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...
10 days 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...
23 days 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...
about 1 month 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...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
Reader… Every #tracibautistaCOLOR collection starts the same way — with a spark of inspiration. A color. A texture. A place I keep photographing. A motif that shows up in my sketchbook whether I plan it or not. The URBAN PETALS: Concrete Bloom collection started with a tree I'd walked past on my morning walks for months and never really seen — until it bloomed. That single spark became the centerpiece for the color palette, the mood, the name, the product graphics, and eventually a sold-out...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Reader… The URBAN PETALS: Concrete Bloom Collector's Box sold out! I'm still a little in awe of that — every time it happens, it reminds me why I do this work. So first: thank you. Whether you grabbed a box, shared the collection with a friend, or just followed along as the whole thing came together — I appreciate you being here. I want to tell you something about how this collection started. Because it wasn't at the paint making table. If you’ve read my last few emails, you’ll know it...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Reader… A paint collection starts long before the first pigment is mulled. It starts with design — the walks, the thinking, the research, and the inspiration that give the making its direction. The colors are chosen. The mood board is designed. The direction is set. Now comes the part I love most — turning that vision into physical paint. The inks, the PIGMENT BARS, the Wax Printmaking Oil Bars are all next, and the design work you're about to see is exactly what makes that making possible....
3 months ago • 1 min read
Reader… There's a mountain ebony tree on my neighborhood walking route with Indie in LA — bright fuchsia blooms against a golden concrete wall, almost neon, completely unapologetic. I've been walking by it for months, but it just recently caught my eye because of the bright, vibrant PINK blooms. I’ve been documenting these walks with my camera for months — that tree, chain-link fences swallowed by vines, sweet potato leaves spilling over curbs, sidewalk cracks laced with fallen leaves where...
3 months ago • 3 min read
IN THE STUDIO: My cousin just made Oscar history (with photos) 🏆 A first look at the spring #tracibautistaCOLOR collection 🌸 A free live session Thursday — I'm building a collection with AI in real time 🤖 A tiny prompt for your sketchbook 🎨 Reader… Last Sunday, our family watched my cousin Autumn Durald Arkapaw's name appear on the screen. Best Cinematography. Sinners. The first woman — and the first woman of color — to win that Oscar in 97 years. Brilliant. Historic. Iconic. We’re all so...
3 months ago • 3 min read