About the Collection

The series started out with me digging through my small stash of canvas panels and making marks on them until something emerged. After my second or third exploration panel, I painted a simple nebula with watered down paint to simulate watercolor. I stared at it for a few minutes, wondering how I painted something so beautiful. My last attempt to paint outer space with acrylics a few years ago did not turn out well. So what changed? And and even better question: could I do it again?

Each piece in the series is both an attempt to replicate what I did before but also to incorporate something new--a different brush, a different blending technique, different color proportions, etc. As I worked my way through each painting, I paid close attention to what techniques got me the results I wanted, and more importantly, what didn't. By the time I got to painting number 8, I'd collected valuable insights on how I like to work with acrylics.

That's not to say I didn't hit any bumps along the way. Several times I caught myself overworking the same areas to the point where I panicked, certain I had ruined a painting. In those moments, I put my brush down and stepped away for a day or two to let the painting breathe. Sometimes I couldn't get back to it for an entire week, at which point, it only needed a few finishing touches before it felt complete.

I've been ruminating a little bit about why, out of all the subjects I could have chosen, I was drawn to paint outer space for this series. Space is beautiful, but also kind of terrifying. Artists of the Romantic era would call it "sublime." When I look up at the stars, I feel connected to the universe in a way that I don't normally feel with anything else. Since we're all made of star-stuff, it's almost like I'm looking in a cosmic mirror. All of the sublime beauty and terror up there is also bound up in me, waiting to be expressed on a page or canvas.

On a less conceptual level, it's probably also because I love Star Trek.

I hope you'll consider claiming one of these paintings for yourself and helping me make my first collection launch a success. If you haven't already, be sure to sign up for my email newsletter so you can receive shop updates and early access to future collection releases. Thank you so much for your support!

Warm regards,

Erica