A batch of works created exclusively for Patreon from January till December 2021.
From watercolors to video and photography, from collage to animated stereograms - a new unique work every month. You can support me on Patreon and join the art train for the year ahead, 2022 is about to start and a lot of projects are on the way!
From watercolors to video and photography, from collage to animated stereograms - a new unique work every month. You can support me on Patreon and join the art train for the year ahead, 2022 is about to start and a lot of projects are on the way!
#1 - February
Winter felt dark, cold and hopeless - London was going into another lockdown and no one knew how to fix things any more. People stayed indoors entertaining themselves any way they could, and food delivery drivers often were the only connectors with the outside world.
Winter felt dark, cold and hopeless - London was going into another lockdown and no one knew how to fix things any more. People stayed indoors entertaining themselves any way they could, and food delivery drivers often were the only connectors with the outside world.
#2 - March
I started this piece thinking I'd just paint something doll-like. Half an hour later I was already fully submerged into an unfolding background story:
A spy sneaks into a wicked garden - a sinister secret garden society of porcelain dolls.
She gets through security to gather some data on the doll cult and some tension is in the air: the bush roses and the tiny garden birds are onto her. Will she gather the intel she needs and escape undetected? Or will this be a chapter of elaborate disguise and cunning scheming aka the classic task for an agent?
I started this piece thinking I'd just paint something doll-like. Half an hour later I was already fully submerged into an unfolding background story:
A spy sneaks into a wicked garden - a sinister secret garden society of porcelain dolls.
She gets through security to gather some data on the doll cult and some tension is in the air: the bush roses and the tiny garden birds are onto her. Will she gather the intel she needs and escape undetected? Or will this be a chapter of elaborate disguise and cunning scheming aka the classic task for an agent?
#3 - April
March inspired a flower-themed piece (I am a big fan of tulips), and I called it "The Tulip Quest".
She's set and ready to start a new adventure. Is it spreading the blooms and the love?
March inspired a flower-themed piece (I am a big fan of tulips), and I called it "The Tulip Quest".
She's set and ready to start a new adventure. Is it spreading the blooms and the love?
Is it bringing flowers to places where people lack colour and happiness? Not sure what it is but she is determined, and her friends the young juicy bulb and the wise daisy are there to support and cheer on. They are proud and full of hope: very soon the world will be in bloom again.
#4 - May
I asked my Patrons to submit some words, anything they liked. I took those and weaved them into a painting, so I guess that makes it a collab of sorts!
Some of the words that served as ingredients for this art soup:
Tuatara, fermentation, fennel, serendipity, sandals, melancholy, egg, shorts, sakura, whale, dagger, ramen, yellow, nautilus shells, inflatable, Space, meteor, dreams, thoughts, the universe.
See if you can spot some of these in the painting.
I asked my Patrons to submit some words, anything they liked. I took those and weaved them into a painting, so I guess that makes it a collab of sorts!
Some of the words that served as ingredients for this art soup:
Tuatara, fermentation, fennel, serendipity, sandals, melancholy, egg, shorts, sakura, whale, dagger, ramen, yellow, nautilus shells, inflatable, Space, meteor, dreams, thoughts, the universe.
See if you can spot some of these in the painting.
#5 - June
These two small watercolors were inspired by pieces of glass sanded off by the ocean and washed out on a cold Reykjavik's beach. I absolutely loved collecting these and arranging and re-arranging these endlessly on my desk, enjoying the way daylight was filtering through them and the palette of teals and light blues and greens with occasional purple mussel shells and dark volcanic stones.
These two small watercolors were inspired by pieces of glass sanded off by the ocean and washed out on a cold Reykjavik's beach. I absolutely loved collecting these and arranging and re-arranging these endlessly on my desk, enjoying the way daylight was filtering through them and the palette of teals and light blues and greens with occasional purple mussel shells and dark volcanic stones.
Why two paintings?
I think one piece wasn't enough to explore the textures and colour of the stones.
So two not dissimilar but yet pretty different compositions were born:
- One about a stone collector who found a new friend during her most recent stroll along the seaside.
- Another that explores a more surreal little setup but I imagined it's a bizarre kingdom ruled by the Pearl princess and her servants: the solf-legged mussels.
So two not dissimilar but yet pretty different compositions were born:
- One about a stone collector who found a new friend during her most recent stroll along the seaside.
