About

I am Kate McPhee and Kate’s Full Circle Farm is the umbrella or tent I have constructed to house my creative endeavors.  It is both an online presence and a showroom in my home in Southern Vermont. I am a professional artist whose practice employs a wide variety of materials, styles, and disciplines. I make every sort of art and craft that I myself have wanted to use and enjoy. Recently, I have begun to share my writing, also, because I find I have so much to say to the world and I have always loved words and language.

I firmly believe in entrepreneurship and in the freedom and fulfillment that comes from doing what one enjoys and feels most suited to do, while at the same time holding the responsibility for meeting a need that others value. I make all that I do with this belief as my foundation. For this enterprise, I use the term “farm” liberally and with poetic license, as an attitude about life and work being fashioned together as a vocation and a way of being in the world. Exploring the full connotation of work and life intersecting holistically is part of my endeavor.

I am a Colorado native who fell in love with Vermont over 25 years ago while attending Bennington College.  After several years in New York City furthering my artistic and worldly education, I returned to Denver for many years, where I raised a child, made my own art and craft business, held several jobs as a teacher, and enjoyed a deep involvement with a creative community. I finally returned to my beloved Vermont and now live in a large old house with a great studio, about an acre of land, and lovely rural environs.  I have big plans to grow and cook food; I already make art, design, knit, and sew clothes and housewares, and try to make sense of our complicated and changing world through writing, organic gardening, sustainability, and activism.

The summers are paradise here and the winters are long. My work and the offerings I make vary through the changing seasons. I make things as they seem necessary and relevant to my needs, those of my clients, and the larger world. I try to bring the same degree of reverence and pursuit of wholeness or beauty (for lack of a better word) to everything I make and do, with varying degrees of success (of course). My artistic practice stems from my belief that art can and does improve life, and working from that belief, I aim to make everything– whether a pot of soup, a coat, a poem, or a painting– with the desire that it be pleasing and affirming of good on some level. This is not to censor difficulty, pain, or constructive criticism but to not allow myself to be caught in those places forever. The concept of “good” needs constant evaluation, also. To me, art is the way to transform whatever is not commensurate with the greatest good as best as one can understand that to be, and all that I do is for that purpose. I live and work with a few fur friends at my side.  Daily walks in the gorgeous countryside feed my creative inspiration. Despite this chosen isolation that rural life affords me, I am vigilant about the world and want more and more to involve myself in it’s healing and necessary change. I hope that my offerings can be useful and visionary.

I look forward to making beautiful objects for you and sharing my sense of life with you. Please see the “Visit” section for current studio and store hours as this changes through the seasons.  If you are looking for thoughtful art, gifts, handmade clothing, paintings, baked goods, and an ever changing variety of objects both useful and delightful then come for a visit or see the online shop. Additionally I am available for wedding design, calligraphy, custom interior textiles, color consultation, murals and sign painting, wardrobe design, gardening, cooking and event planning, and writing.  I welcome and encourage individual clients as well as wholesale inquiries and offer “wholesale bespoke” service, designing something sold only through your venue. Call for an appointment.

My ongoing series of Illuminations, or Affirmation Paintings as I have called them, too, continues to provide endless inspiration to me. Please visit the “Projects” page to learn more about this series and its latest designs and available products. I offer guidance in using this way of thinking to solve problems and change thought patterns.

I studied at Barnard College and Columbia University in New York City; I hold a B.F.A. in painting from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and an M.F.A. in painting and sculpture from Bennington College in Vermont. I held a studio for many years at Brooks Center for Spirituality in Denver, where I learned a great deal and became a frequent speaker about creativity in relation to spirituality. I have shown my work for many years in Denver where it has been collected by Children’s Hospital Colorado, Kaiser Permanente, The Boone Family Foundation, and numerous individuals. At least fifty retail outlets nationwide have bought my wholesale products.

I sell samples (especially one-of-a-kind or clothing) that are available to ship within 3 days, but most products will be made to order, so please allow 3-4 weeks for delivery.  Generally, this can be quicker if you request it to be.

All text and images are copyright by Kate McPhee 2020. Reproduction of images is expressly forbidden. Please respect artist’s work and give full credit when sharing online.

more coming soon

---

---