)
THEN if seeing the feature wasn't enough, surround me with friends, put me in a photo booth, and hand me a huge cloud of (organic coconut) cotton candy. Which all most definitely happened.
(Speaking of, way to throw a party StudioWed and Weddings Unveiled. I tip my hat to you.)
Over the next few days/weeks/tbd time frame (I'm just being honest here. I'm not the best at blogging regularly) I'm going to share my work, (as well as some of the work of the other amazing vendors,) behind the scenes moments, and shots that didn't make the magazine. Until then though, definitely go pick up a copy and see the feature in it's entirety for yourself! It's a stunning magazine filled with gorgeous photos, inspiring work, and beautiful ideas.
Very excited and honored to say that courtney khail watercolors (more specifically my wildflower stationery) is in the newest issue of Stationery Trends Magazine. Thank you so much to the Stationery Trends team for including me! It's an honor to be among such talent.
I am so excited to share this news- courtney khail watercolors is now a preferred invitation vendor in Style Me Pretty's Little Black Book! It's a huge honor and I'm so excited to be a part of one of my all time favorite wedding sites. Check out my profile here!
Sometimes you find good news a little later than expected, which is exactly what happened here. While testing SEO and other things that I act like I understand for my site, I stumbled across this little gem while googling my artwork. Apparently last year, Kelly Lanza (of Oh So Beautiful Paper) included my pineapple painting in a piece she wrote for the Food Network blog. Such an amazing surprise! Thank you so much, Kelly!
You can see the whole piece (as well as a ton of other pineapple goodness) right here.
This morning I woke up to a tweet letting me know that Nole of Oh So Beautiful Paper had mentioned my work. When I clicked over I was greeted with an amazing post talking all about my new stationery line as well as my watercolor paintings. Thank you so much for the kind words, Nole! I'm so thrilled you love my work and shared it with your readers. Consider my week made!
If you'd like to see what Nole had to say, pop on over and take a look. I'd love if you left a comment as well and took a moment to browse her whole site- it's an amazing place full of beautiful paper goods!