Hello creative friend!! Yesterday, I shared the first peek at the story behind my new ninth-anniversary collection. Today, NINE: VINTAGE ALOHA is officially here! 🌺🎨 Nine years ago today, on August 31, 2017, I shared the photo below on Instagram. It showed tiny bottles from my color lab and announced that #tracibautistaCOLOR was coming soon. I first learned how to make watercolor paint in 2010 from my good friend and artist Karen Michel. Then, in 2017, I decided kind of on a whim that I...
12 days ago • 2 min read
#tracibautistaCOLOR Studio Notes July 2026 Monotypes with #tracibautistaCOLOR PIGMENT BARS & WAX printmaking bars Reader... Hi creative friend! There’s a silicone mat on my counter, the kind meant for keeping food warm, set to 176 degrees. A piece of rice paper sits on top, warm to the touch. I scribble a #tracibautistaCOLOR PIGMENT BAR onto the surface and flip it over onto the melted wax, roll a brayer across, and lift a multicolor line of wax at once. This process is an artful, meditative...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
#tracibautistaCOLOR Studio Notes July 2026 Inspiration. PLAY. Resources. Marks. Monotypes with #tracibautistaCOLOR PIGMENT BARS & WAX printmaking bars Reader... Hi creative friend! There’s a stack of WAX painted papers on my studio table right now and I keep walking past it just to look. Deep Midnight Blue. Vibrant bright fuchsia. Pickled Plum. Abstract mark making and freestyle URBAN FLORALS. A mix of colorful layered wax paintings and monotypes pulled from a heated mat over the last couple...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
#tracibautistaCOLOR Studio Notes The Monthly Edit July 2026 Inspiration. PLAY. Resources. Marks. #tracibautistaCOLOR PIGMENT BARS + WAX medium + oil paint Reader... It’s Thursday afternoon and my studio table is a happy disaster. Hand painted swatch cards drying, a large protein smoothie somewhere behind the wax, Confetti Cakes and PIGMENT BARS in boxes ready to package, stacks of USPS priority mail ready to be shipped, Indie curled up in the one patch of sun on the floor. I’ve been...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Reader... Yesterday I spent the morning watching the golden light rise over the water here in Hawaii, sand still on my toes, my travel swatch journal and a medley of #tracibautistaCOLOR URBAN PETALS collection spread across my beach blanket, Aloha Collection bags full of my fave mixed media travel art supplies, and multiple sketchbooks laid out on the sand. I filmed a little video while I was painting and sketching on the beach, you’ll get a peek at my traveling art supply kit and the...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Reader... Hi creative friend, It’s here. 💌 The NEW wax products are live in the shop right now. You can shop the whole URBAN PETALS: Concrete Bloom wax collection today. Everything is a pre-order, hand-poured in small batches. The sets are curing in the studio and shipping late June. Keep scrolling for the full story (and a little something to PLAY with). I have a special gift just for my email subscribers… SAVE $5 when you spend $75! There are colorful tins of wax medium sitting on my...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Reader... Hi creative friend! If you've been following along, a few weeks ago I started looking at the LA neighborhood differently on my walks with Indie. The bougainvillea vine cascading wild over black iron gates. White blooms cracking through concrete. The electric fuchsia and wild coreopsis growing on the side of the mountain that has no business being there and absolutely is. That's what became this vibrant, colorful collection. The Collector's Boxes sold out quickly, and while I make...
4 months ago • 1 min read
AI Unlocked ~ May 12-14 grab your FREE ticket! Reader... Tomorrow AI Unlocked starts. Last week I sent you the seven ways I use Claude collaboratively in my studio. Today I want to give you insight on one of those ideas, it’s a foundation for my FREE workshop on day 3. I said yes to teaching for the third year because how we bring AI into a creative practice matters more than which tool we reach for. My Day 3 talk walks through one complete workflow, From Inspiration Board to Brand Suite, but...
4 months ago • 2 min read
AI Unlocked ~ May 12-14 grab your FREE ticket! Reader... It's a Wednesday. Wispr Flow is running. There's a mineral-mixed tile of fuchsia watercolor drying on the table. The studio smells faintly of beeswax with a hint of chrysanthemum tea. And I'm talking. Out loud, mid-thought, mid-studio chaos to Claude. Not to make art. Not to replace my handmade process. To collaborate and ideate alongside. As you may know, I've been weaving AI into my studio practice for over three years now, and a few...
4 months ago • 5 min read