- Another that explores a more surreal little setup but I imagined it's a bizarre kingdom ruled by the Pearl princess and her servants: the solf-legged mussels.
#6 - August
I grew up in a community where people were (and still are, perhaps) quite into supernatural topic: healings, spiritual sessions, energies and stars and mediums. When I go back home to my little eastern Lithuanian town the TV still broadcasts all kinds of programs where ladies covered with jewellery and surrounded by candles and crystals heal your heart wounds over the phone, and I find that pretty fascinating.
I grew up in a community where people were (and still are, perhaps) quite into supernatural topic: healings, spiritual sessions, energies and stars and mediums. When I go back home to my little eastern Lithuanian town the TV still broadcasts all kinds of programs where ladies covered with jewellery and surrounded by candles and crystals heal your heart wounds over the phone, and I find that pretty fascinating.
#7 - September
For a while now I've been fascinated by the wonderful Ama-san: Japanese female pearl divers who have been collecting pearls and other gifts from the bottom of the ocean for centuries now. I came across the term while reading Gail Tsukiyama's novel called "Samurai's Garden" - a wonderful tale of a young Chinese man caught up in Japan during their invasion of China in 1930's. Apparently only women dive for pearls in Japan as female bodies are naturally better at retaining warmth, so there have been generations of brave ladies submerging into the abyss and bringing back all the treasures they could find. Fascinating!
I worked on two parts to illustrate the theme: a vertical watercolor mainly driven by old Japanese woodblock prints, and a set of smaller more playful drawings.
For a while now I've been fascinated by the wonderful Ama-san: Japanese female pearl divers who have been collecting pearls and other gifts from the bottom of the ocean for centuries now. I came across the term while reading Gail Tsukiyama's novel called "Samurai's Garden" - a wonderful tale of a young Chinese man caught up in Japan during their invasion of China in 1930's. Apparently only women dive for pearls in Japan as female bodies are naturally better at retaining warmth, so there have been generations of brave ladies submerging into the abyss and bringing back all the treasures they could find. Fascinating!
I worked on two parts to illustrate the theme: a vertical watercolor mainly driven by old Japanese woodblock prints, and a set of smaller more playful drawings.
#8 - October
A dark-ish yet cosy watercolor with autumnal darkness and crunchy leaves and street lights and coats and puddles of water (as well as a couple spooky characters such as jack-o-lantern attempting to light a candle in the rain, and cheerful puddle-loving skulls). The baguette has its own umbrella, the pigeon is chillin in its puddle as they do, and something is lurking in a pile of leaves nearby with shy yet curious eyes.
A dark-ish yet cosy watercolor with autumnal darkness and crunchy leaves and street lights and coats and puddles of water (as well as a couple spooky characters such as jack-o-lantern attempting to light a candle in the rain, and cheerful puddle-loving skulls). The baguette has its own umbrella, the pigeon is chillin in its puddle as they do, and something is lurking in a pile of leaves nearby with shy yet curious eyes.
#9 - November
The acetate sheet used for this diptych comes from a treasure paper box I have kept since I was a kid. It's quite a strange material to work with - watercolor wouldn't stay on and I had to use drier paints (acrylics) and colour pencils. I couldn't overwork that gentle-looking semi-opaque surface and every move needed to be done with maximum care. Oh and I finished it by filling in some negative space with my Japanese glimmer paints, just to have that mild play in the sunlight.
The acetate sheet used for this diptych comes from a treasure paper box I have kept since I was a kid. It's quite a strange material to work with - watercolor wouldn't stay on and I had to use drier paints (acrylics) and colour pencils. I couldn't overwork that gentle-looking semi-opaque surface and every move needed to be done with maximum care. Oh and I finished it by filling in some negative space with my Japanese glimmer paints, just to have that mild play in the sunlight.
#10 - December
The stereoscopic watercolor gif below is something that celebrates a little bit of every month from 2021: being in lockdown, illustrating tulips, climbing an erupting volcano, documenting wild fungi and a bunch of other things. I am grateful for all the support in 2021 and I am also really excited about all the art that's coming in the new year! Bring it on, 2022.
The stereoscopic watercolor gif below is something that celebrates a little bit of every month from 2021: being in lockdown, illustrating tulips, climbing an erupting volcano, documenting wild fungi and a bunch of other things. I am grateful for all the support in 2021 and I am also really excited about all the art that's coming in the new year! Bring it on, 2022.
