String Box 3 & Red O

I've been trying to be more focused with my work and spend more time making a mess and playing than keeping my apartment perfectly neat.

Detail from String Box 3.

This tiny space is my current studio. I've given myself permission to be a little sloppier in my place.

String Box 3, hand embroidery on watercolor painted watercolor paper.

Finished two pieces this weekend!

In the sun.

First up, String Box 3. A stitched watercolor.

Next up, Red O.

Red O. Solvent ink stencil over acrylic paint.

The stencil is by Cat Manolis, my teacher at ArtSpace Raleigh. I'm loving playing with solvent inks.

Making a happy mess with solvent ink and painter's tape.

Ink is a whole new world to explore!

Saturated (Color and life)

And now.... Scenes from my ongoing obsession with saturated colors.

WIP: String Box 3. Hand embroidery on watercolor paper.

I'm making a String Box stitched watercolor just for me.

WIP: early scene, String Box 3.

Pearle cotton, No 8. Black, blue, pink and yellow,

Painting watercolors in my beloved saturated pinks, reds and yellows.

My recent experiences with my boyfriend and friends in the California desert exposed me to an entirely different color palette.

Joshua Tree National Park in the Mojave Desert.

Hiking to an oasis in the overwhelming heat bleached out my mind and vision. But the rusts, browns and smokey greens were as intense as my saturated pinks and yellows.

The textures, too.

So much to explore visually with these entirely different hues.

And finally, I'm taking a wonderful painting and design class at Artspace in Raleigh for the next several weeks. Artist and designer Cat Manolis is our instructor. She shot this photo and made this stencil of my face for me.

Stencil by Cat Manolis. Painted layers by me.

This stencil will be played with and explored in the coming months. For now, here it is in solvent ink on and layered acrylic background.

Stitch-speration in the sky.

And, for no good reason, except that I'm happy... fireworks!