From marsh flats to seashells, Jordan Connelly channels Lowcountry motifs into artful interiors
At dusk on a Lowcountry marsh flat, the spartina burns copper, a great egret picks its way through gilded shallows, a pointer holds rigid at the cordgrass edge, and a drake mallard lifts from the water, wings cupped against the fading light. These are Jordan Connelly’s subjects, and the Raleigh, North Carolina, native has spent the past decade finding ways to bring the Lowcountry landscape indoors. “There’s a palpable, living beauty here,” she says. “I can visit the same place at the same time of day and season, and it never looks the same.”
What began as a small creative venture in 2018 has evolved into a full studio operation. Connelly primarily sells online, with an exclusive capsule wallpaper collection created for Anthropologie and licensed artwork featured at Pottery Barn Kids. And she occasionally pops up in-person, staging a solo exhibition inside a downtown home last year.
Connelly, who holds degrees in studio art and biology from the College of Charleston, along with a doctorate of nursing practice, sees clear connections among those disciplines. “Studying biology trained me to see patterns, systems, and the intelligence and gifts that nature offers,” she says. “My time in health care deepened my sensitivity to people, emotion, and the need for spaces that feel calming and restorative.” That perspective shapes her work. “There’s an intention behind creating designs that bring peace, connection, and grounding,” Connelly says. “The gift of being an artist is that I get to steer the viewer’s eye to what matters—the beauty of life and what’s around us.”
In her Mount Pleasant studio, Connelly creates original paintings, commissions, and hand-painted patterns, many of which she translates to wallpaper, fabric, pillows, fine-art prints, and a new bedding line, with all wallpaper and textiles crafted in South Carolina and Georgia. The decision to source regionally was intentional, as she says closer mill relationships allow for quality oversight and more responsible production. “It’s important how the products are created,” she adds. “If I’m painting and drawing inspiration from the natural world, I also feel a responsibility to help protect it.”
Her wallpaper designs begin as hand-painted originals created directly on wallpaper ground material. Connelly then cuts the large-scale work into nine-by-12-inch pieces, scans each section at high resolution, and digitally stitches them back together before sending the final design to print. “People think my wallpaper is directly painted on the wall,” she says, but the hand-wrought effect is something digital illustration alone can’t replicate. “You’re getting the same unique, painterly feel at a more affordable price.”
When asked what living artfully looks like in practice, Connelly—who built this business while raising three kids—doesn’t hesitate. “It’s not about perfection or aesthetics alone,” she says. “It’s about intention: creating a home that’s meaningful, slowing down enough to notice beauty in everyday moments, and building a life that reflects what you care about.”
Fresh Sheets: Connelly’s bedding line uses long-staple American cotton woven in percale and finished with water-based dyes and PFAS-free treatments. Each order includes a four-by-four-inch, fine-art giclée print.
Family Affair: Her brother—a hunter and physician at the Medical University of South Carolina—inspired her sporting dog patterns, while her fish motifs draw from her own time on the water as an avid angler.
Good Cause: For each bedding item sold, Connelly donates $1 to Charleston Waterkeeper, a nonprofit that protects and restores the region’s waterways.
Up Next: The company will soon be launching drapes and furniture—all handmade in the Carolinas.
Learn More: www.jordanconnelly.com
