Featured Local Art + Artists
Lydia Marek has several pieces featured at our property on Strawberry Street including “Interruption” a 24” x 30” featured in the master bedroom; “Oh the Days” a 16” x 20” in the living room; “Sleepy Village” a 48” x 36” also in the living room and “Floating” in the dining room. We love how her colors pop on our walls and the texture of her paintings.
About Lydia Marek
I was born in New York and have lived in Virginia for over 40 years. I retired from Virginia Tech as a Research Scientist five years ago and moved to Richmond. Having always been attracted to color, texture, and movement, when I began to paint, I found ways to incorporate these into my pieces. I work primarily with acrylics as they allow me to develop vibrantly colored paintings that showcase different strokes, techniques of paint used, various textured mediums, resulting in a dynamic piece that speaks to me. I love working with people to design commission pieces so that we can co-create something totally new!
I have had the opportunity to show my work in several successful solo and group shows in Richmond and New York over the past several years including but not limited to Crossroads Art Center, ArtWorks, Gallery 23, Innovista Law, Brooklyn Waterfront Association, Bimmer Rescue, and Black Iris Social Club as well as being a West Elm LOCAL maker at West Elm Richmond and West Elm Virginia Beach.
“I typically approach my painting with an idea of a color palette and sometimes include textured mediums and then the paintings develop in an organic way. I pull colors, layer and layer, and sometimes pour paint and spray while watching the paints puddle and move. Layering paint and using different mediums and strokes ends up with a lot of texture and movement. I hope others get a sense of color, play, and dynamism when they look at my work.”
Interested to see more of Lydia’s work? Visit www.lydiamarek.com to see more!
Sara O’Connor has two pieces featured at our property on Strawberry Street including two “Bitty Bites” that are jazzing up the workspace in the master bedroom.
About Sara O’Connor
Sara O’Connor is a nontraditional artist. Born in 1986 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sara quickly grew accustomed to embracing new experiences when she was young following her parents’ divorce, which required her to travel often. Her adventures taught her independence, the critical importance and pleasure of reading, and how to pursue a well-lived life.
She is further inspired by her grandparents’ tenacity, perseverance, and drive, values which she infuses in her work. As a young Jewish woman, her works are heavily influenced by her maternal grandmother’s and Pap-pap’s survival of concentration camps during World War II, Stutthof, and Auschwitz, respectively. She is further inspired by her paternal grandmother, who performed as a stage and radio singer before writing, producing, and serving as the on-air personality with the radio and television program “Jamboree” and grandfather, who served in the government for over 45 years in the State Department and HUD. Their lives demonstrate the sheer beauty of unwavering perseverance, which O’Connor encapsulates in her work and methodology.
Invested in critical reasoning and intellectual discovery, O’Connor practiced law for several years at an international law firm before professionally unleashing her obsessive artistry. Her former life as an attorney reaffirmed her passion for nuanced detail and a drive to create work that makes a distinct and lasting impact.
O’Connor’s work boldly modernizes classical pointillism through her innovative use of want-to-touch and want-to-taste texture. Nearly every piece she creates embodies a moment of self-reflection, an abstract portrait of her emotional state when creating, which is why she and collectors lovingly refer to these pieces in the feminine “She.”
Bold, yet inviting. Relatable, yet mysterious. O’Connor intentionally creates work to foster creative thought that simultaneously soothes the mind.
Her travels abroad to Thailand, Israel, Italy, Canada, and Mexico heavily influence her use and expression of color. O’Connor currently lives in Richmond, Virginia, where her studio is located, and travels to exhibit her work across the nation and, soon, the world. When O’Connor is not creating art, her creative pursuits include co-hosting and producing Bohemian Geek Studies, a podcast devoted to providing detailed dorky dives into children’s literature.
Corporate art collectors include PNC Bank (two works for their Pittsburgh, PA headquarters), Credit Union National Association, and Lawrenceville Vision Care. O’Connor’s work is also featured in private art collections across the United States and abroad.
Interested in learning more about Sara’s work and her artistic process? Learn more at saraoconnorfineart.com
Catie Reagan has two pieces featured at our property on Strawberry Street including a botanical watercolor located in the dining room and an acrylic/oil piece hanging in the upstairs foyer.
About Catie Reagan
Catie is a local Richmond artist who specializes in photography, watercolor painting, and ink drawing. She is a graduate of Parsons School of Design where she studied strategic design and focused on gender and dress. Much of her visual art pieces revolve around themes of femme, body acceptance, and botanicals.
Interested in learning more about Catie’s work and her photography?
(She’s the photographer behind our space’s photos!) learn more at @juniperandolivia.
Maddie Koerber has a colorful floral piece featured in the Master Bedroom of our Strawberry Street property.
About Maddie Koerber
Maddie is a Richmond based artist originally from Baltimore, Maryland. With a dash of whimsy and a penchant for color, she paints animals, florals, landscapes, and just about anything else that brings inspiration. Her work is influenced by all of the color she grew up surrounded by in her parents’ paint business. She’s been involved in a range of projects and has a particular love for completing commission pieces, making her clients’ creative dreams acrylic realities.
Find her on Instagram @m.m.kay