New Collection: Springtime Vibes

Springtime as a kid was always one of the most exciting times for me. I can still taste the crisp air, can hear the robins singing their morning song. I remember always climbing the mulberry trees to check whether they had berries yet, remember plummeting down my aunt’s steep driveway on a big wheel, my only way of stopping being a nose-dive into a shallow trench. And the best days were the windy days, when you could practically chew on all the smells as I slipped in between the billowing bedsheets my mom had hung on the clothesline to dry.

Spring meant something to me then, and those vibes never changed.

So, when it began to feel like spring again a few weeks ago, I cleaned the house and opened the windows, bought candles that smelled of peach instead of pine, and I took Goo to the park almost every day, where I would feel the sun on my face and let the southern wind wake me up from hibernation.

That’s when the playground scribbles began, which were a combination of alcohol markers, colored pencils, watercolors, and charcoal. Allowing myself the freedom of as many tools and colors as I wanted brought back that childhood mentality when merely holding a fat crayon was a feat comparable to the Mona Lisa. Combining this medium freedom, the artistic naivety and the springlike weather, I came up with the Springtime Vibes collection.

These works are about the infant spring, when the trees are barely budding and the nests are still quiet and the seedlings only just begin to sprout. This is a delicate time for nature, in my opinion. It’s a transition period. Trees go from living death to living in a matter of weeks. The grass goes green. Tulips, daffodils, and Irises bloom. The whole process must take an exuberant amount of energy. An energy I worked to portray in my vigorous scribbling and bright colors, while also keeping the quiet, infant moments intact with light pencil marks.

The new series has eight pieces in all ranging in size from 5×7 inches to 19×24 inches. Each are works on different types of paper and were made with a variety of tools from alcohol markers to colored pencils.

To view the entire collection, click here.

Until next time, may your mulberry trees be fruitful and your sunshine be warm.

“Road Maps” is Here!

My spring collection, Road Maps, has officially launched! This is a project I started some time in February, when I worked on mindfulness through drawing with only one color: black. As I worked, I noticed how each of the pieces would resemble a map one might draw for someone else to help them reach a destination. This, in turn, gave the series its name.

What I love most about these works is how they are similar to one another, yet somehow so different, which seems to resemble our own journey as humans. We are all on different paths with different destinations and have come from many different pasts, but we are all on our own trek toward something. What are you trekking toward?

The tiny details in each piece also give the viewer pause, which shows him/her the importance of being present. We may be from somewhere and on our way to somewhere else, but the only thing that is certain is the right now. Who you are today is the most important you.

Each of these works was intuitively drawn, with the occasional conscious thought here and there to give it the attention it deserves. All of them tell a story for me, but that’s my own story. It’s the stories they tell you that give these works a funny kind of magic. What you see in one drawing may be the complete opposite of what another sees.

Finally, I noticed that I was merging both man-made objects with the natural world, which resonates quite deeply with my belief that we as humans are a part of nature, not a separate entity.

If you’d like to view the collection click here.

Until next time, may your road go ever on and on, down from the door where it began.