Foxes, Folk Art, And The Feel Of Home

What if your home could hold your favorite memories in plain sight? We sit down with artist and designer Adam Trest to explore how Southern roots, a tiny museum, and an unexpected detour through architecture shaped a language of pattern, color, and story you can actually live with. From the joyful foxes that became a family mantra to the blue-and-white collection sparked by a week inside Portuguese ceramic studios, Adam shows how meaning sneaks into our work—and why the story often reveals itself only after the paint dries.

We dig into the craft behind whimsy: why rabbits on a restaurant floor or birds that form a hidden nest can reset a mood, and how the Arts and Crafts movement inspires him to put beauty where people least expect it. Adam breaks down his approach to color—using restraint, anchoring a palette, and letting hues “talk” to each other—so tiles stay bold yet livable. He opens the door to his studio too: white walls, a massive plywood desk, familiar soundtracks during composition, audiobooks during the rhythmic refinement of pattern, and a sketchbook packed with notes and messy thumbnails that eliminates creative block before it starts.

Along the way, we trade practical advice for choosing art you love over trend-chasing, and for building rooms that feel collected rather than copied. You’ll hear how parenting recharged Adam’s perspective, why character homes age with grace, and how small spaces—like a jewel-box pantry—can hold huge personality. If you’re curious about storytelling through design, living with handcrafted details, and making color choices that lift your mood daily, this conversation is your guide.

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Transcript

Southern Roots And Early Influences

Lyssia Katan 0:00

You grew up in the South, and how growing up in the South really shaped the emotional tone of your work?

Adam Trest 0:06

I was in this amazing little elementary school that was right across the street from this amazing museum that we have. And the museum had the work of Walter Anderson, and his work really spoke to me as an eight-year-old.

Lyssia Katan 0:20

Do you go into a painting when you're starting to create something new? Do you go in with the story in mind, or do you kind of let the story unravel itself as you create?

Adam Trest 0:30

You don't really ever know. What I love is that whenever I hand over a painting to someone else, the imagery is not mine anymore. This sketchbook, this is my inspiration. My hands are busy all the time. I'm always drawing, always sketching, always thinking, writing notes. My sketchbook is not always drawing. Sometimes it's work.

Lyssia Katan 0:48

Are you drawing right now? This is a really good conversation. Adam and I had a great time chatting. And after you listen, I guarantee you won't decorate for trends, resale, or likes ever again. Let's get into it. Adam, it is a pleasure having you on the podcast. When you agreed to join, I was so excited because I'm not only a fan of you as a person, but I'm a huge fan of your art. And I have admired your work since we first connected on LinkedIn a few years ago. And you truly are such a pleasure to work with. Truly, you're one of my favorite conversations to have every time you jump on the phone. We have just great conversations and you just bring such great energy, and that really translates into your art. And you are actually our first designer to create the designer series, the first artist to create the designer series with Lily Tile. It's still one of my favorite collections to this day. And that is reflected in how much people love it as well. But I'm excited to have you here to just be able to talk about what goes on behind all the art, behind the artwork, and how you see the artwork impacting your space. So welcome to the show.

Adam Trest 2:01

Awesome. Well, thank you for having me. This is I've really been excited about this. Can't wait to have this conversation.

Lyssia Katan 2:07

Yeah, likewise. So let's start with taking a step back. Let's start with you as an artist. When did you first realize that pattern and illustration was really your language?

Finding A Voice Through Architecture

Adam Trest 2:18

Um yeah. So when I was really young, my um I was super fortunate. My I have parents who are unbelievably supportive of my career and the passion that I had for art and design. Um so you know, as soon as I could hold a crayon, I pretty much was drawing and designing and thinking through uh my career in the arts. Um I was fortunate enough that like when I went into college, I didn't jump directly into fine art. I um actually spent three and a half years of of my degree studying architecture and design and how arch like how design affects people and um thinking about architecture as um art that you get to occupy. And I that really did change a lot about how I think about design. I ended up changing back into fine art and finished my degree that way. Um, but I really do give a lot of credit to um to that architectural study that made me think about the way that I use my work now. Um and so for my for my entire life, you know, thinking about how does art affect someone in their home, the way that they react to it, whether it's through a book, like illustrations in a book or a painting that's hanging on the wall, or you know, didn't know that it was something I needed to think about until I got to work with you guys, but like even the tile in your bathroom, like how can that affect you? Um, yeah, I think that's that's sort of been my journey through all of that.

Lyssia Katan 3:52

That's incredible. And I I didn't even know that to this day. So the perfect person that to have on this podcast because that's exactly what we're talking about. How the things in your space really influence you as a person and the things we don't even always you grew up in the South, and how growing up in the South really shaped the emotional tone of your work because there was a lot of emotion in your work and also in the south. How did that shape it?

