On the average day, you may find Greensboro artist Katie Podracky in her upstairs studio, blasting 90s hip hop music and putting the final flourishes on her latest painting while her kids are at school. She’s living her dream. Thinking back on her childhood in Asheboro, Katie remembers being artistic for as long as she can remember. “Art has always been a quirky way for me to handle whatever life threw at me,” she says, “and I’m surprised by how much it has continued to serve me.”
Katie appreciates watercolor, but especially loves the color and texture she can achieve with oil paint. “I don’t think you can get that with any other medium,” she says. Katie displays this vibrancy in her incredible works of art, many of which are inspired by North Carolina’s beautiful and unique landscapes, from the coast to the mountains.
During the pandemic, her family visited every state park in North Carolina, an adventure that inspired several stunning works. “The landscapes here are landscapes of my favorite memories,” she reflects. Even after a brief time away, she longed for the verdant richness of her home state. Now, those favorite trails and mountain vistas live on in her canvases. Each of her collections carries a sense of place, sparked by a memory or experience.
Katie’s process often begins with photographs captured mid-adventure, later sketched out in acrylic with bright colors, and then toned down with richly layered oils. It’s a deeply personal method. In her Nostalgia Collection, she used homemade oil paints created from the red clay of her family’s land in Graham. “There’s something magical about taking literal dirt from the earth and turning it into something beautiful,” she says. “It imparts a connection to my family, the land, and my sense of place.”
Many admirers describe Katie’s paintings as full of “uninhibited joy.” For her, joy means vivid colors and the preservation of fleeting memories. “Joy for me is reliving memories I want to savor—making the impermanent permanent, and hanging it on walls where you can see it every day. Color makes me happy.”
That joy is palpable in works like Devotion, a 60”x30” oil painting inspired by family trips along the Blue Ridge Parkway and the moment when you come around the curve and are treated to breathtaking views of mountains. Katie dedicates the piece to her late Aunt Joyce whose hospitality and devotion to friends and family continue to inspire her. The vibrant red peeking out from the trees is a subtle way to honor her aunt’s spirited sass.
Katie’s work has been collected across the country and is housed in corporations, hotels, and universities, including Washington & Lee, the University of Wyoming, and Elon University. “It’s incredibly validating when a place chooses to include a piece I’ve made—and incredibly humbling.”
Katie continues to share her talents by teaching painting courses—primarily online, but sometimes in person, as well. Teaching has yielded unexpected rewards. “I discovered painting is almost like therapy—it puts you in a flow state, helps relax your anxieties, and offers healing,” she says. “It’s very rewarding to show someone how to create something beautiful in just a few lessons.”
While Katie is always planning ahead to her next collection, she’s also just excited to expand her reach and share her gifts more widely. “I would love to be more involved with Furniture Market,” she muses. And she continues to give back to her home state: A portion of proceeds from her pieces Devotional and Solace, as well as from prints of her For Western North Carolina series, will go toward continued Hurricane Helene relief efforts.
For now, though, her greatest joy is found in the balance of her creative and personal worlds. “I get to be an artist and have my sweet family,” she says with a smile. “That’s all I ever wanted.”
Explore Katie’s work at www.katiewallart.com/.
"Painting is almost like therapy—it puts you in a flow state, helps relax your anxieties, and offers healing."