Painter. Partner. Parent.
PECK.
Rarely do we begin a text exchange for a Q&A interview at 5:11 am. But you gotta get up early in the morning to catch Cullen Peck.
Cullen is many things, depending on the second you catch her. A perfectionist (self-admittedly), she is the very definition of creative. The wunderkind juggles painting, partnering, parenting, and oh, running a catering-private chef business, Taste Toscana, with her husband Stefano Fani. Below are edited excerpts from our sunrise back-n-forth with the very talented Cullen Peck.
Annaliese Kondo
Cullen Peck
EIL: Describe yourself as creative—in art, food, partnering, and parenting.
CP: It isn't, perhaps, the most flattering of words, but I would describe myself as "exacting" in all aspects of life. I try my best to modulate that quality when dealing with others—particularly my spouse and children—but I am a firm believer that anything done should be done to the absolute best of your ability or not done at all.
EIL: Where do you draw inspiration for your paintings.
CP: Picasso said, "inspiration exists, but it has to find you working," and I agree completely. I watch my children—how they engage with their world in openness and joy. I strive to show the viewer, not only the world of the child in the painting, but a world out of that viewer's own childhood.
“I want people to look at my paintings and see themselves.”
EIL: In the World of Cullen, where are you most at peace?
CP: Nothing gives me more peace than the solitude of mornings in the studio. When light ripples through life oak branches into my skylights, the world is silent, coffee is fresh, and I'm halfway through a piece that's responding to my expectations -- that's when I am happiest.
EIL: Because it’s the New Year, and we have to ask…what are your goals, motivations, insights for 2026?
CP: I often joke with my friends that I am so overwhelmingly busy that the most planning I can handle is what's happening in the next 12 hours…I have no idea what to expect of 2026!
“I'm coordinating so many moving pieces -- gallery owners, catering clients, travel soccer schedules, piano recitals, babysitters, my children and husband's concerns and questions -- that I can't think much outside the crisis of ‘now.’
But there's a lot of joy in living in the moment.”
Do I have dreams? Of course! I'd like to expand my market permanently out of Georgia by securing additional long-term representation in more galleries; place some of my more contemporary portraits into more prestigious shows; however, to be honest, I'm more invested in the immediate joys of watching my children grow into who they will become.
Annaliese Kondo
Cullen Peck Studio
EIL: Now the fun stuff…Napping? Knitting in ’26?
CP: A long-time dream of mine is to take the trans-Siberian railway from Europe all the way down through Mongolia and into Vietnam.
“Life is so frenetic in the modern world, and I love the way travelling by train over long distances forces you to engage with how vast this world is.”
EIL: Bring it home. How’d you land in this special place?
CP: Grew up in Atlanta, went to NYU, moved to Florence, Italy, and lived there for 11 years, during which time I met Stefano. He really wanted to give living in the US a try after our children were born. My mother grew up on St. Simons, and I spent many Easters and Christmases here visiting my grandparents. This small island with its tight-knit community and beautiful landscape felt like the perfect spot moving from Italy to the United States. It's turned out to be a great fit.
