Page 24 - South Mississippi Living - February, 2026

ARTS
FROM
First Kiss
TO
Final Brushstroke
Live Wedding Painter Katie Peterson Captures
Love in Real Time
story by Cherie Ward photos courtesy of Katie Peterson
There’s something quietly magical about watching a wedding take shape on paper while it’s happening in real life. For
artist Katie Peterson, that magic is the heart of Katie Rose Studio—where live wedding paintings transform ceremonies into heirloom art, painted stroke by stroke as love unfolds. “It’s really becoming almost like its own art form,” Peterson said.
And for as long as she can remember, Peterson has always been an artist in many art forms. Some of her earliest memories involve sitting on her grandmother’s back deck, watercolors spread out on the table, painting everything from
moss-draped trees to whatever happened to wander through the bayou that day—like the occasional nutria or alligator. Her grandmother, still very much Peterson’s biggest fan, now proudly spots her work popping up across Facebook and Instagram, marveling at how far those childhood paintings have taken her granddaughter.
Though art was always part of her life, Peterson’s artisan path wasn’t a straight line. In high school, she took art classes and worked on the yearbook, but college took her in a completely different direction. She earned a degree in
24 | February 2026
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