Focused on Opportunity

I’m feeling surprisingly motivated and attentive as I feel out what I want to do with my time. From joining a lovely skate group to going to my first protest, some new opportunities have presented themselves to me in ways I could never imagine. I’ve decided that they are still a secret but I also want to speak them into existence. There’s nothing wrong with being passionate about many things, that applies to life and to art as well.

I went out to the Raynham Flea Market and I was able to score some expired 120 Kodak film from WW2. I desperately want to play with and share to explore whatever I get and work it into a collage or some other project that yields itself to me. Other projects I’m working on is making gifs for instagram for playing around on my stories and for others to use if they like. It’s underrated and fun. It’s also a good step in the right direction if animation is my next goal in the digital area. Block printing is still on my radar though so I went ahead and redecorated some stained jeans with the stamps I made. It was relaxing and made me aware of the fact I could design prints in that way for myself without a manufacturer. The hands on process is the most important part to me or else it feels like it’s not my work.

I’m focused on building myself and those around me and now’s time before it gets too cold, before people lose steam (though many have already), before it’s not our biggest issue anymore. I’m taking a lesson from my cat to just do, and ask questions later or as I go along. He gets in trouble for it way more often than I do but it’s paying off. I’m considering it personal and professional development. Anyway,

Hoping for greatness ahead for all of us,

Erica ✌🏾

Finding a new way to heal

Sketchbook Therapy

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As I spend more and more time alone, I find my mind wandering into spaces I don’t often spend my time. I’ve found some things in my life to be more vital than every before like learning how to do things unprompted, being even more attentive to the world around me and how I fit into and complete the idea of that space. It’s a whole lot of trial and error but I think it’s pushing me in the right places.

This along with new moon is a great refresh and allows for building new habits and practices. I joined a casual group of artist from a range of spectrums trying to improve their craft so I will include some of that here including sketches and bits and bobs from my new Rendr Sketchbook. It’s rare that I cover my sketchbook in more than stickers of other artists I enjoy like Minnie Smalls, Rixy, or causes and conventions so it was fun to add a really personal touch to this book. I want some lovely pages out of this book but I won’t be surprised if I end up with a ton of misc. drawing and notes on ideas for things for the future. A girl can dream but of course that’s why I’m here.

Here are the final results of my sketchbook:

The first drawing in a sketchbook is usually the scariest since it sets the standard of what is to come. This time, it came like a sweet warm breeze working its way over open waters. I’ve been itching for a new sketchbook and to go back to some mediums I’ve neglected like my Copic markers and ink. I hope that this gives a sense of the aura I want my work to exude moving forward.

Wishing you peace and abundance, ‘till next time,

Erica

Block Printing Trials

NEW VIDEO!

Starting off the week pretty well with a late night upload! I made a video using my block print that I have been carving and playing with the last week or so. I was playing with different inks and I tried a couple techniques for getting the best prints and as you can see in the video, not all of them worked out too well.

First I tried old screen printing ink I had lying around from high school with was chunky and a little hard to work with especially because it’s more meant for fabric but I wanted to see how it would perform on paper. The result was kind of iffy. I dried just a but too quickly and got in a lot of the cracks of my stamp which made it print pretty poorly even though it was the best version of it.

The second go round I used acrylic which wasn’t working out either. Not only did it dry too fast but it had the additional texture too it that I originally hated but now I think I might  use that that another project just to see how it looks or to play around with the little peaks coming off of it. I’m just glad I didn’t buy pricey in and I like the color blue so I’ll definitely get use out of it still.

The final try, I used ACTUAL block printing ink that I got from blick (go figure) and they came out much better! I still kinda messed up by dropping my brayer on the floor and in some cat hair but at least they printed pretty nice. Once I get a bit better at making them all look like a consistent set, I will add them to my shop along with a couple other new projects you should be seeing in the next few weeks so stay tuned!