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.

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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

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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.