Sometimes magic happens when we gather around the table. And that was definitely the case for a house party with artist Katie Rodgers and her friends.

Home Again with TABLE Magazine

A sense of place pervades the work of artist Katie Rodgers. Take the 12-piece pastel set she created for French pastel maker La Maison du Pastel, Henri Roche, entitled “A Harvest of Color.” It was inspired by the summer she worked at Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Farm, which she says was “most magical summer of my life.” “Suddenly, I’m just playing in the dirt, and digging up carrots and beans and all these things, and they all felt very magical and whimsical to me,” she says.

Awed by the colors that emerged from the ground, she created a pastel set that captures the vibrancy of a New Mexico summer from a deep purple that hints at lavender, a gold the color of sunflowers, and a red reminiscent of poppies blooming in the hot summer sun.

Her artwork, Life in Contrast: New York/New Mexico, juxtaposes a busy street scene in Soho, New York, with the majesty and drama of Diablo Canyon. Even her Color Gradient Meditations – each one a rich exploration of a single color in all its nuances and tones – feel suffused with the natural world.

It’s no wonder that the setting for a springtime party with friends was outside on her front porch at the historic home she rented in Santa Fe. The table was festooned with vases of flowers, wooden cutting boards holding croissants, small pots of strawberry jam, wedges of quiche, and wooden bowls of leafy greens dotted with thinly-sliced rings of hot pink watermelon radishes.

The occasion was a going away party for Katie, who was on her way to New York City. The vibe was classic Katie: casual, warm, and laid back. “What makes a good party or dinner is just making people feel comfortable and creating a good environment,” she says. “It’s not really about how perfect something looks or feels.” Katie credits her time in New Mexico with helping her to let go of ideas of perfection and says that her rented home – an old adobe built in the early part of the 20th century – was part of that.

It’s a house filled with warmth, from the adobe walls flecked with straw, to the uneven floorboards that speak of generations who have lived there. “I call it the hand-drawn house, which is very New Mexico – nothing has a straight line,” she says. “All the doors are a little crooked. And I love that so much because it feels natural. It feels like it grew from the earth.”

It’s not unusual for Katie to bring her wooden crate of pastels to the table along with paper to encourage artists and non-artists to play. “It’s fun to watch people who never create art and it’s fun to see them loosen up about it, but they’re also very serious and get into it.” It’s also a way for Katie to share her passion for pastels, which for her mirrors her love of gardening. “Pastels, to me, feel kind of like dirt – like you finger paint with them.” It’s an intimate act that brings artist and medium into close connection. “There is something very elemental because you’re actually holding the substance in your hands versus a paintbrush or pencil,” she says.

For this party, Katie brought out a quote box filled with inspirational and thought-provoking sayings. The box was passed from guest to guest, each one picking a card, then reading it aloud. The box was a gift from a woman who sold her one of her favorite tables. “I became a little obsessed when I lived here in New Mexico and I would buy different farm tables,” she says. Katie describes a “sort of magical connection with tables” and says that for two of her finds, the owners insisted on visiting her first before finalizing the sale. “They felt really attached to the tables, and wanted to come see the space and make sure it was going to the right place.”

While the tables were too large to fit in a New York City apartment, Katie decided to keep them. They were housed by friend and party guest Jared Hagood, who owns and runs Lineage Seeds. And while Katie did make the move to New York City, she decided after a few months to return to Santa Fe, drawn back by the big skies and a landscape that inspires her life and work. She now has a new home and the tables – safely cared for by Jared – will be back. Ready for more parties, more celebrations, and like Katie, home again.

The Guest List
Katie Rodgers, Artist & Host
Jared Hagood, Lineage Seeds
Meghan Godin, Godin Design
Stephanie DiAnne Meyer, Artist
Autumn MacIntosh, Documentary Film Producer
Ashley Hafstead, Photographer
Marc Hafstead, Fellow at Resources for the Future
Aarona Leá, Intuitive Mentor & Embodied Hypnotherapist
Mari Elizabeth – Textile Artist & Designer
Amanda Tucker, Bohome Interiors, The Mystic Santa Fe

Special thanks to Mille French Bakery & Café for creating a sumptuous brunch repast for Katie and her guests.

Story by Julia Platt Leonard
Photography by Tira Howard
Food by Mille French Bakery & Café

Subscribe to TABLE Magazine’s print edition.