Walter Anderson And Pattern Language

Adam Trest 4:18

Yeah, so you know, I mean, I have lived all over the all over the southeast. My dad um worked in the oil field, and so for the first part of my life, um, until I was eight, we lived um in Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi. Um, we're kind of all over the place there. So for eight years we lived in three states and multiple cities within those states. Like we were moving constantly, it felt like. Um and then we landed in Mississippi, um, which is where my parents were originally from, here in Laurel, where where I am now. And um when we moved back to Laurel, I um it's funny to like throw a nod back to your your elementary school, but whenever we moved back to Laurel, I was in this amazing little elementary school that was right across the street from this amazing museum that we have. Um and the museum had the work of Walter Anderson in hanging on the walls. And Walter Anderson's a Mississippi artist from um the early 1900s. And his work really spoke to me as an eight-year-old, right? Like that's that's a notable thing. Like the fact that I can remember being eight and going, like, I really like this. Um and it was wild because from that moment on I had art teachers that um saw my passion for pattern and design and immediately linked it back to his work. And he was such an interesting artist because he uh used um seven motifs. And so he had these like, you know, a half circle, a circle, a wavy line, a zigzag line, a straight line, and a spiral, I think were the seven motifs. And and so he used those to create patterns, and those would become borders or textures, or they would become pieces of his work to create a bigger picture and an idea. And I loved that he used these things as symbols, but also started with something very simple and built it into something very complex. Um, and that was being taught to me as an eight-year-old, right? Like, so that is how I was growing as an artist from that. Um, and then middle school, same thing. Um, I was in high school, teachers that also you know pitched that. My college watercolor professor, I also went to college in Mississippi. He was friends of the Anderson family, and so like brought originals into class with us. Like all of these things really influenced me as I started to develop my own style. And then from there, when I found my own voice, I found myself using elements from what I had been influenced by that was not just Walter Anderson, but also you know, European folk art and early American folk art. And my mom had been an English teacher my entire life. So children's book literature and the classics, you know, like um Ivan Earl from early Disney content, like all of these influences just started pouring in. And then it became my job then to find my voice and figure out how do you how do you use all these influences to not replicate what they've done, but to now say something new using all of the things that have influenced you. And so that's that was that was sort of the the progression, right? Of how do you get there? It was like finding your voice and then using your voice, whether it's illustrating a children's book or designing tiles or painting something that's gonna hang on, like all of those things. It didn't matter the application at the end of it, it was using the voice that I've built over, you know, the almost 40 years of my life now, and uh taking that voice and giving it to the thing that it is that I'm designing.

Lyssia Katan 8:07

That's art, isn't it, at the end of the day? Is nothing really is ever original per se. We all pull inspiration from different places and different times, and we create our own things out of it. But you've created such a distinct style and your art really tells a story. Do you uh go into a painting when you're starting to create something new? Do you go in with the story in mind, or do you kind of let the story unravel itself as you create it?

Inspiration, Story, And The Blue Period

Adam Trest 8:37

Um, you know, it's funny because it's you know you don't really ever know. Like um when I start a work, I always obviously have something in my head that's either inspired it or um sparked the inspiration to create it, or um, I have like the original intention of it. Um and then as that develops and as I'm like going through and processing through that, um, sometimes it stays the same. Sometimes the story that I have in my mind or the original inspiration behind a piece, sometimes that's what comes out on the other side, which is cool. That's great. That's the ones that you're like, I knew what this looked like is the moment I picked up a sketchbook to even sketch down the idea. I knew what I wanted this to look like. Um but then sometimes it doesn't. Um it's really funny. I did a whole um I did a whole collection last year. Um actually, the so my blue and white tiles that I just did with Lily. So the origin of that of that collection was my wife and I got to go to Portugal um with another company that I was working with designing some dishes. And I spent this amazing week in Portugal. It's one of those, I tell people it was a bucket list item I didn't know needed to be on my bucket list until I had already done it. And then I was like, well, that was exactly what I needed. But I was working in dinnerware factories and ceramic factories in Portugal designing these dishes with people who have been hand painting for generations, right? Unbelievable experience. But whenever the thing that that inspired me the most about that trip was just seeing all of the ways that just a single color like blue could be used in applications the way that they used it in like around Lisbon and Kashkai, all in those areas, Coinbra, like seeing the tiles as they were being produced and the patterns that were coming out of it and the different variations and shades. And when I got home, I was like, I'm only painting with blue. Like I did it for months, like I just painted with shades of blue. And um I did this whole huge collection that in my mind, when I started that collection, I was just painting pastoral scenes that easily could be found in Portugal. Okay. And so I was like, okay, yeah, that's cool. That's a good concept, good, good start. Everything's very agricultural and flowy landscapes, and but it and it was also all in blue. And I was like, you know, this is very Portuguese. This is you know, it's good. And um I have an assistant that helps me, you know, like with the non-art side of my life so that I don't miss things often. And Sarah came in one morning and um and I was sitting in the studio already, and like I had had this epiphany that like none of the pieces were about Portugal. Like, I when I work, I hang all of my work up on one wall. I use French cleats on the back of my canvases so I can hang them all up. There's a whole wall of French cleats that you could just kind of clip them all on the wall. So I had all these pieces up on the wall. And um I had been sitting back and looking at them, and I was like, not a single one of these pieces is about Portugal because every single one of these pieces is about my dad and my childhood. And it was like I was pouring out this like pastoral scenes of what I thought were my take of Portugal. But what it really was was I was painting my version of a pastoral life, which was growing up, we lived in the middle of the country, and my dad had a garden, and like I was painting that because that is what I knew of pastoral life, right? And so like I had this whole like, what just happened? Like I thought I was painting these massive paintings in a way, and then I turned around and it was like I had lied even to myself. Like, I maybe not lied to myself, but like I had painted this whole thing, not really even fully understanding what I was doing. And so sometimes that happens, and you're like, God, an art is so weird. Like, how did that even happen? Um, but then it was so cool because that you know, I poured so much of myself into that collection, and um I ended up um doing a huge collection of work. It was like 40 original pieces that came out of that collection. Uh, we ended up doing prints of most of those pieces. Um, you guys ended up doing a line of tile for me, which was awesome, and I'm so proud of how that came out because it's you know it was exactly the vision that I had. And and now like we're we're getting ready to do some other collections with some other companies that are like fully celebrating blue and white. And and it's really weird that I did that collection a year ago. Um, but like it really that one was so weird that it affected me enough that like I wrote a book about it. Like I I ended up writing a coffee table book that was all about because once I knew those stories and I knew that the stories had come from my childhood, I then wanted to put the stories with the images. I felt like that was important. And so I wrote this sort of coffee table book that was like about the from the concept to the creation to then the stories behind the pieces. Uh, and so it was it was neat how that's that one, that one weird time day afternoon in my studio, you know, turned into all of these things that I'm so proud of now.

