There is so much happening behind the scenes at Paint Peels, and I want to start sharing more of it here.
I'm a full-time mom(with lot of help now) and the person running every part of this business. Posting on a schedule isn't always realistic, so these monthly studio updates are becoming my place to share what I'm making, what's coming, and everything happening in between. No performance. Just what's actually going on.
What I Made This Month
I've been illustrating an idea and inspiration book for Paint Peels — teaching myself Procreate from the couch, one slow session at a time. It's a challenge, but it's coming together, and I think it's going to be really useful for people who want to see everything these stickers can do.
When I did paint this month, it came easily. Compositions found their way without much fuss. I'm feeling looser in my practice, lighter, and more willing to let things surprise me. Something shifts when you stop making art to make art and start making art to make something — the pressure drops and the joy comes back in.
I Have Time. (Yes, Really.)
I hired a mother's helper two mornings a week, and it has changed everything.
My list has never been shorter, and this is exactly what I was working toward when I started building this business more than a year ago. I still have plenty of lists — but none of them make me feel like I'm behind. Having that work-and-create part of me filled means I show up better everywhere else, too. As a mom, as a house manager, as a person.
Most of the time, anyway.
What's Coming
A new collection rolls out in August, and it's currently making its way here on a shipping container. I can't wait to share it.
I'm also deep into planning 2027 collections, and something is shifting in how I'm thinking about the work. I'm leaning toward fewer releases with bigger, more complete collections — more room to develop each idea, more space for every collection to become what it's actually supposed to be, rather than what fits a calendar.
A Customer Moment
A customer had a package go missing a couple of months ago, and our conversation turned into something I wasn't expecting. She told me how she'd been using the Paint Peels she found at a local shop in Texas — layering them through a scrapbook page, adding color and movement and a little whimsy to the whole composition.
This is the part of making Paint Peels I will never take for granted. I create the brushstrokes. But they take on a completely different life once they reach someone else's hands, and watching them become part of another person's creative practice — that's the whole thing. That's why this exists.
What I'm Obsessed With
I've been learning about the Silk Road lately — the movement of goods, ideas, art, and culture across continents and centuries. I wouldn't call myself a history buff, but this has opened such an interesting door. History as exchange rather than event.
I've also been going deeper into spirituality, reconnecting with that part of myself, and sitting with the idea that where we place our attention shapes what we build. I keep coming back to that.
Paint Peels Is Now in Australia
This feels worth saying out loud: Paint Peels is now available internationally for the first time.
Lulu Design Store in Balaclava, Australia is now carrying the collection — and that's not something I take lightly. A product I designed in my studio in Wisconsin is now on the other side of the world. It still surprises me when I think about it directly.
On the Calendar
August 7 Art on Main Night Market 4–7 p.m., Downtown Cambridge, Wisconsin
October 24 + 25 Earth, Wood & Fire Tour Cambridge, Wisconsin
I've also scheduled Art Journal Hangs through the rest of 2026 — relaxed, creative, free to attend, and always a good time. Bring your journal, your favorite supplies, and come make something alongside us.
6–8 p.m. at Dairyland Dessert Café, Stoughton:
- August 18
- September 22
- October 27
- November 24
- December 22
All levels and styles welcome.
Where to Find Paint Peels
Paint Peels are available at independent shops, museum stores, art supply stores, and creative spaces across the United States — and now Australia.
Wisconsin
- Overt Space — Stoughton
- Art Hub — Cambridge
- URSA — Milwaukee
- Sift and Winnow — Mount Horeb
- The Regal Find — Middleton
- Raven's Wish — Janesville
- Moondeer Gallery — Boulder Junction
- Artsy Fartsy — Madison
- Anthology — Madison
- KP Gallery — Bayfield
- Birchwood Wells — Cedarburg
- Museum of Wisconsin Art — West Bend
- Twinkle and Twine Design — La Crosse
- Chazen Museum of Art — Madison
Around the United States
- Chirps & Cheers — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Personify Shop — Duluth, Georgia
- Museum of Fine Arts Houston Shop — Houston, Texas
- Old Firehouse Books — Fort Collins, Colorado
- Institute of Contemporary Art — Boston, Massachusetts
- The Paper + Craft Pantry — Austin, Texas
- Clark Art Institute — Williamstown, Massachusetts
- Gibbes Museum of Art — Charleston, South Carolina
- Handzy Shop + Studio — Covington, Kentucky
- Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth — Fort Worth, Texas
- More Than Words — Moorhead, Minnesota
- Belle & Union — San Antonio, Texas
- Clyfford Still Museum Shop — Denver, Colorado
- Minneapolis Institute of Art — Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Wet Paint — Saint Paul, Minnesota
- The Perfect Petal — Denver, Colorado
- Happy DSM — West Des Moines, Iowa
- Swallowfield — Northeast Harbor, Maine
- Contemporary Art Cincinnati — Cincinnati, Ohio
- Cranbrook Art Museum — Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
- Museum of Arts and Design — New York, New York
- Woodmere Art Museum — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Annie's Art & Frame — Seattle, Washington
- Brigham Young University Museum of Art — Provo, Utah
- Val and Jess — Nyack, New York
Australia
- Lulu Design Store — Balaclava
What's out now -
Soft Thaw Sticker Collection - link to product
Poolside Sticker Collection - link to product
Sheet Keeper - You can now put your stickers all in one place! - link to product
Lens Cloths - link to products
See you back here with another update next month!
Katherine Simdon - Artist and Founder of Katherine Simdon Studios and Paint Peels™.
