I started painting in 2017, initially as a hobby that provided me the perfect outlet to give colour to my ideas, express my fascination with nature. Initially I used watercolour pencil, making small botanical drawings and through a process of self-learning and growing my art practice through a mishmash of self learning, books, experimentation, seeking guidance from other artists and art communities on online; I dove in. I really felt a thrill with each painting and felt the ultimate thrill the more I challenged myself as there was so much content; however all came back to the endless possibilities that came through practice and developing my own unique style.
Fascinated by watercolour paints and the reputation it had for being a challenging medium; I have experimented with various brands, one of my earliest being Sennelier which I recall being so exorbitantly prices I was both eager to understand what made them so special while hesitant to use or waste these precious watercolours. Deciding to try a few brands to understand the differences in each maker's formula, which I enjoyed best and what suited my style and gave the best results. This curiosity lead to my amassing a multitude of juice new finds from a variety of brands each claiming to be the best on the market, or having a specialty to them or some other unique quality. The true delight for me was simply exploring the various colours, creating swatches, building up a palette that suited by botanical interests, understanding the difference between student, artist and professional grade, colour and pigment naming conventions while accumulating a heavenly amount of tubes, pans, brushes and paper upon which I could experiment.
While some artist would say that a simple limited palette with good quality primaries from which you can mix an infinite number of combinations is the way to go, I have to admit; that in the chaos of figuring out what would suit me best of all the options on the market, I became quite addicted not only to painting and experimenting with watercolours but to building my home studio; surrounding myself with all manner of artistic possibilities. I learned to find method in the chaos, labelling, adding jars for miscellaneous colours, building swatch cards, sorting by brand, palette, tubes or pans, dyes vs pigments based, bringing myself to create a sort of playful paradise in my studio that works for me. When I do sit down to create a painting it really feels like a sort of ritual; preparing my ideas, selecting my materials, getting in the zone, enjoying the space; creating happy moments.