Lyssia Katan 13:56

It's like one big epiphany coming out when you didn't even realize what it's like. That's that's the power of psychology. You don't even realize in in your childhood that just comes out in your work today. Are there things besides for you know, things that you're actively aware of from your childhood that come out in your art today? I know the story about the fox. I listened to an interview you did about the foxes. I would love for our listeners to hear it as well. But yeah, maybe if there are any other elements like that.

Portugal Epiphany And Pastoral Memory

Adam Trest 14:25

Well, you know, and I and that's one of the things I'm excited that you brought that up because I've been thinking about that from what you were talking about, the heart of the podcast being. And and it is, it's so interesting because like um I'll get to the fox story because it kind of all ties into that. But like, you know, I grew up in a very middle class family. And so like when we think about like these beautifully designed spaces and the spaces that we love to create, um, like it's that's not the space that I grew up in, right? Like I grew up in a home that we rented that we didn't do a lot of you know, like renovations to, we didn't own it, it wasn't ours to do that with. And uh there was lots of um like wood paneling and you know, things that you would have changed if you could, but you know, we did the best that we could with what we what we had. And so the thing that I look back from childhood that I that I love the influence is um my parents loved handcrafted things, and it didn't necessarily mean like expensive things, but it meant things that people had poured a lot of love into. And so like the childhood that I grew up in was surrounded by um homemade quilts and um my dad loved to build things when he was not working, and so like you know, furniture that my dad built, and um, you know, in the places we could add things like unexpected colors on walls, and you know, like all of these like curated things where we we collected things that were special and sentimental to us, and then how all of those things, you know, they weren't perfectly designed to fit with one another, right? Like you could have a hundred-year-old antique next to a piece of furniture that might still had sawdust on it from my dad building in a shop next to a quilt that our neighbor just dropped off. Like it was this beautiful collection of stuff that wasn't well designed or perfectly put together, but because of the sentiment that was with it, that was what worked in our, and that's how I grew up, right? And so now then, whenever I do work and I think about things, when I'm designing a collection, like I don't want the collection to be this like perfectly polished little box of things that perfectly match. Like I want there to be that handcrafted feel to it that uh makes you um you know want to feel curated and collected as opposed to um this you know, like this polished, like everything is matchy matchy. Like I think that's so important. Like, and I think you know, it resonates with people um whenever you work that way. Because like when I was growing up, like this is, and we'll pull the Fox story into this, is like you know with that comes um like whenever I was growing up, we lived in the middle of the country, out in the middle of nowhere. My dad had like a four-acre garden, like I mean, there was just this, you know, very idyllic um Winnie the Pooh 100-acre woods kind of childhood, is what I had. Like, I it's not lost on me that I'm that was pretty special. And um, but like things like we had foxes that lived behind our house. And if you ever saw the fox, it was like this this like magical creature had crossed your path. And so we would be like, Man, we saw the fox today. It's gonna be a great day today. And that became like this sort of um mantra that we had was like if you saw this magical orange flash cross the driveway, it was just gonna be a really good day. Well, you know, life happens. We went, you know, we don't live in that little house anymore. And um, now I'm you know through with college and married, and we live in the heart of town, like there's no foxes in our yard. And so we but we live with that idea that um if you see a fox, it's gonna be a great day. So, Lily, my wife and I, we collect foxes in artwork, and so we have um some wallpaper I designed in our foyer, and it has foxes in it, and uh there's this giant wood block print of a fox by one of my favorite artists, Kent Ambler. Um, and it's over our sofa. And like, you know, we stick these moments of foxes around because we want our kids to know like part of having a great day is a choice, right? And so it becomes not like um I want foxes because they're like perfectly designed. It becomes I love foxes because of the story that I carry with me from my childhood, that now I get to help like give that to my kids and and the people that come into our home, they see that and understand that. And and so it is, it's neat that like um you know, your childhood and your your your past experiences can affect even something like your your design style, which is crazy.

Lyssia Katan 19:08

Yeah, and it sounds like you're very intentional about putting those foxes there because you recognize that you seeing a fox is something in the back of your mind, is you're going, I'm gonna have a great day. So why all over my house?

Adam Trest 19:23

And it's like everything that I paint is like that. Like if there's a dog chasing a fox, then it's the idea of like, well, chase after a good day, pursue that thing, you know. Like, um, like I don't know, there's it's it's everything that I paint has a very surface level of like, oh, that's sweet, you know. But then there's also like there's more intention behind it that is fun to get to explain too whenever whenever process happens.

Whimsy In Tiles And Shared Meaning

Lyssia Katan 19:46

I love that. I love that. And when you I mean, I want to get into color, but before we get into that, because you do have such a way with colors, when you're creating these paintings, do you imagine how people will feel when they put it in their space on any? emotional level? Are you thinking, wow, I really hope when someone looks at this, even if they don't know my story about the fox, or even if they don't have a particular connection with a hound or a armadillo, do you do is there an emotion that you're trying to draw out of them? Or it's just connected.

