Life as a Sailors Daughter…
Meet Kelli – the Artist behind Sage + Grace Designs…
Growing up Sailing the Chesapeake Bay every weekend and traveling to many coastal towns from the Cape to the Keys, I was inspired by so many elements on + off the water and by the many people we would meet!
A lot of my collections reflect the many little (and sometimes unnoticed) things that take us right back to our favorite coastal towns and memories that we continue to make every year.
My entire life I was always told that when I told a story, you would leave knowing what color the sky was, what everyone was wearing and even the tastes and smells, as if you had been there too.
Our collections mimic that as well, from the detailed borders, prints, patterns and landscapes created from every single little detail!
QUICK BACKSTORY:
I grew up always drawing and painting and wanting to be an artist like my father. My mom was crafty and always sewing, but she was a talented artist as well (whether she realized it or not). Our weekends were always spent sailing and spending a lot of time on the water, meeting new people, and traveling to new places. Our home was different every weekend, but one thing remained the same… it was on the water and we were surrounded by amazing people all the time.
When I was in High School, my best friend’s father was an Art Director for Fallon McElligott and he let us sit in on the editing of an RCA Commercial in their studio in Manhattan. I was hooked! Fast forward to college, I interned at some of the Best Ad Agencies in Philadelphia. After graduation, I moved back to Baltimore and continued in the world of Advertising.
From childhood through college I was always drawing + painting, but in a different way. I took the approach in a way that was more marketable and I would design my own bumper stickers and book covers. I tried to be a fashion designer and design my own prints, but didn’t know how to sew – so that fizzled quickly.
It never stopped me from drawing and dreaming, and luckily those skills came in handy working with all of our clients. Instead of using clipart I was able to use my own photography and Illustrations often. I didn’t focus on just the art, but the big picture of how every component would be branded cohesively.
In licensing, I apply those same skills and create art that I love, but I also picture things as an entire collection. It’s funny how everything has come full circle + brought us to this point…