Blogger Babble: Watercolor Artist Caitlin McGauley

By Lexi Green
April 14, 2010

When we first met watercolor artist Caitlin McGauley, we asked her what she would paint if given a blank canvas of any size. Because McGauley is well-known for the colorful paintings of interiors, fashion and food she creates for private and corporate clients, we figured she would paint us a room full of well-designed delights. Yet although her answer remained true to her tendency towards cheerful themes, she gave us an artistic surprise when she told us that she would paint a jungle of 10-foot-tall flowers. Peonies or orchids. She can’t quite choose. Lately—maybe it's the onset of spring—she has been loving the idea of painting over-sized flowers.

Whether she is covering her canvas with blooming blossoms or well-dressed urban gals or their pets, children or the contents of their closets, McGauley is an artist at heart. As a child, she was a constant doodler; any spare surface, from placemats to the sidewalk to even her sneakers, was covered with her drawings. As a teenager, she even gave painting lessons to the neighborhood kids.

Nowadays, her clients range from luxury fashion houses to media brands to stylish gals who want to commemorate the highlights of their wardrobes. Recently, Hermes asked her to do paint Sumi Ink portraits for six hours straight for their men's store launch party in NYC. "Hermes wanted a specific look: very gestural and black and white—very menswear-oriented. It challenged me to step out of my comfort zone of using bright colors and working on a smaller scale. It was so much fun and I loved every minute of it! I really would love to do more events like it!" She also does work for much-loved online shelter magazine Lonny, whose photos of furniture and accessories are often paired with her water-color renditions of the same.

McGauley can often be found walking the streets of New York City with her little red notebook in hand, sketching down anything that catches her eye—from the striped wallpaper inside a corner café to fashion icons she spots on the way to the gym to a pair of killer heels she purchased. Many of these images end up in her blog, My NYC Sketchbook, which she started back in 2008 because, she says, "I wanted the discipline of giving myself a deadline and also because I was trying to help my style grow organically with the added help of an audience reaction." She says her readers are mostly women and fashion bloggers with a love for her quirky and feminine water colors. "I am in awe that people read my blog and are interested in my little illustrations. I absolutely love to get comments; it makes my day! Then I can check out the amazing blogs of the people who read mine."

We asked McGauley to go eBay shopping with us for items that she’d love to have in her studio. Naturally, we just had to have her translate her finds into watercolor paintings. She happily obliged, but not until she informed us of her ever-growing collection of eBay-purchased beaded handbags—a tradition started by her grandmother, which McGauley happily keeps alive.

Caitlin McGauley Illustrates eBay

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"Henri Matisse, A Retrospective" at the Museum of Modern Art, 1992

"Matisse's art has always been a huge inspiration for me."

(buy it now price, $39.95)

Blogger Babble: Watercolor Artist Caitlin McGauley

Antique Wooden Picture Frame

"I like to hang art in mismatched antique picture frames using crisp black or white mats to make the frames more modern."

(sold for $88)

Yellow and Blue Chinese Ginger Jars with Lids

"These ginger jars would be a great place to store my paint tubes."

(buy it now price, $840)

Lear Print Red & Yelllow Macaw Parrot Bird Wildlife Art

"I am collecting bright bird prints to frame and I would like to eventually hang several on one wall. I like the impact of having a series of similar subjects in a group."

(buy it now price, $15)