Adam Trest 20:16

Yeah, absolutely. And and I'll tell you like so we talked about like um the paintings that happen whenever they like are perfect and they they come straight out of the sketchbook looking just like you want them to. And then the paintings that you have that are like I go into it with an intention and then it shifts somewhere in the painting and it becomes this whole new thing. The third one of those is what happens when I give it to the person who has chosen the painting. That's a whole other thing because what I love is that like you go into something with full intentions. Like I can tell you my story about my fox all day long. But if you've had a bad experience with a fox you're not going to like that painting. Like it doesn't matter. And so what I love is that whenever I hand over a painting to someone else, the imagery is not mine anymore. It doesn't matter what intention I had for as long as I created the work the intention then gets to become um what does it mean to them? Right? Those pastoral pieces that I did that all meant ended up being memories with my dad as soon as they left my studio that didn't matter anymore. That was not the intention of the people that purchased it. They remembered gardening with their grandfather or going fishing with their dad or whatever, fill in the blank, right? Because that's the beauty of um the style that I work in is that everything is very there's a simplification to it that gives you the opportunity for it to become yours very easily right um when people paint when people pick out a painting of one of my dogs right there's like we just watched the dog show on Thanksgiving day right like it's a part of our family tradition there's a million different dogs right I could spend the rest of my life painting dog breeds and people would probably love it. They'd eat it up but I don't do that right I only paint this one dog because for me if I can capture the the emotion of a dog right or the movement of a dog it doesn't matter what breed it is like my dog's a sheepadoodle poodle mix. Like it's a she's like a big white fluffy hairball that loves to eat AirPods but like she's still I when I paint my dogs I still see her in the dogs right like it could be a black dog that I paint and I'll still see cotton the white crazy fluffy dog because there's something about the simplicity of it that makes it allow it to be whatever you want it to be. And I think that's the um that's one of my favorite things about my work is that I get to have whatever kind of story or anything that I want but then when I pass it off the simplicity and of the design gets to become the language of the person who's viewing it. And that gets to be either the owner or just the person using it. Like I think when we talked about one of my tiles getting used at like a um a resort or something in Jamaica I can never stop thinking about that like how many people are going to like walk into a beautiful bathroom in you know this beautiful island and see my bird tiles like that is a weird thing to think about that like how many people will interact with that um but also how cool that is like that how many people will see that and some people won't even notice it and some people will love it and then some people it will really attach to it and and I yeah I think that's that's really cool.

Lyssia Katan 23:56

I mean there's an element of whimsy behind it right because your collection has rabbits and peacocks and sparrows and like you said I I know one of your uh one of your tiles your rabbits is going into a very high end restaurant in New York and can you imagine someone walking in to the bathroom and or wherever you want to see rabbits all over the floor. It's so unexpected but it it it instantly puts them in a good mood because it's it who puts it's not even a painting that you can change just by removing it off your wall.

Arts And Crafts Ideals In Modern Spaces

Adam Trest 24:29

It is installed into the ground it's part of the architecture of the space yeah and that that's that's so crazy but it also like I love like one of my favorite time periods in the history of art and design is the arts and crafts period because I love that like every single thing that they designed during that period was beautiful. The hinges on the door they weren't just two silver pieces of metal with a hinge in it that you stuck and hid in the door they didn't care that you never saw it until you opened the door but when you did it was important and it was beautiful and I think God whatever we did from then to now that changed that is a travesty. And so like I think maybe that might be part of like my personal mission is like let's put beautiful beauty in everything like surprise and whimsy should be everywhere because like why do we love you know Tiffany lamps because every part of it down to the cord is beautiful like yes the glass is beautiful but even the actual lamp is beautiful and everything that they did like there's not a back like so many items from that time period you don't know which way to look at it from because there's not a front and so often now we look at something and we go like oh well you're only going to see it from this angle so let's make it pretty from this angle and I think like man like your floor should be beautiful your wall behind your you know your backsplas in your kitchen it should be beautiful like and if you want to go as crazy and whimsical and fun as like my hound tiles let's do it. Like that's awesome. But it should like there should be intentionality behind all of your design choices.

Lyssia Katan 26:21

And I um that's like my personal mission I feel like it's a good mission because and also the speaking of which is one of the most popular and something to be said about how people connect with it. And I I'm a huge fan of the fact that you add so much whimsy into the most unexpected places. Right? You don't even are the bird's tile also one of the ones you design when you put the tile together you actually see a bird's nest coming together. And it's so unexpected you'd miss it if you're not paying attention and I I'm also a huge fan of that I have a uh I love to go thrifting and I have a coffee table in my house that's actually books piled up and you don't know that when you open one of the bines it actually opens into a drawer and it's it just makes me so happy every time I walk into it. I can only imagine creating a space with rabbits and bunnies and and and pink mocks that you just yes you can pick a boring tile for your floor or you can pick something with rabbits on it that makes you happy every time you walk in the bathroom and it makes a huge difference. So going kind of into that I know your rabbit's tile is pink and your hound's tile is green I want to bring back the conversation about color because I think it's something you use very often in your art and of course it comes to tiles as well. Do you deliberately choose the colors to convey a certain emotion or to convey to create some kind of scene around it because your tiles one of the things that really draws people to them is their color and your paintings as well but we know when we have all the tiles on the wall immediately people go to the hounds, the rabbits, the bird so how do you get that color?

