A New Path Forward
Artist Lily Kemp has turned her passion into a bona fide career opportunity
Kemp’s work is “based on the little beauties of this life,” according to her Instagram bio. Photography by Dave Barfield
Lily Kemp arrived at the Chicken Salad Chick on Market Street one Sunday afternoon eager to buy lunch, but the establishment was closed. Hungry, she set out to find an alternative eatery. But then she had another thought: “I could go find a job,” she reasoned.
Still dressed in church clothes, she walked next door to Hearth & Soul and inquired about a position. As fate would have it, the boutique needed a customer service representative, and Kemp fit the bill. She secured the job and then, months later, secured something even greater—she became one of Hearth & Soul’s artist partners.
From July through September 2024, her paintings were displayed at the store. During that time, she sold several pieces, solidifying her status as a bona fide professional artist, something she never thought possible.
“It’s crazy,” she says of the whole experience.
Kemp is no stranger to the closed-door, open-window philosophy. You know the one: if God closes a door, he opens a window. An interior design student at Florida State University, she’s always had a penchant for art. But, she was also a dedicated lacrosse player and initially enrolled at FSU as an exercise physiology major. She was determined to pursue athletics and keep art as a hobby; however, several concussions—six in two years, to be exact—forced Kemp to alter her plans.
Frequent headaches interfered with her ability to concentrate and do schoolwork. As a result, she had to drop several classes during her freshman year at FSU. Deciding she “didn’t want to be in school forever,” she made the difficult decision to “put her brain first,” and she quit her club lacrosse team and began actively pursuing her art.
“I thought doing anything creative—painting or interior design—could never make any money,” Kemp says. But when it became apparent sports was no longer the path for her, she thought: “Might as well do something creative.”
Despite concerns about the practicality of an art education, she quickly realized that she was on the right track.
“I was never in love with school,” Kemp admitted. However, she’s enjoyed her two- to three-hour-long art classes. “You can be creative, and it makes more sense to me than, ‘Memorize this stuff, and take a test on it.’”
Part of what makes Kemp’s work stand out is her use of color. She tends to use a more muted palette than what’s typically associated with tropical art. Photography by Dave Barfield
Kemp’s work is “based on the little beauties of this life,” according to her Instagram bio. She’s painted portraits for friends and family and even landed a custom project for a gourmet ramen restaurant in Ohio. But she’s particularly drawn to creating beachy, summer-inspired scenes, something she started doing in her AP art class in high school.
“We had to pick a concentration, and everyone was picking these meaningful topics, like the struggles of being a woman,” Kemp says. “But I chose summer because I wasn’t in love with school, and summer was when I could go to the beach and hang out with my friends.”
Part of what makes Kemp’s work stand out is her use of color. She tends to use a more muted palette than what’s typically associated with tropical art. This is especially true of the paintings she displayed in Hearth & Soul.
“Everything I put in the store I made thinking, ‘Okay, what’s summery, but also what’s something someone would actually want to put in their house?’” she says. “If I were an interior designer, I don’t think I’d necessarily want neon or super bright colors if [going for] a homey, rustic feel. I’m drawn more toward that, and it’s a similar style to Hearth & Soul.”
When discussing the future, Kemp says she looks forward to taking commissions, finishing school, and seeing where her interior design degree takes her. And, of course, she plans to make the progression of her artistic skills a top priority.
“I would love to get so much better at art,” she says. “I love realism and looking at a painting and wondering, ‘Is it a painting? Is it not a painting?’ Being able to fool the eye is such a crazy talent.”
For Kemp, the future is bright and undoubtedly full of lots of open doors—and windows.
