Hello creative friend!!

There are watercolor and ink swatches drying on one studio table, textured handmade fiber papers spread across another, and a hot pink weaving still sitting on the loom.

That pretty much sums up what my studio has looked like lately.

I've been bouncing between handcrafted color, paper, fiber, and all kinds of mixed-media experiments.

Designing the VINTAGE ALOHA collection. Making something. Testing it. Changing one thing. Swatching it. Making another version. Writing Studio Notes. Brainstorming ideas.

And seeing where it leads.

I started playing with weaving again after a recent class with Jessie Mordine Young, and I've also been exploring punch needle and sashiko. It’s been a nice break from my computer and phone!

Last month, while digging through my art archive for pieces to celebrate the 20th anniversary of my first book, Collage Unleashed, I rediscovered a series of textured fiber papers I made back in September 2014. That stack of colorful pieces sent me back to the original technique I first experimented with over a decade ago.

I've been making sample sheets, mixing pigments, testing color, altering the texture with different additives, and thinking about all the ways these materials could move beyond a flat piece of paper.

So many experiments. Some are beautiful. Some need another round of exploration or want to become a different project entirely.

That part of the process is what I love.

All of this is also feeding into a new course I've been developing around mixed-media materials and experimentation. I'll be sharing more of that process as it takes shape.

There are a lot of little experiments happening behind the scenes right now.

Paper pulp. Texture. Paint. Pigment. Fiber. Surface.

I've also been thinking about how we document those experiments so they don't just become another pile of interesting samples sitting in the studio.

More on that soon.

meanwhile… VINTAGE ALOHA is almost ready to ship! 🌺

I've been spending time swatching and PLAYing with the VINTAGE ALOHA colors. The final pieces of the WAX collection will be finished early next week, then we'll start packaging and shipping later in the week.

I pulled out the watercolors, shimmer inks, and PIGMENT BARS and started making swatches and loose florals, layering everything together just to see what would happen.

Soft washes. Waxy resist. Shimmer catching the light.

Pink next to turquoise. Avocado green. Smoky purples, with warm earthy colors weaving through everything.

This is exactly the kind of mixed-media color PLAY I love.

The VINTAGE ALOHA Collector's Box and inks are sold out, but I still have some VINTAGE ALOHA Mini Collections and PIGMENT BARS available.

Each Mini Collection is a slightly different surprise mix: one multicolor watercolor XL tile with 6–7 colors, one metallic shimmer ink, and one duotone PIGMENT BARS, and a couple of bonuses plus access to my Fall LIVE Paint + Swatch Workshop.

​EXPLORE THE VINTAGE ALOHA MINI COLLECTION →​

I've also been experimenting with my NEW mineral pigment BLENDS, and I’ll be tucking one of these little studio experiments {a 5mL sample of the pigments} into VINTAGE ALOHA as a bonus.

These custom blended pigments can be mixed to create textured paints, including watercolor, oil, inks, and acrylic paints…so many possibilities!

Yesterday I filmed a peek at the process, playing with pigments and different binders to create a variety of mixed-media art materials, making fiber papers, then swatching a few colors to see how they shift on the surface.

I can’t wait to share more about them!

I'm really excited about this new product and the techniques behind it. It's a little preview of the material exploration I'll be bringing into my new Materials Lab course.

I'll keep sharing peeks behind the scenes as the course takes shape, and I'm thinking about hosting a couple of in-person LIVE workshops… so stay tuned!

SEND ME A NOTE…

I hope you're spending time playing in the studio or soaking up inspiration outdoors. I'd love to know what you're working on this fall. Just hit reply and tell me.

And if you could join me for a sketchbook PLAYdate and tea, what's one question you'd want to ask me? 🎨💗

SHOP VINTAGE ALOHA

P.S. The VINTAGE ALOHA Mini Collections are the last way to get these colors this season, and each one includes a seat in my Fall LIVE Paint + Swatch Workshop. Grab yours here → SHOP the VINTAGE ALOHA collection​

With creativity and color...

Artfully, xo Traci Bautista 💞 Founder, #tracibautistaCOLOR

If you have any questions reach out to customer care using the chat box at tracibautistacolor.com