Hidden Joys, Color Choices, And Restraint

Adam Trest 28:05

Yeah so I I love color. I mean like I actually I started a project and it's sitting next to me so I can show you like I I use the same brand of paint the same palette of colors I've used it for five years now like as long as it's been available. And the thing that I love is that I'm still finding color combinations that surprise me. And I think that's what's so cool about color is that colors individually are you know great right but when colors start talking to each other that's when you really get to understand the full like essence of the color and so like I love that whenever I do an entire series in blue that was one of the times that pushed me the most right because I couldn't I didn't let myself use any other color than shades of blue with a couple of neutrals that I let myself mix in there with it to bring lighter and darker tones in. That was a huge challenge for me. And so I my thing with color is that I'm always challenging myself to come up with new combinations. And so a lot of times it will mean it's it sounds weird but like it's almost a restraint situation. So I love designing tiles for you guys because I know that the best tiles are only going to have four colors right the more complicated the color the harder that tile is going to be to make and I don't want to make your life hard. I want it to be really beautiful and I want it to be simple enough because also the more colors that you have in a tile the more colors you have to coordinate in a room. And so the challenge for the designer then is how do I make this tile really spectacular with four colors or less and that's like I love a challenge. And so then it's figuring out you know like is it you know a bright with a neutral or is it a you know like what is it what is it that you're trying to convey with that and like for you know sometimes it's that you know a dog you want the dog to be brown so you start with that or it's I really love that um you know the willow tile I love the mustard maybe that's what we start with right there's there's parts that you want to anchor to and then build around to really focus and bring out and let that color shine and be the best part that it can be. I don't know if you've seen the Pantone color of the year came out. It's called Cloud Dancer and I it's white. And at first I was like you know like I don't let the Pantone color of the year fully decide what I do with my life. But to say that it doesn't influence me would be a lie, right? Like if I see that the pandemic is going to be like a purple I'm disappointed because I don't love purple. It's not my favorite thing to paint with but you're gonna see some purple in my work because I know that that is going to influence the trends for the entire year. When I first saw the pandemic this year was white I was like and cloud dance or whatever they want to call it I was like at first I was really bummed out because the first thing that tells me is that we're in for a really bland year because it's like every appliance every wall color everything is going to be white and it's like I thought we were done with that. But then I started thinking about it and I was like well you know what like colors show off the very best when they pop off of a white background. And so if I take this as an opportunity of now it's not a bummer to me that white's the color of the year because of Pantone. I'm looking at as white is the base of the year because we could put like this is a year to like explore and be excited about color and showing your personality through the things that you love because we're not being guided by some you know turquoise of the year. We get to have this very boring color that we get to show off the what we actually love. And so I'm trying to like change my perspective about it now. But I think that's a really cool opportunity that like you know this is a great time to paint your trim white cloud and let's put some really beautiful colorful tiles up.

Lyssia Katan 32:42

Just let white is a clean blank canvas.

Adam Trest 32:45

You're able to and then I I really started thinking about like every wall in my house is white.

Studio Setup, Focus, And Flow

Lyssia Katan 32:52

Yeah and it's because we have so much art you just can't see much of the white right that's right yeah wow I have some questions on your environment when you're creating when you sit down to create a painting with a tile with a wallpaper what does your ideal environment look like right because you said you've got white walls are you painting in a room with white walls or do you have your previous paintings up you also mentioned music do you have music in the background what what's what does your ideal environment look like so I'm actually sitting in it right now um and it's it's fun because it's for me the space to create comes from um I don't want distractions right like I want to make sure that um the work in front of me is the focus.

Sketchbooks, Consistency, And Avoiding Block

Adam Trest 33:46

And so I do I have white walls um a gray linoleum floor because it's easy to clean um and then I have this massive desk that I'm sitting at right now that is um it's unfinished plywood it stores canvases below and it's just a four foot by eight foot flat surface that I can spread out and paint works on paper or work on the computer or sit down and sketch whatever it is that needs to happen. And I think that that sort of like bland neutrally space gives me an opportunity to really like if I dive into an all blue collection then blue is going to be everywhere before it's over with. It's gonna end up on the walls and the floors and the desk and I'm it's gonna become a part of that. But I think having that blank space to work from is important because it gives me an opportunity like I said to focus on the thing that's in front of me. Yeah. What about besides for so the blank canvas what are the invisible factors that you have going on in your space while you so like I mean like obviously music and things like that are are very important in how I work I mean I have I have three kids and so I have a 12 year old an eight year old and a three year old and they're all girls and they uh I grew up with only a brother and so this is a whole new world for me. And so I go home to four women including my wife and um I'll be completely honest with you sometimes I come into the studio and I grab noise canceling headphones and I don't even put anything on them. Like I just turn the noise canceling on and it's just like just the quiet is just very nice. And then sometimes when I'm composing a piece when I'm deciding what where things go, what things are going to be on the canvas um that's either in the silence if I need a minute or it's music. It's something that doesn't have a lot to distract me. Something that's just going to help me kind of stay in like a flow state where I can figure out where I'm putting things and what they're gonna be. Figuring out color palettes happens with that a lot because it's just trying to not be influenced by the outside things right if I'm if it's white walls then it's kind of just like bland music as well like it's not you know it's things that I like but it's maybe it's better to say like it's things that are familiar to me. I'm not gonna like start listening to a new artist whenever I start a new painting because I need to focus on that right like I want to like do I even like these people like do I like their sound at all? I may not so like I'm gonna listen to you know my Spotify number one album you know like there it's gonna be the one that I've constantly listened to that I can nothing surprising from that. And then once because so much of what I do is pattern based once it's composed on the canvas then I come back and refine everything. And when I'm in that refining I don't really have to think about it anymore. And so that's whenever I can sort of shift my brain and that's when I listen to podcasts or um I listen to audiobooks all the time. Or maybe it's a new album that I haven't listened to yet where I can give it the time and attention it deserves to listen to. But it's it's it it is funny to me I've noticed that a lot over the years that that's the split right like that's where I have to make the decision of I have to be something of either very familiar like I'm the same age as Harry Potter just to age myself. And so like I started reading Harry Potter when he was the age he was in the first book. And so like I can listen to the first Harry Potter book and it not affect me because I've known like I know it right I grew up with it. I read it every year. It's comfortable and familiar to me so I can do that while I compose but like if I'm gonna start a brand new book that I need to listen to or um sometimes I listen to TV shows even if it's something that I don't know well that has to happen when I'm in doing that monotonous thing that I don't even have to think about anymore.

Lyssia Katan 37:54

Interesting. So it's almost like this sense of comfort and familiarity is it helps you create because you don't have to think you don't have to use your mental energy to focus on that. You know what to expect and so you can use it to channel into your art.

