Walk into an Erika Stearly painting and you might feel as though you’ve wandered into somebody’s home without knocking. The rooms look familiar, with their windows, rugs, chairs and beds, but something isn’t quite right. Colors wander, patterns multiply, and perspective takes a few liberties. Working with watercolor and acrylic, Stearly turns ordinary interiors into lively, slightly off-kilter worlds.

Her paintings give you just enough to find your way around. A window or sofa feels familiar, while the shapes and colors nearby do their own thing. Stearly isn’t interested in copying a room exactly as it appears in a photograph. She prefers to see where the painting takes her, changing things along the way.

The Beauty of an Ordinary Room

Stearly finds inspiration in all sorts of places, from vintage home improvement catalogs to online rental listings. She’s also painted people’s actual homes, sometimes after asking on Facebook if she could visit and take photographs. More recently, patios, sunrooms and large bay windows have offered ways to bring the landscape into her interiors.

These spaces have a curious familiarity. A room might remind you of your childhood home, a relative’s living room or a place your family visited on summer holidays. The house doesn’t have to be yours. Once you recognize a door, a window or a familiar piece of furniture, your own memories fill in the blanks. Stearly paints the room; you bring the story.

Letting the Painting Lead

Stearly’s paintings are improvised. She doesn’t begin with a finished image in mind, often responding to marks and shapes already on the panel. A carpet pattern might inspire a new arrangement of lines, or an early sketch might remain visible as the composition changes. Sometimes she abandons her photographic reference halfway through and concentrates on the painting itself.

Knowing when to stop is another matter. Stearly sometimes puts a painting away for weeks or months, returning when she can see it with fresh eyes. The final touch often becomes obvious after a break. It’s a simple solution to a familiar artistic problem: after staring at something for too long, you can lose sight of what it needs.

Making Art, Making a Living

Stearly holds an MFA in painting and once imagined a future in academia. Instead, she built a business around her own work, learning to handle contracts, budgets, shipping, website updates and marketing along the way. As she puts it, she makes a living selling paintings to strangers on the internet. It’s an unusually straightforward description of what it takes to make art your livelihood.

She’s equally candid about creative doubts. For a few years, she applied for residencies, grants, exhibitions and academic positions, aiming for the popular goal of 100 rejections a year. Eventually, she found people willing to say yes and began creating opportunities of her own. She still experiences impatience and uncertainty, but no longer questions whether she belongs.

Stearly also creates custom paintings based on photographs clients send her, turning personal spaces into something unmistakably her own. Her work has reached collectors around the world and is represented by galleries, including PxP Contemporary and Boxheart Gallery.

Perhaps the best thing about these paintings is how they make ordinary spaces worth another look. A room doesn’t need to be grand or perfectly arranged to become interesting. Sometimes all it takes is a curious mix of shapes, color and imagination. Visit Erika Stearly’s website to explore her work and learn more about commissioning a painting. You might recognize a room you’ve never actually visited.