Hobby Art
As a child I was ‘the crafty one’ – not so much the fine artist – and I continue to learn so much from trying new things, often. I foster divergent, creative thinking in my teams as well, because it develops an experimental mindset that holds the outcomes loosely, rather than insistence on perfection. I am a life-long dabbler in mixed media art forms – and happiest when I can pull others into the adventure!
Digital Painting
For me, the most exciting recent development in digital painting is the addition of Adobe Fresco to Adobe Creative Cloud’s mobile products. While Photoshop is capable of digital painting, there has not been a product until 2019 that can give the artist a similar sensation of working with real paint. Fresco was made for touch screens and uses the Apple Pencil and haptic feedback to create the feeling of drawing with dry mediums, vector brushes, and best of all: live watercolor and oil paint brushes that cause the paint to move and blend like real, analog materials!
Watercolor
I began dabbling in watercolor somewhere around 2018, in an effort to give myself a creative outlet that had no requirements – it was ‘just for ME’. The result has been many moments of zen as I either focus on the light and dark of an image in front of me, learning to ‘see’ the shadows, bright points and shapes in front me, and let go of perfection….and in the meantime, I’ve been able to bless a few friends with moments of joy as they see their pets come to life in a painted medium.
Acrylic Exploration
In the beginning of my journey with acrylic paint, I’d attended several ‘Paint-Night’s with friends – and gotten frustrated with the required replication of one image. While these events are great opportunities to practice color mixing and form, I have a desire to make creativity more accessible (rather than simply an act of copying), so I’ve hosted events in which we create personal acrylic art and also large-format abstract art for the walls in our modern collaboration space.
I also continue my personal exploration with fun projects like custom cornhole boards, acrylic-dipped cabinet hardware, painted wooden trays, acrylic-poured glass bud vases, etc. The possibilities are endless!
Pen & Ink Abstracts
In 2017, a friend gifted me with an activity book that set me up with the basics on ‘Zentangle’ drawing techniques. My initial thought was ‘that’s nice, but I really don’t have time to doodle’….however, I was wrong! Out of deference to my friend, I dabbled with it in winter evenings – and ended up discovering a great way to enter flow state and create abstract work with no constraints!
Paper Quilling
In spring 2023, I began experimenting with quilling thin paper strips. The inspiration came from a random tour through a book shop, and the discovery of a book called “Painting with Paper.” The author’s vibrant work sparked a curiosity in me that I could not ignore!
