Artist Kate O'Neal colors her cottage with whimsical images, fanciful shapes and a kaleidoscope of hues that uplifts the spirit.
by Donna Pizzi
My father always said I was born with a crayon in my hand,” says artist Kate O’Neal, who created a colorful, cartoon-inspired kitchen of which her father would be proud. When Kate and her husband, Dan, bought this 1920s house in Gray’s River, Washington, in the early 1990s, the kitchen was pale blue and white: “Cold colors,” says Kate, who found the dark, rainy winters along the Columbia River required a serious antidote in the form of warm, cheery colors—and images so whimsical that it’s impossible to walk in the room without smiling.
Kate’s vision for her kitchen (above) was that of a colorful cartoon. Brilliant primary colors and trompe l’oeil effects are just small parts of the successful mix. Painted chairs, stools and whatnot shelves were also made by Kate.
The former graphic-artist-turned-floral-designer-to-the-stars in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, says it’s essential to see a project completed in one’s mind before trying to create it on a physical plane. “Start with the largest elements first,” she says, “then work your way down.” Kate’s vision for the kitchen was clear: “I wanted spaces, flowers, faces and living things. I saw it as one big, colorful cartoon.”
After she and Dan tore down the wall separating the kitchen from the hearth room, Dan removed the panels from the kitchen cupboards and installed glass so that Kate’s Fiestaware collection and other colorful china could add visual interest. Kate gave the cabinets a coat of daffodil yellow and then added some royal blue accents and a jaunty black-and-white-checkered border.
Dan created the “Remedies” cabinet (for Kate’s vitamins and herbs) out of an old cupboard door. Kate painted it as well as the whatnot shelf and the stool below.
Kate is not picky when it comes to paintbrushes, using pretty much whatever she has on hand. “I love the heavy Japanese brushes with the long tails,” she says, “but I’m just as content to use a rubber sponge brush when it comes to something like freehand checks.” Checkered stick-on shelf paper highlights the glass cabinets and ties them into the jolly border. Burpee™ heirloom catalog reproductions and vintage local salmon labels enhance the cabinet doors.
To underscore her whimsical “cartoon” theme, Kate used ordinary water-based house paint, applying it with a light touch that encourages imperfections, including brush strokes, to show as well. “I must have seen the technique somewhere,” says Kate, who followed in the artistic footsteps of her father, Les Thorpe. Aside from a few classes in college, Kate learned most of her technique by observing artists’ work, and then trying to reproduce it on her own.
Kate used a primitive style to apply the paint on this kitchen door (replete with a cat door that bears a portrait of a neighbor’s cat, who frequently made unscheduled visits). A former neighbor’s child drew the painting overhead. “I think it’s wonderful to frame kids’ pictures, even if they’re done on lined notebook paper,” explains Kate, “and they add to the cartoonish character of my kitchen.”
Photos: Philip Clayton-Thompson; stylist: Donna Pizzi
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