Adam Trest 38:10

Yeah that's cool get to know the behind the scenes the things you don't know about in the back of the that behind uh behind the scenes or when we're talking to you when someone looks at your painting do they ever ask like I wonder what he was listening to when he painted that and sometimes it's funny because like sometimes um like music will have a strong association to a painting like I can look at a painting and sometimes remember what I was listening to or the book that I was reading when I worked on it or um yeah it is it is weird how that association can happen sometimes. But it's also funny because like in the same like we you talked about how we talk on the phone um for tile things um that's also whenever like if I'm having a conversation with you and I am being coherent basically I'm probably also drawing in my sketchbook because in order for me to stay focused on something I have to like occupy my hands like I have to be drawing or like doing something else with them to like they're doing something completely different than what my brain's doing and it's like I have to split that.

Lyssia Katan 39:12

Are you drawing right now? I uh yes I absolutely do have a sketchbook in front of me so speaking of of you know just doodling or drawing this is something I'm very curious about do artists get a form of writer's block does that happen yeah and that's um it's my favorite question um I read a book one time that was basically it was about the creation of art and this the author was actually talking about literature like writing um but it works for just about anything.

Parenting, Perspective, And Everyday Inspiration

Adam Trest 39:54

And I I've always loved the quote that he's like when people asked if he could only write when he was inspired, he said Yes, and I get expired I get inspired between eight to five Monday through Friday. And I you know, that's you know, it's a funny quote, whatever. But also when you become a practicing artist or designer, like I can't afford a writer's block, right? Like I can't come into my studio and I mean, yes, I can afford to have some downtime for sure. Like I think that's probably important, but that's important in any field. But for me, like with being an artist, like this, like this sketchbook, um, this is my inspiration. Okay, so my hands are busy all the time. I'm always drawing, always sketching, always thinking, um, writing notes. My sketchbook is not always tech or not always um drawing, sometimes it's words, and it's this sketchbook is full of all of those things. Um, but the thing that's really cool about that is I never have to search for ideas because of that. Like if I'm working and sketching and drawing and writing in the sketchbook all the time, then that means that like when I sit down to a collection, and that's like not to say that I don't sit go over get to my studio and go like, I have no idea what I'm gonna do today, but when I have those moments, not if, because it does happen. When I have those moments, that's when I pick up this and I just start flipping through it because I'm gonna have, you know, there's a thousand ideas in here, and there's 999 really bad ones, but there's gonna be a good one, right? And so it's finding that one that I get can get excited about in that moment to then create either a body of work or a line of tiles or a new wallpaper, or like right now, I'm designing a whole line of home goods. So, like it's finding out like what is a thing that I can be excited about that will last me the duration of this project. And that because of that, it's it's making sure that I always have some kind of ideas and making sure that the most important thing is making sure that I've written them down because I can have an idea 10 minutes ago and the chaos of my life, I'm not gonna remember it. But if I'm already writing it down, even if I'm not even really paying attention to what I'm doing, I can still go back to it. And then what's really cool is just like we were talking about before, with the intention behind it when it was created, I could go back to uh like I am a hoarder and keep all of my sketchbooks, but I could go back to a sketchbook that I have on that shelf over there that is four years old. And I could look at it today and have a different thought about it than I had four years ago. But it doesn't mean this isn't still going to inspire me to do something with it. So it's it's important to get it on the paper because that means that um whether I follow through with the original intent of it or if it inspires me something differently, I couldn't have done it if I hadn't written it down to begin with. And I think that's that's like my secret sauce of not hitting a brick wall and just not knowing what to do. Because there's always diving back into past work.

Lyssia Katan 43:19

It's like you're you're becoming your own source of inspiration. Because four years ago, Adam might have been in a totally different space mentally.

Adam Trest 43:28

He absolutely was. Four years ago, Adam didn't have three kids. He only had two. That was a better rested Adam.

Lyssia Katan 43:39

Lack of sleep, they say, does I'm not sure if this is the book you were referring to, the Creative Act. It's a fantastic one.

Adam Trest 43:46

Um I don't think it's the same one. I'm gonna have to remember what that one was.

Lyssia Katan 43:50

It might be a different one about creativity, but he actually I I listened to it on an audio book and he mentions that sometimes lack of sleep brings new ideas, right? We always think that we need to be very well rested, which most of the time we do for most things. Lack of sleep sometimes brings you these things that you didn't think were uh possible when you were in your right mind. Did you find that throughout raising your daughters? And now you have you said a three-year-old. So did you find that through lack of sleep when you when you were not sleeping in the night?

Adam Trest 44:24

Um, I think the biggest thing that I've gotten from the girls is the shift of perspective.

Lyssia Katan 44:29

Okay.

Choosing Art You Love Over Trends

Adam Trest 44:30

Um like I've never been an eight-year-old girl before, but seeing the world through my eight-year-old like gives me all kinds of ideas and all kinds of inspiration because she is she's my most serious daughter by far. But she has the biggest imagination of maybe the other two combined. Like, she 100% saw a fairy in our backyard yesterday, like, and you couldn't convince her otherwise. Like, it was, you know, I loved it and I am fully supportive of it. But it's so cool to see the perspective through their eyes. And like my youngest is um Marigold, and we call her Goldie. And Goldie is 90 to nothing all the time. And so it's like sometimes I feel like maybe like I can channel a little bit of her energy, or you know, like she has crazy fashion sense. And sometimes she puts things together, and that's an inspiration for a color combination that I never thought about because those that shirt and those pants didn't go together, and they never should. But man, it made for a good idea for a painting. Like, I think it's being open to inspiration, not just from like these epiphany moments, but also from just like getting your kids ready for school in the morning and finding the inspiration there. I think um, you know, does it happen every day? No, some mornings are chaos, and I fully get that. But some mornings, you know, can be a source of something great.

Lyssia Katan 46:01

How do you open yourself and and make yourself receptive to that inspiration, right? Like we've all looked at a leaf before. You can just look at it as a leaf, or you can really look at it and see these beautiful, intricate lines and these veins that almost look like they were painted. How do you remain receptive to that amidst all the chaos? Or there just sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't.

