Reader…

Hi creative friend!

Welcome to the first edition of Studio Notes: The Monthly Edit — a monthly letter where I share what’s been happening in the studio, what I’m loving, and a few good links.

Let’s start with January. (I know… it already feels like a lifetime ago. Bear with me.)

January started the way I always hope it will: sketchbook open, sand in my toes, brushes in hand, ocean light doing that thing it does at sunrise where everything looks like it belongs in a painting.

I was in Hawaii spending time my family for the first half of the month. Most mornings, I’d get up before everyone else and head to the beach with my mixed media travel kit — little tins of #tracibautistaCOLOR paint, PIGMENT BARS, an Aloha bag full of brushes, water-soluble pencils, markers, and a couple of sketchbooks — and just make marks while the day warmed up.

Feathers. Palm fronds. Beachcombing finds. Whatever was in front of me. No agenda. Just the sound of the water, the color of the sky, and that particular quiet of a morning that’s just beginning to wake up.

That rhythm followed me home — and I’ve been holding onto it ever since.

〰️ Back in the studio: the daily PLAY habit

On January 1st, I made a small decision that has kept me going.

Every day — or close to it — I’ve been rummaging through drawers for art supplies I haven’t touched in a while and giving myself 10–40 minutes of unplanned mark-making.

No project. No goal. Just PLAY: what do I feel like exploring today?

Some days it looks like:

• PIGMENT BARS and colored pencils I haven’t touched in months, finally getting used
• #tracibautistaCOLOR watercolor swatches just to experiment with mixing colors and document the process
• Mineral ink washes layering and bleeding into each other with zero plan
• Playing with Procreate ~ sketching on the iPad when I was under the weather

Every page looks different. Some are wild experiments. Some make me laugh at my own color choices. Most spark something.

This is what I’ve taught in mixed media classes for years: experimentation isn’t wasted time — it’s research. I just needed to remind myself to actually do it.

If you’ve been feeling creatively stuck: 15 minutes, no plan, whatever’s already on your desk or hiding in a drawer. See what happens.

〰️ Velvet & Verdigris: extra ink sets (very limited)

I made a few extra sets when I was formulating this collection — deep crimson, dusty rose, patina teal, warm blush — the full color story in hand-poured bottles. They went fast. I have just a few left, and when they’re gone, that’s it for this collection.

If you’ve been watching and waiting, this is the moment:

​→ Velvet & Verdigris Complete Ink Collection ​

​→ Velvet & Verdigris Shimmer + Patina Set​

〰️ Paint + Swatch Journal Experience: content drops in March

This one has been in the works for a while — and it’s almost ready. The Paint + Swatch Journal Experience is a full digital kit with an optional paint upgrade and a NEW Procreate workshop in March!

Here’s what’s included:

• Printable + digital-ready Paint + Swatch Journal
• BRAYER + BLOOM ~ Procreate FLORALS mixed media custom brushes + stamps built from my own mark-making
• Digital Collage sheets + swatch cards
• Digital paint & swatch templates ~ ready-to-use digital formats
• Procreate LIVE workshop in March where we will explore mixed media digital collage and use everything together
• TWO bonus mixed media + swatch journal recorded workshops
• PLUS an option to upgrade to a limited edition handcrafted paint grab bag + physical journal kit

I’ve been designing brushes on the couch, in the studio, on the iPad whenever I had a spare hour.

The BRAYER + BLOOM Procreate brush set has 40 digital brushes, digtial stencils, printmaking stamps, freestyle pattern brushes with a WILD BLOOMS abstract florals. This kit will be delivered in March

Here’s a peek at what’s coming. Grab this freestyle abstract brush set, collage papers and I’ll announce the live workshop date soon!

SAVE $10 for a limited time…

​→ Paint + Swatch Journal Experience — Digital ​

​→ + Digital #tracibautistaCOLOR grab bag + journal kit add-on​

〰️ Gym, Pilates, and why I’m telling you this

I was under the weather for a solid 2.5 weeks in January and into February — not fun, especially when you’re the one keeping the whole studio and business moving.

Getting back to the gym felt like getting back to myself.

5-6 days a week: strength training, Pilates/barre, spin. I’m not sharing this to talk about my schedule — I’m sharing it because I believe physical practice and creative practice are genuinely connected.

The discipline. The showing up even when you don’t feel like it. The way your brain quiets down when your body is working. That rhythm grounds my studio time in a way nothing else does.

Take care of your whole self. The art will be better for it.

〰️ What I’ve been watching

While I was recovering on the couch, I fell into a YouTube rabbit hole I’m still thinking about: a documentary series about New York artists living in protected loft spaces under the 1982 Loft Law.

The filmmaker, Joshua Charow, profiles artist after artist — their spaces, their stories, the way they’ve built entire creative lives inside these raw, improbable rooms.

I sat with it for hours. The studios alone are worth watching.

SO. much. inspiration.

​ → Artist In Residence YouTube Series​

I’m building a better system for tracking what I’m reading, watching, and listening to so I can share more of these. Stay tuned.

〰️ One more thing: STUDIO SPARK

If January felt scattered, slow, or harder than expected — same.

I keep coming back to something I noticed on those early beach mornings: the best marks happened when I stopped trying to make something good and just started moving the brush.

Maybe this season is simply the one where you pick up the brush and see what happens.

One tiny step. That’s all.

Studio Spark for you this month: Pull out one material you haven’t touched in a while. Give it 15 minutes. No plan. Just marks.

What’s next → The Paint + Swatch Journal live workshop date is coming. LA studio filming is on deck for February. I’m also back in paint-making mode in the studio (a little behind, but happily in it), lots of packaging + shipping this week and I’ll share more soon.

〰️ Something new is coming — and I think you’re going to love it

I’ve been using Studio Notes Journals + INSPIRATION sketchbooks in my creative practice for as long as I can remember. Splattered pages, paint swatches, half-written ideas, color mixing experiments, mind maps — those notebooks have held the story of my studio for years.

Over the past year, I’ve been experimenting with something new: using AI as a writing collaborator to document the process. The results have been genuinely surprising — and I want to show you exactly how I do it.

I’m teaching a free live session on this soon. I’ll share all the details later this week.

→ Stay tuned — I’ll have a link to save your spot.

VISIT #tracibautistaCOLOR

P.S. Only a few sets remain from Velvet & Verdigris — deep crimson, dusty rose, patina teal, warm blush. The full hand-poured collection. If you want one, grab it now. SHOP VELVET + VERDIGRIS patina and the complete 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