Foursquare Encounters

Photographer Erin Kelly contemplates her home and shares her tender, heartfelt documentation of pandemic daily life and creativity with TABLE readers.

Erin Kelly, her illustrator husband, and two very creative young daughters have battened down in the hatches at home for the past year. The same is mostly true for most of us … but it’s a safe bet that very few have created a lyrical record of what we’ve seen. Erin agreed to share her images, and a few thoughts, as part of our Spring Design 2021 Issue.

Keith Recker: Can you describe what you like about your house?

Erin Kelly: Our home is a 1915 American foursquare with lovely built-in bookshelves, fireplaces, and plenty of nooks and crannies for games of hide-and-go-seek. An addition was built on the property in the 70s that has a contemporary light-filled look and feel. At first it felt disjointed, but the architectural versatility has allowed us to feel like we're living in two different homes. I like mixing modern and vintage furniture, art and décor, so having a space that mixes old and new works for me.

We embarked on a year-long renovation of the entire home when we bought it four years ago. We ripped out drop ceilings, wall-to-wall carpeting and faux wood paneling to discover beautiful original oak flooring, plastered walls and ceilings that needed some tender love and care. We kept as many of the original details of the home as possible, like the encaustic green tile in the dining room fireplace surround that we mimicked with clé tile in the adjoining sitting room.

Our home has been so many things to us this year - a sanctuary, an art studio, a one-room schoolhouse, a skate park (at one point we cleared all the furniture from a room to let the girls ride their scooters inside for a day). We had no idea when we were renovating three years ago that these walls and floors would log as many hours of living as we've logged this past year, and we couldn't be more grateful for the refuge we've created.

KR: Your house is home to two artists and two budding artistes. Who shapes the interior? Does it change often? How do each of you express yourselves in the places where you spend the most time?

EK: We all constantly shape the space. I'm always moving things around, treating our furniture, art, and loved objects like a rotating art installation. Even if I love a certain variation, I never let it sit long enough to collect dust.

My husband is an illustrator and the worlds he creates in his work are so highly detailed, illustrative, and masterfully executed that I think he reserves all his brain-space for his art. He loves the spaces I create and is a master of being present and engaged in our surroundings and family. He's the one that makes us sit down and actually enjoy our rooms.

Our daughters are both incredibly creative, curious, and love to create worlds within our space. They're both young, so the worlds they curate are imaginative and playful. We'll go to the museum and my oldest will notice the way lighting is used in the gemstone collection and come home and ask if we can install under-cabinet lighting on her shelves to illuminate her own rock collection. I can already see they'll be in the artistic driver's seat in a few years and I'm here for it.

KR: COVID has been a time of introspection for many of us. Your lens keeps track of some of your inner thoughts. What did you learn? How did you develop the still lifes you took, which are so beautiful?

EK: The spring of last year was such an upheaval for so many of us. Professionally, many of my photography projects fell by the wayside as we all distanced and locked down. And even though the lack of booked gigs was nerve-wracking, I felt creatively unleashed in a way I hadn't for years. My still life series began as a therapeutic process of taking time each day to work my creative muscles, be still and meditative, and just let loose. I could cut an overlooked branch from my backyard and see where it took me. It felt like I was able to take back some control from my chaotic surroundings and create something beautiful, loose and tactile. No art direction, no client approval, just me, my stuff, and a few twigs.

KR: The work that an artist does just for herself is often the most nourishing. Are you seeing anything from the contemplation of your space come out in other work?

EK: Absolutely. My eye is keener and more attuned to the details in other people's homes in a way it has never been before. I've noticed an expansion of my own tastes in terms of pattern, color, and texture. I've also played with light in a new way, allowing it to be a leading character in the composition where I might have tried to control it before. And lastly, I've learned that some days are just not creating days, and I can't force the process simply by showing up. The simple and intentional act of allowing myself not to make or create something often spurs good things to just occur organically.

To learn more about Erin Kelly: erinashkelly.com.