Adam Trest 46:23

You know, I think that definitely has to fall in with um just being intentional. Like it's you know, like I think that might have been like my New Year's resolution for like the last 10 years, is like just to be more intentional. And I think it's a good reminder because it's like if I just like goes back to the fox story, if I choose to see a fox every day, I'm choosing to have a good day, right? If I'm choosing to be intentional about um, you know, laughing at my three-year-old when she puts on crazy clothes and finding a cool color accommodation because of that, like I think that is a really interesting way to live. Of um, that could have just been an annoyance of my morning that she didn't put off the clothes that we laid out for her, and I, you know, went in and you know, fixed the problem and got them to school and then started my day. I think, you know, if you are living intentionally and thinking about things and like you said, being open to the idea that you can find inspiration anywhere. I think that's a really it's a I mean it's really probably just a better way to live.

Lyssia Katan 47:32

You're a lot less frustrated, that's for sure. And your kid doesn't have their shoes on and you're just trying to fall out the door. What's one piece of advice that you can give to someone choosing art for their home, maybe for the first time, and uh really selecting pieces that uh whether it's uh visually pleasing or emotionally pleasing, what's some advice? Because you've been in the art world for so long, what's some advice you can give listeners to how to choose art for their home or their spaces, their offices?

Collecting Charm And Living With Character

Adam Trest 48:06

I think we live in a world, well, we live in a Pinterest world, right? Like we live in a world where um we see a space that we love and then we try to replicate it. And I think what that ends up doing is it makes us have a lot of spaces that look the same, and that's boring, right? And so for me, I think the best practical advice that I can have is a piece that you love is always gonna find a home in your house, right? If it's not the right size for your fireplace or it's not the right color of your sofa, right? Like it doesn't match your sofa, it doesn't um it's not quite the right scale for that spot you're thinking of, but it's a piece that you love, buy the piece, right? Because at the end of the day, like um when we think about um like when I think about my favorite rooms, my favorite places, whether it's a place that I've been, uh place from a movie, it's never like a perfectly curated moment, right? It is the Nancy Myers movie, right? It's the um, I don't know, I feel like she probably had something to do with it. Um Diane Keaton. Any room Diane Keaton was ever in, I want to be there, right? Like you want because you know that whatever character she was playing had a hand in putting that together, right? Because it's it's art is such a personal thing. And if you find a piece that you love, it becomes your expression on the wall, even though you didn't paint it. If it's a piece that resonates with you, that you love, when it hangs on the wall, it becomes part of your identity and part of your personality, which is what you're trying to share through your space. Um, it's what I love about my tiles with you guys is that I know that people who use those tiles are people who have personalities that I want to hang out with. And so if I walked into your house and saw that you had, you know, the hounds on your backsplash, we're gonna be friends, right? And it doesn't, it's not because I made them, right? It's because it's because you are fun, right? Like you are a person who is willing to take a chance and willing to be bold with your pattern and your design. And like I love that if that's even if that was the only moment that you were bold, it still speaks to your personality, right? Like you can see the hound tiles in a white kitchen, in a white house, and it being the only color, and it still being like a super cool space. You can still see a tiny piece of art stuck between two doors, but because of where you found it or how you found it, or the color spoke to you, or the subject spoke to you, like buy the things you love and then find a place for it. Like, that's that's a huge thing for me because I think my wife gets crazy because I um I take that I take that advice seriously, and uh we have a whole drawer full of things that need to be framed, but they're pieces that like I love them, and whether they go on the wall immediately, or maybe one day we'll have a different house that has the perfect spot for it, it's having the things ready or knowing that like we change furniture once a week, or not change out, but like we're moving furniture around our house all the time. It might be that we find a you know the perfect um setting in our living room where we do have a moment for that painting, or um, we do have the spot where we can hang that wallpaper. Um yeah, I think that would probably be the biggest takeaway I have is buy the things you love. Don't wait for the perfect thing because you need the thing that speaks to you.

Lyssia Katan 52:13

It's funny you say that because some of my favorite pieces in houses and my friends, my family members, they have the funniest stories. My cousin has this everything of a goat. And it's just it's got such a funny story behind it that I I don't know about her, but every time I walk into her house, I'm laughing because I remember that story of that piece. Is she particularly a fan of goats? Not that I know of, but this goat on her house, in her house, is just it it reminds her of that time when she got this piece and the story of how it manifested itself. And it it's it really creates a space, even it's it speaks in an invisible language. When you just look at it at face value anything, you just look at it at face value, you're like, okay, that's a nice painting. But when you really know the story behind it or you have some kind of connection to it, that's a whole nother uh that's a whole nother element.

The Transformative Atrium And Light

Adam Trest 53:05

Yeah, like one of my favorite rooms in our whole house is a I don't know, it's probably a four and a half foot by five foot room that's a butler's pantry between our kitchen and our dining room. And I love that room because that was the room that we decided um it has white walls, we didn't really want to paint it, but we filled every square inch of that butler's pantry with art, and most of it is in the four-inch by four inch range, like it's tiny pieces and it's small antiques that we found. Like we have this really cool um, it's like a stamp that has like the um like a food dog that is a stamp on the bottom, and like we put a piece of wire around it and hung it on the wall. Like it's the most eclectic, crazy room, but because it's so small, when you walk into it, it feels like a jewel box or uh, you know, like you stepped inside this little collection and then you're right back outside of it again, you know, like you're just it's a pass-through. But it's you know, it's it can't be designed. It had to be collected, it had to be, you know, just added to as we found, oh man, that piece would fit perfectly in that one little corner, you know, that needs a four-inch by four-inch paint. Like we we should put that one there. And I think, yeah, those those moments, like a painting of a goat, I want to be there. Like I want to be in that room right now.

