The approach I'm taking for now is to release just a few designs at a time and on my own timeline. My focus is on supporting the fine art I make while also having something more accessible and available to the majority of people. A piece of fine art could be valued at thousands of dollars and often only one exists. Wearable art, on the other hand, is affordable and the only limits on how many people can have it are the limits of manufacturing and my own direction. All of these designs are from my own artwork and photography. It's my goal to have the accompanying artwork released in tandem with their hoodies. However, for the Fall Equinox release coming up on September 22, 2024, the art work will be released later.
These two hoodies are based on two small paintings. Both are acrylic paintings are relatively small. "Mountains In Heavens" is circular and about 11 inches in diameter, and I had it stretched over an embroidery hoop while painting. I do my best to upcycle and recycle materials as much as I can. In this case, I used an old, clean, bedsheet cut into pieces and gessoed. The original painting is inspired by my experiences in majestic snow-covered mountains and with a little of MC Escher's historical guidance as an undercurrent. Flip it upside down and see a whole new mountain range. I used a lot of iridescent paint with the goal of making something that didn't look "tacky" or simply embellished. This is lost in the digital scans, but still beuatiful nonetheless. Taken off the hoop, the painting is flexible without cracking and its options for display are endless; framed on a wall, sewn into a tapestry, made into a patch and adhered onto one's favorite jacket, a pillow, and more.
Some pieces have intentions directing them like "Mountains In Heavens." Others, like "Artifacts On Ice" have the goal of letting go of direction and instead allowing chance, feelings, and flow to take the lead. While I’m working on main pieces, I keep "side-pieces" near me, which are blank papers, canvases, fabrics or other materials that I can wipe extra or unwanted paint onto and to test colors. After a while something of a pattern or image starts to emerge and I domy best to roll with it, which is how the lines of dots showed up in “Artifact On Ice”. These secondary pieces are not usually anything I'm wild about or want to share, but "Artifacts On Ice" was a wonderful exception.