Let’s paint this…and let’s paint this….oh, and now this.
For the past ten years, I’ve been focused on honing in on my painting STYLE. As a beginning painter, I mimicked my ‘art crushes’ (Carol Marine, Troy Kilgore, Anne Blair Brown, and the list goes on)...over time those influences meshed with my natural way of doing things, and out birthed a style that now feels very much my own. [And even it is evolving...] Style and brushwork were my priority in every painting.
Fast forward to my last art fair of last year, Penrod. I'm standing in my booth and feeling pretty happy with the work I have up (that's saying a lot, currently trying to break a life-long habit of being too self critical, that’s a whole other blog post!)...The style of each piece was mine and that felt really good to see.
However, the paintings hung together looked....well, kind of random. A little popcorn-y if that's a word. :)
Literally two steps over, my friend Tish Reed's booth was a differenct story. I noticed that her paintings were unified had IMPACT! Those paintings and looked amazing TOGETHER.
This 'ah-ha' moment (or maybe more of a 'duh!' moment) helped led me to building a painting collection of my own...Plus these other factors:
Stacy Stater (Interior designer and founder of Home & Willow Design) had reached out to me months ago wanting to team up and
collaborate on something. I was in agreement and really hoping to lean into the interior design side of painting after my involvement in the Decorators’ Showhouse last year. We didn't have in idea at the time on how or what to collaborate on, but the interest was established!
My quilting hobby (okay, obsession) had me dreaming of designing fabric. (Thanks to Skillshare, I was able to take some classes on how to use the iPad app Procreate to design repeating patterns)
It’s my tradition to participate in the Harrison Center’s color-themed show each December. They choose a color each year and artist submit a wide array of pieces…the results are so varied, but unified. It’s so much fun!
So it was a combo of these things that led me to create a color-palette themed Art + Fabric collection which I've called Swatch23.
Home & Willow Design helped in narrowing down and adjusting colors to find a modern palette that would work for practical and ‘placeable’ home decor design.
Once the palette was determined, the real work began! Paintings….of my signature style, but also some fun abstract work. Also worked to achieve a variety of sizes and price points.
Who knew that by aiming for unity...so much variety and creativity would spring forth?!
The fabric design side of things was completely new for me and very exciting! I used Spoonflower to order fabric and wallpaper. Getting my first sample order in the mail was particularly thrilling! Just so crazy to feel fabric that I designed myself!
And to top it off, why not some fun ‘merch!’....that features my artwork and patterns from the collection! I have a wonderful growing group of ‘art cheerleaders’ that have been encouraging me in my career. And of course, not every Jessica Green Artwork enthusiast can drop a few hundred bucks on an original painting each year, but would still want a piece of the collection…like a cute tote bag or magnet. Having products and lower priced small paintings I hope helps boost my inclusivity for anyone who wants a piece of this collection…items as low as $3. Just fun to expand my inventory in this way!
It's been a great experience, and yes, I'm already color-dreaming of what the next palette (a cool one with neutrals/greens/blues) might be!
If you'd like to see Swatch23 in person, all of my paintings are displayed and available for at Home & Willow for the month of April.
Pillows and coasters are available as well. Their hours are M-F: 9am-6pm
If you're interested in some of my fun 'merch' (magnets, tote bags, etc + small paintings), I'll be doing two pop-up shops at Home & Willow:
Thurs 4/13 from 2-5pm
and
Wed 4/19 from 10-2pm
Address:
Home & Willow Decor and Design
Selections of Swatch23 will be available for online purchase in May. You'll also see some 'Swatchy' things at my art booth at Broad Ripple Art Fair!
I still like painting 'random' subjects and feeling free to use various colors for different paintings, I mean, do you know of any artist who like to be majorly restrained?! Lol But creating a color-palette collection has also been fantastic and I plan to create more collections in the future!