Lyssia Katan 54:33

Yeah, it's it's the most unexpected thing. And like you said, unexpected. Even things like uh going back to what you said earlier about the way things are made today versus how they used to be made, right? Even door hinges or screws or the tiniest little details, I think that we've lost. There's actually a creator that I love on uh Instagram, and she one of her videos or her video series is your home still isn't weird enough. And she points out things that are like little knobs or little door stompers that are just so whimsical and eclectic, and and they remind us that not to take life so seriously. Your hinges can be in the shape of a bird, you know. They no one has to be that serious, and I feel like modern cookie cutter design has taken out a lot of that fun and excitement and joy, really, because we want it to look perfect, but most of the time in a perfect space, you're never as comfortable because you're scared of staining the couch, you're scared of like messing up the rug. So you kind of it gives you permission to be yourself in this beautifully curated space.

Adam Trest 55:38

Well, the house that we live in was uh built in 1900, and you know, we complain all the time about God, there's no insulation, or you know, like the you know, why is it so hot in here and so cold in there? Or like why, you know, who laid this house out? Well, you know, who who knows who laid this house out? Like, why is there a bathroom in the, you know, this closet? Like it's random things, but man, you you just every time we think like, oh, that's it, we're like, let's just find somewhere else to move and we'll go like look at a new house, and you're just like, nope, I can't do it. Like, I can't. There's so much charm and character that builds up over time. Um, and that's one of the ways that we choose to live in a house like that, because you know, like there's already so much, like the doorknobs in our house are just like, if we ever leave, I will take molds of all of them, right? Like, because you just want to have that texture and that pattern um in some way. Yeah, it's um they just don't make things like they used to. I feel like an old man.

Lyssia Katan 56:43

No, but you're I almost I also have wooden floors in my house, and I almost grow fond of the creeks because if they're not there, it's like I feel like the house isn't communicating with me. I like this hearing. Oh, okay, when I step there, you're gonna make a noise because that's just a part of the house. So of all the spaces we spoke about, is there a space that has really changed you? It could be present, it could be past, it has really changed who you are, and it's a space that you maybe go to in your mind when you're creating, or it's just something that maybe it was a museum that you once walked into and you're just left in awe, but is there a space that really changed who you are?

New Collections And Crafted Futures

Adam Trest 57:23

That's a good one. I've lived in a lot of spaces, so that's that's a little hard, you know. No, there definitely is. We um Lily and I lived in this beautiful house during COVID, and um it was you know such a crazy time for everyone. And um this was before we had Goldie, so the two girls we were doing life, but pretty much confined to this house. And we had bought the home just before COVID happened, and um it was it's the newest house we've ever lived in. So it was built in 1980. It was very, you know, modern. Uh, but it was designed by this architect um who was one of Mississippi's um premier modern architects back in the 80s, and um, it had this beautiful atrium in it. And you know, like my style is very obviously maximalist. Um, you know, with the 1900s house that we live in is like right up my alley. This house was big rooms, terracotta floors, um, all natural, wooden beams, wooden ceilings, wooden walls. Um, and there's something that room, there's an atrium when you first walked in that like you just felt I don't know, like it was just the coolest space you've ever been in because it had tall ceilings and so much natural light. And the things that we put in that room ended up being like so many plants and comfortable furniture, and I'd bring an easel in there and work sometimes, and um, it just like it wasn't my taste at all, but it was a space that just felt like it could be anything, and I think that was what was so special about it was you know, it was the room the dogs ran around in, and just you know, my kids rode their bikes through there because it was big enough, you know, like it just was like a it just became this room that like we would all make our way in there, and that's where we would end up hanging out because it could be any room, it wasn't so defined of like a dining room or a living room or whatever. It was just it was this room that was beautiful and fun to be in. Um I think that that's probably the best space that I think about the most.

Lyssia Katan 59:47

Wow, that's incredible. I mean, those spaces have such an impact on us, and uh it's so nice to hear the spaces that you are impacted by, and it's I'm sure it's nice to see the space. Hopefully we'll get some pictures soon from these restaurants, but to see the spaces that you've had a hand in creating on the opposite side of the country. So I really I'm I'm so grateful to be able to speak with you, Adam. Truly every time it's a pleasure. You always give me new things to think about. And uh I want to ask just do is there something that is showing up in your work or something that you're working on today that you'd really love the listeners to know and the audience to hear? Maybe a new project you're working on or something you'd love to give some attention to?

Adam Trest 1:00:33

Yeah, I mean, well, I have you know new collections coming out all next year. We're starting to plan solidly 2026. And so um, yeah, new collections coming out with my galleries um will be coming out in February and April. Um lots of development, which is like way far out, but like we're developing a lot of cool products that you'll start seeing in like the end of 2026 and into 2027, and it's it's just a it's a really exciting time to be a designer because it's funny, because I feel like AI makes everything so perfect, people want to see the touch of a real hand, and so products that I'm working on at least are so exciting to me because they feel created, right? They feel crafted, and I think it's a it's a cool place to to be right now as a designer because that's a thing people are craving and the products are are showing that.

Closing Thanks And How To Support

Lyssia Katan 1:01:32

Adam, thank you so much. I truly appreciate having you on the podcast. And um, thanks so much for having me. I have everything on the in the show notes. We're gonna link your your newest collections and your website. And uh, we are just so grateful to have you. Thank you, Adam, for your time.

Adam Trest 1:01:48

Thanks for having me.

Lyssia Katan 1:01:49

Thank you so much for spending this time with me on Room to Think. If you enjoyed this episode, feel free to follow the show, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who you think would really appreciate a more thoughtful approach to their space. You can find more Design Meets Psychology insights on social, in our community, and definitely in upcoming episodes so you can build a better life by design. Thanks again for listening. I'll see you next time.