We were lucky to catch up with Renee Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Renee thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

Creativity has always been part of who I am. My mom was our teacher, and in sixth grade I started writing stories once my lessons were done. She’d read them aloud in the car on the way to my dad’s favorite fishing spot, and I’d listen to her laugh or tear up. That’s when I realized that what I made could make people feel something … and that connection stuck with me.
Writing wasn’t the only creative endeavor in our home. Mom taught us needlework and sewing. As a teen I made my own clothes, learned to quilt while working alongside my blind grandmother, and as a young mom I made costumes and gifts for my kids when money was tight. It was never about having much…it was about creating something beautiful from what we had.
My Dad and my grandfather also had a hand in my creative path. My love for flowers and gardening came from them. They both loved the outdoors and taught me to pay attention to growing things … to the smell of the soil, the way the light hits in late afternoon, the peace that comes from working with your hands. When Will and I bought our first home, I filled every corner of the yard with flowers…rows of color, old pots and buckets overflowing with blooms. Neighbors would stop by and ask for seeds or cuttings, and I’d send them off with handfuls. I joked with Will that I should open a flower shop.
When we moved to the country, and the chance came to open a greenhouse, it felt like a dream I’d been growing toward all along. With the help of a kind couple, I opened Raine Gardens on part of our land…five acres of flowers, dirt, and peace. Having my hands in the soil grounded me. It gave me calm and purpose. But when my dad had heart surgery, I stepped away to help my parents run their janitorial business. I remember standing in the greenhouse after we’d sold the last of the plants, the smell of soil still in the air, and feeling like a piece of me had gone with it.
At the time, it just felt like loss. Looking back now, I can see God was already working on something new … I just didn’t recognize it yet. But even then, I knew I was meant to live a creative life. That part of me never left … it just changed form.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Rainy Day Vintage by Renee began in a season when I needed to do something that mattered. After years of long hours working with my parents, I knew I couldn’t go back to that kind of pace, but I still wanted to contribute and create. I missed the sense of purpose I’d felt with the greenhouse, but I also knew I couldn’t handle that kind of around-the-clock pressure again. One day, almost on a whim, I decided to try painting a piece of furniture. It felt like something creative I could do that wouldn’t take every minute of every day … a way to use my hands, quiet my mind, and still help support my family. I had no idea that one small step would open the door to everything that came next.
The first big piece I ever painted was a massive china hutch I found while visiting my grandmother. My girls were with me, cheering me on and saying, “Mom, imagine what you could do with it!” My uncle helped us load it, laughing the whole time, and when I got home, Will just smiled and helped me unload it … no questions asked. That’s who he is… my steady hand when I’m knee-deep in paint or doubt.
That piece was where it all clicked. What started as a whim… a simple way to help support my family … became a creative outlet and a way to rediscover who I was. Painting furniture showed me that restoration runs deeper than the surface. Somewhere along the way, it stopped being just a project and became a calling. I couldn’t imagine not doing it. It still reminds me that God can take the smallest beginnings and turn them into something full of purpose.
A few years later, after I started painting on canvas, my mom asked if I thought she could learn too. She had spent years teaching and running a business and suddenly found herself in a quieter season. Painting became her lifeline … something steady and healing after my dad passed. She’d text me late at night with photos of skies and say, “I think I finally got the clouds right.” Watching her find joy through art reminded me why I create … because creativity helps us breathe when life feels heavy.
After she passed a year later, I painted a dresser as a tribute to both of my parents … a calm lake scene with a man and woman fishing at sunset. That fisherman dresser was when I realized I wasn’t just painting furniture; I was creating art that told stories. Will wouldn’t let me sell it, and to this day it sits in our bedroom … a reminder of love, faith, and legacy.
One of my favorite moments as an artist came with a painting called Coming Home. A young couple stopped in front of it at a gallery show. The woman told me she didn’t even like art but couldn’t walk away from that piece. They were moving into the home her grandfather built for her grandmother, and the name … Coming Home … felt meant for them. That’s when I knew my art wasn’t about me. It’s about how God uses color and story to speak right where people need it most.
That’s what makes Rainy Day Vintage unique. My work isn’t about matching trends or palettes … it’s about connection. Whether it’s a hand-painted dresser, an intuitive canvas painting, or one of my Steeped in Grace tea-bag art kits, everything I make carries the same heartbeat: faith, story, and hope. My art begins with prayer and ends with purpose. It’s not about perfection. It’s about grace … the kind that meets us in the middle and reminds us that even here, beauty is being made.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My mission is to share God’s light, hope, and grace through art and story. I want every piece I create to remind someone that they’re seen, loved, and still becoming … that the waiting seasons aren’t wasted.
The In-Between … my studio and what I call my creative space… isn’t just a space; it’s a reflection of that truth. It’s where faith and color meet, where joy and stillness coexist, and where imperfection becomes beauty. It’s a work in progress, just like me. Paint-splattered, messy and always under construction…
That same knowing led me to post my Real Talks and Self Talks and create Brave in the In-Between … a faith-based creative group where women gather to paint, pray, and grow together. Each month, we explore themes like courage, identity, and grace through journaling, devotionals, and art. It’s become a safe space for connection and healing … where creativity meets community and women realize they’re not alone in their in-between seasons.
That’s where my best work happens …not just behind the brush, but beside others who are learning, like I am, to trust God with the process.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I closed my greenhouse, I thought I’d lost what made me whole. I didn’t see that God wasn’t taking something from me … He was leading me toward a new purpose I couldn’t see yet.
Every pivot since then has carried that same truth … that purpose doesn’t always look the way we imagined it would. A few years ago, I started to feel a quiet tug to shift my focus. I loved creating furniture and canvas art, but I began to sense that God was asking me to build something deeper … a business and creative life led first by faith.
That change also opened the door to serving other artists … helping them share their own work through fine art printing and creative encouragement. I never set out to do that, but it’s become one more way to pour back into the creative community that’s poured so much into me.
I remember sitting in my studio one night, surrounded by half-finished pieces, and realizing that I didn’t just want to make beautiful things; I wanted my business…all of it … to belong to God. I wanted every brushstroke, every word, and every piece I created to point others to Him. That moment changed everything …how I work, what I create, and how I lead. It led to new ways of sharing faith through creativity, from devotional products to community gatherings that blend art and worship.
Will has been beside me through it all… building, repairing, and believing right alongside me. He helped build my studio addition, cuts the wood for my ornaments, and shows up with coffee when I lose track of time. That’s what faith looks like to me: showing up, even when you don’t yet see what’s ahead.
Each of these pivots …from greenhouse to furniture, from artist to leader … has reminded me that the calling doesn’t change, just the way God asks me to carry it. My job is simply to keep showing up, keep creating, and keep trusting that He’ll use it all for something good.
Creativity, for me, is an act of faith … a way of saying, “Even here, God is working.” From soil to canvas, from loss to renewal, every part of my story has been about grace taking root in the in-between.
I hope when people see my work, they feel peace … that they see their own story in the color and texture and remember that even now, even here, God is still creating something beautiful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rainydayvintage.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rainy.day.vintage
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rainydayvintagestudio
• Other: Substack. https://rainydayvintage.substack.com/