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.
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