I have an ongoing series of paintings using references from my collection of antique photos. This painting is inspired by an old photo of my grandfather when he was a teen. I think it’s probably around 1949 or 1950 somewhere in the southern US.

I’ve been exploring decorative arrangements, and small compositions while also experimenting with ink blocks and oil pastels.

I kind of fell in love with this little floral pattern in lilac pink and brown (look close to see the bees buzzing about). When I saw a prompt looking for dark and cozy bedroom ideas, it came back to mind. I paired it with a dark burgundy purple stripe to balance the floral, and a super cozy vintage-inspired brown plaid.

I fell in love with the original photo because of the expression of the woman on the left. She is so clearly enamored with the main subject, I love the look of amusement on her face.

For the block backgrounds I had enough low volume blenders, but the common color was a cooler gray, and I wanted something slightly warmer, so I decided to try dying them with tea.

A couple months back Spoonflower challenged their artists to curate a bedding collection. For the challenge I pulled together a cross-section of patterns. I wanted a warm and cozy bohemian vibe.

I can’t get enough of warm neutrals, and browns these days. Add peach and I’m over the moon. Here is a happy little grouping of boho inspired decor patterns and coordinating watercolor palette with a warm neutral buff, bright peach, and rust brown.

For this project I hand-carved stamps, and scanned the results to create patterns with really great textures.