Katie Steward is a visual artist based in San Rafael, California.

A Pratt Institute graduate, she has maintained a painting practice alongside her career in design, where she founded her own studio in 2017. Her dual expertise informs her approach to art, blending clarity of form with bold color and expressive materiality.

Her paintings explore the pursuit of happiness in a world that often feels relentlessly heavy. Transforming the architecture and flora of California into idealized environments, she draws on the visual language of California modernist design—midcentury buildings, bold geometries, striking facades, and colorful details—reframed through saturated color, smooth gradients, and tactile surfaces.

Collections

Exhibits + press

Shop Resevoir Exhibit

Cold Spring, NY 2022

Hoodline interview

San Francisco, 2015

Hotel Biron Exhibit

San Francisco, 2014

Honeyhive Gallery

San Francisco, 2013

Thumbprint Gallery

La Jolla, CA 2012

MH Fine Art Framing Exhibit

New York, NY 2009