I have always been obsessed with abstract paintings. They are so complex and have so much personality to them, that I knew that was the avenue of art I was going to tackle. However, it took a few years of experimenting with different techniques to get to where I am now. I was always on the hunt for new mediums and tools to try. Eventually, I found my perfect combo, paddle brushes, fluid acrylics and wedges. With these tools, I was finally able to create the movement and depth that I wanted. My style has evolved over the years, but my toolset has not.

I am a big advocate of sharing tips and tricks, whether it’s around abstract painting techniques or marketing and selling your work. I don’t believe knowledge should be held hostage. When I started my artist journey, I was so grateful to the artist community for sharing information and now I want to pay it forward to the next generation of aspiring artists. The artist community is an incredibly supportive place and one of the biggest reasons is that we share our experiences so that others can also be successful.

The best studio hack I adopted was creating my own paint swatches. As someone who uses a lot of varying color palettes, it’s not always easy to remember how I created certain colors. Every time I mix a new color, I make a paint swatch and write on the back what colors I used. I keep all of these in a little bag. These swatches also come in handy when trying to come up with new color combos. I also keep a spreadsheet of what colors I used for each painting I’ve created so I can reference them when I want to paint something similar.

We’ve all been there. Those days, weeks or months where you just can’t seem to bring your creative vision to reality. Maybe you’re uninspired and unmotivated, maybe you just can’t get into that flow state or maybe you’re just purely and utterly frustrated with everything you produce and feel like nothing is working. Battling a creative slump is exhausting, especially when in your heart of hearts you know you want to create something beautiful and inspiring. My advice is to take a break and shift your focus. Dip a toe into something new. This doesn’t mean you throw your artistic style to the wayside; it means you try something else with zero expectations. It will give your brain the opportunity to concentrate on a new task that will help stimulate your creative mojo.

Hands down it’s the Liquitex Transparent Mixing white. I layer this on top of color to create varying degrees of depth.